Editing Huntsman spider (section)

{{short description|Family of spiders (Sparassidae)}}
{{Use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=December 2021}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Palaeogene|present}}
| name = Huntsman spiders
| image = Sparassidae Palystes castaneus mature female 9923s.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Palystes castaneus]]'', showing sparassid pattern of eyes in two rows of four, with the robust build and non-[[Wiktionary:clavate|clavate]] [[pedipalp]]s of a female
| taxon = Sparassidae
| authority = [[Philipp Bertkau|Bertkau]], 1872<ref name=WSC_g90/>
| range_map = Distribution.sparassidae.1.png
| diversity = [[#Genera|88 genera]], [[List of Sparassidae species|1363 species]]
| diversity_ref = <ref name=WSC_stats/>
}}

'''Huntsman spiders''', members of the [[Family (biology)|family]] '''Sparassidae''' (formerly Heteropodidae), catch their prey by hunting rather than in webs.<ref name=Saar10>{{Cite book |last1=Saaristo |first1=Michael I. |date=2010 |editor1-last=Gerlach |editor1-first=Justin |editor2-last=Marusik |editor2-first=Yuri M. |contribution=Araneae |title=Arachnida and Myriapoda of the Seychelles islands |publisher=Siri Scientific Press |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> They are also 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 (forests, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks). In southern Africa the genus ''[[Palystes]]'' are known as '''rain spiders''' or '''lizard-eating spiders'''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachnids/spiders/sparassidae/palystes.htm |title=''Palystes'' (rain spiders, lizard-eating spiders) |author=Norman Larsen |work=Iziko Museums of Cape Town |publisher=Biodiversity Explorer |access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> Commonly, they are confused with [[Harpactirinae|baboon spiders]] from the [[Mygalomorphae]] [[Order (biology)|infraorder]], which are not closely related.

More than a thousand Sparassidae species occur in most warm temperate to tropical regions of the world, including much of [[Australia]], [[Africa]], [[Asia]], the [[Mediterranean Basin]], and the [[Americas]].<ref name="Isbister">{{cite journal |author=Geoffrey K. Isbister & David Hirst |year=2003 |title=A prospective study of definite bites by spiders of the family Sparassidae (huntsmen spiders) with identification to species level |journal=[[Toxicon]] |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=163–171 |pmid=12906887 |doi=10.1016/S0041-0101(03)00129-6}}</ref>

Several species of huntsman spider can use an unusual form of locomotion. The [[wheel spider]] (''Carparachne aureoflava'') from the [[Namib]] uses a [[cartwheel (gymnastics)|cartwheeling]] motion which gives it its name, while ''[[Cebrennus rechenbergi]]'' uses a [[handspring (gymnastics)|handspring]] motion.