Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings

These large lurking spiders are common in the NZ bush. Their nocturnal habits though mean they are rarely seen by people. On occasion they do wander into people's houses. We had one crawl across the kitchen floor earlier on afternoon. Fortunately in our house we keep a cool head around large spiders. Actually we tend to be enthusiastic greeters to such arachnids.

Nonetheless, the best time to see these spiders is at night. It is extremely rare to see them out of their tunnels. Nonetheless, I managed it with this large beauty. This is the NZ Hexathelid Hexatheles hochstetteri - one of the very first species from NZ to be described.

This Mygalomorph spider is unusual for having 6 spinnerets rather than 4. They are some of New Zealand's largest (by weight) spiders.

#1 Wanderer


#2 Closeup- the small eyes are clustered at the front edge of the carapace


#3 Adapted to kill- the spines on the front legs help trap the prey long enough for the fangs to strike


-----
For more photos please visit
|Zenfolio Albums| or |Committed Photography|