Giant Crab Spider - (Olios giganteus)

The enormous Giant Crab Spider is an ambush predator usually found hanging out on walls, waiting for insect prey to pounce on.

Staff Writer (8/4/2017): The Giant Crab Spider is also known as the Golden Huntsman Spider. This is one of the largest spiders in North America with its body fitting in the palm of the hand - not including the legs!

They are ambush predators, lying in wait on vertical surfaces for anything smaller than itself. They have been seen on tree trunks, shrubs, boulders and other objects that lend height and offer a surface to hold onto like the sides of houses, and sometimes are even found inside homes. They are most comfortable in arid, desert regions.

Adults are most active and visible in summer months. Females are larger than males. They spin silken egg sacs that they fill with fertilized eggs, guarding the eggs until the spiderlings hatch a month or so later.

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Details of the:
Giant Crab Spider

Category: Spider
Common name: Giant Crab Spider
Scientific Name: Olios giganteus
Other Names: Golden Huntsman Spider

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Family: Sparassidae

Genus: Olios

Species: giganteus

Size (Adult, Length): 10mm to 50mm (0.39in to 1.97in)

Identifying Colors: brown, black, white, gray

Additional Descriptors: huge, large, hairy, big, legs, biting, venomous

North American Reach (Though Not Limited To*): Arizona; California; Nevada; New Mexico; Texas; Utah; Mexico

* Keep in mind that an insect's reach is not limited by lines on a map and therefore may appear in areas/regions/states beyond those listed above.

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