Heteropoda

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Genus of spiders

title: "Heteropoda" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sparassidae-genera", "cosmopolitan-spiders"] description: "Genus of spiders" topic_path: "general/sparassidae-genera" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteropoda" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of spiders ::

| fossil_range = | image = Heteropoda maxima 1.jpg | image_caption = Heteropoda maxima | taxon = Heteropoda | authority = Latreille, 1804 | diversity_link = #Species | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 189 accepted species; see text.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Heteropoda_eye_group.svg" caption="The eye arrangement of spiders in the genus ''Heteropoda''"] ::

Heteropoda is a genus of spiders in the family Sparassidae (the huntsman spiders). They are mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Australia, while at least one species, H. venatoria, has a cosmopolitan distribution, and H. variegata occurs in the Mediterranean.

These spiders catch and eat insects, but in a laboratory study one species readily ate fish and tadpoles when offered.

The largest species in the genus, H. maxima, is about 4.6 centimeters long but has a legspan of up to 30 centimeters, making it the largest of any extant spider.

Species

As of August 2022, there were 189 species in the genus, after series of revisions.

References

References

  1. Airamé, S. and P. Sierwald. (2000). [http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v28_n2/arac_28_02_0251.pdf Hunting and feeding behavior of one ''Heteropoda'' species in lowland rainforest on Borneo (Aranae, Sparassidae).] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-04 ''Journal of Arachnology'' 28(2), 251-53.)
  2. Jager, P. and H. Ono. (2000). [http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/arachnologie/sparassidae_japan_i_jaegerono_2000.pdf Sparassidae of Japan. I. New species of ''Olios'', ''Heteropoda'', and ''Sinopoda'', with notes on some known species (Araneae: Sparassidae: Sparassinae and Heteropodinae).] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-03 ''Acta Arachnologica'' 49(1), 41-60.)
  3. link. (2017-12-28 ''Psyche'' 89, 297-306.)
  4. Iaeger, P. (2001). [http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/arachnologie/hetmax.pdf A new species of ''Heteropoda'' (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae) from Laos, the largest huntsman spider?] ''Zoosystema'' 23(3), 461-66.
  5. Jäger, P. (2005). [http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v33_n3/arac-033-03-0715.pdf A 'swimming' ''Heteropoda'' species from Borneo (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae).] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-04 ''Journal of Arachnology'' 33(3), 715-18.)
  6. Eusemann, P. and P. Jäger. (2006). [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/z01325p334f.pdf ''Heteropoda schwendingeri'' Jäger 2005 (Araneae: Sparassidae) – first description of female with notes on intraspecific variation and evidences supporting species status.] ''Zootaxa'' 1325, 327-34.

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sparassidae-generacosmopolitan-spiders