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Heteropoda venatoria

Tukutukuraonui

Huntsman Spider

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult female 1 (ID?)	24KB
Image:	Adult female 2 (ID?)	89KB
Image:	Adult male (ID?)	68KB
Image:	Juvenile (ID?)	54KB
Image:	Female in torch light (ID?)	99KB
Image:	Shed 'skin' and emerged spider (ID?)	51KB
Image:	Female and male palps	55KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Huntsman Spider

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tukutukuraonui (RR), Tukitukira‘o (MK), Tukutukura‘onui (MT AK), Huahuakava (TS TW), Mangamanga (PK); COMMENT: Often said 'Tukuraonui', name also used for Orb Spinner and for Large House Spider

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: pantropical

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands - mountains

KEY FEATURES: A large free-roving spider. Female uniformly brown, body to 20mm TL, toe-to-toe span about 8cm. Male, slightly smaller, pale grey with brown markings including two large elongate blotches forming a V on the head-thorax. Both sexes have a dark band on the hind edge of the cephalothorax.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Heteropoda regia is similar and cosmopolitan, although not recorced in Cook Islands.

Enlarged Image of 'Heteropoda venatoria'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	P				P

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
P	P		P

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus, 1758)
SYNONYMS: Heteropoda regia [mistaken]; Aranea venatoria

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; CHELICERATA; ARACHNIDA; Araneae (=Araneida); Araneomorphae; SPARASSIDAE. COMMENT: Formerly Heteropodidae

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Eats Cockroaches & other insects. Eggs are developed in a flat-circular white case carried by the female for over a month, during which time she does not feed.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: Listed (BJM55); male and female specimens, Tupapa, 7/2000, G.McCormack - photos in DB. Mangaia: 1 immature (BJM60). Aitutaki: listed (BJM57); 3 females, 3 males, several immatures & 3 cocoons (BJM60). Tongareva: 1 female, 1 male, 1 immature (BJM60). Manihiki: 2 immatures (BJM60). Pukapuka: Listed (BJM55); fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack, ID Joe Beatty from specimen PK59 as Heteropoda sp. immature, 3/2005.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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