Cane Spider

Spiders are carnivorous arthropods that belong to the class Arachnida. There are more than 40,000 scientifically classified species of spiders which are classified into more than 109 families. Spiders are unique insects that do not possess extensor muscles or the antennae, like other insects. Most spider species spin silk with help of the spinneret glands that are located at their abdominal tips. Amongst the various types of spiders, the cane spider is a non-aggressive species of spider.

Taxonomy
This spider is also known by several other names like sugarcane spider, brown huntsman spider, and large brown spider, while its binomial name is Heteropoda Venatoria.

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Class	Arachnida
Order	Araneae
Family	Sparassidae
Genus	Heteropoda
Species	H. Venatoria

Identification
Cane spider is a large and long-legged spider, with hairy and flattened body. They possess grayish brown banded legs with the body colored either gray or brown. They have four pairs of eyes. The average size of cane spiders is anywhere between 1 cm to 15 cm. They are mottled with interesting spots that help them in camouflaging themselves from their predators as well as preys. A cane spider appears more frightening than it actually is.

Habitat and Distribution
Cane spider species of the huntsman family is native to Hawaii. A cane spider of Hawaii can actually survive the tropical conditions better than the colder regions. Along with their native place, they are also found in several parts of Asia, Southeastern parts of the US, Caribbean and Mascarene Islands and most parts of Australia. This species are mainly found living in sugarcane farms, (which is the reason why they are called cane spiders or sugarcane spiders). Apart from that, one can easily find a cane spider under rocks, loose bark of the trees, or foliage. These spiders are notorious for hiding behind sun visors and on the dashboard of vehicles.

Feeding
The most interesting thing about this species, which is quite uncharacteristic of spiders, is that they don't build the webs. They dwell in the cervices of barks and keep on roaming inside homes and vehicles in search of their prey. As it doesn't build a web, a cane spider needs to take special efforts to find food. Cane spiders forage for their prey by waiting on a vertical surface late at night. Their diet generally includes insects and other invertebrates, while cockroaches are their favorites. They also hunt small skinks and geckos.

Behavior
Cane spiders can travel extremely fast due to their springing jumps. They tend to cling to your hands if they are picked up. That is the reason that they are difficult to be thrown and therefore, more likely to bite you! The female spider is more aggressive of the two when it comes to protecting the eggs or the younger spiders. Cane spiders mostly demonstrate a threat and in case of ignorance, they might attack and bite you. Fortunately, they are not poisonous and as a result, there are not many recorded cases of casualties due to bites.

Breeding
The female of cane spider lays an oval shaped egg sac which consists of around 200 eggs. This sac is generally secured under the barks, which she guards for about three days. A recent study revealed that male spiders make a distinct sound when they feel that a female of their species is somewhere nearby. Cane spider species have a long period of courtship and the males rarely get attacked by the females after their mating. As a matter of fact, many cane spider families are found to be peacefully living together in colonies.

There are incidents when cane spiders were found inside homes, in quest of prey. But, they are not as scary as they seem to be. They prefer to run away instead of biting you.