Huntsman spider

Habitat:

Members of the Sparassidae are common in Australia, but also in many warm-temperate-to-tropical parts of the world. They have been accidentally introduced to many parts of the world, including South America, China, Philippines, Japan, India and southern parts of the United States, such as Florida and Puerto Rico and western parts of Texas. A species of huntsman can be found in Hawaii, where it is commonly known as a cane spider. In general they are likely to be found wherever ships may bring them as unintended passengers to areas that are not too cold for them to survive in the winter. In southern Africa they are commonly known as rain spiders because of their tendency to seek shelter before rain storms, often entering human habitations when doing so.

Notes:

Huntsman spiders are widely considered beneficial because they feed on insect pests such as cockroaches and crickets. It is not always clear what provokes Sparassidae to bite people, but it is known that female members of this family will aggressively defend their egg sacs and young against perceived threats. The rarity of bites on various body parts suggests that most are accidental or incidental, resulting from inadvertent handling. Bites from Sparassids usually do not require hospital treatment. In particular no necrosis was reported in the works cited here.