Pingtung huntsman
Females of this huntsman spider grow to nearly twice the length of males, reaching almost 19 millimeters against the male's 13.
| Where | Forests and reserves across East Asia |
|---|---|
| Size | Male about 13 mm, female about 19 mm body length |
| When | March to November |
Males have a reddish brown carapace with dark hairs on the head and lighter hairs behind, yellowish brown spiny legs spotted with dark marks, and an earthy yellow abdomen crossed by a wide dark brown band beneath; females are similarly patterned but grow noticeably larger.
First described from specimens collected in a Taiwanese national park, it hunts down prey on bark and forest floor without spinning a web, in the manner typical of huntsman spiders.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Brown, Yellow
Active
Day and night
To people
Not documented to bite people; like most huntsman spiders it prefers to flee rather than confront anything larger than its prey.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
This much more widespread huntsman has a plain, flat brown body with a pale tan or cream band behind the eyes, lacking the reddish carapace and dark-banded yellow abdomen of Heteropoda pingtungensis.
Questions
Is the Pingtung huntsman dangerous to people?
Not documented to bite people; like most huntsman spiders it prefers to flee rather than confront anything larger than its prey.
When can you see the Pingtung huntsman?
The Pingtung huntsman can be seen from March to November, by day and at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by Caroline Quinn, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Spiders›Huntsman spiders›Heteropoda
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.