brown huntsman spider (male)

Description:

Heteropoda venatoria, commonly called the brown huntsman spider or laya, is found in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world especially nearby Australia. Huntsman spiders are so named because of their speed and mode of hunting. They also are called giant crab spiders, because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forest, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks), or clock spiders. Sparassidae occur in practically all warm temperate to tropical regions of the world, including much of Australasia, Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Americas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_sp...

Habitat:

Found on the wall of an out building in a village. Surrounding habitats include freshwater swampforest, sago swamp, ocean beach and a forested limestone cliff ridge.