Biodiversity in Australia's National Reserve System - Part ... - BushBlitz

Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae)
The ANHAT database has 1162 records for 116 species and subspecies of huntsman spiders.
Eleven of these species account for approximately 50% of the total species records in
ANHAT. Each of these species had over 20 records in the ANHAT database.
Table 66 Sparassidae species that account for approximately 50% of the total species
records in ANHAT.
Species No. Records
% total
records
Isopeda villosa 24 2.07
Isopeda magna 24 2.07
Holconia flindersi 25 2.15
Neosparassus diana 27 2.32
Isopedella saundersi 34 2.93
Isopedella inola 36 3.10
Holconia nigrigularis 45 3.87
Isopedella cerussata 68 5.85
Isopeda leishmanni 82 7.06
Isopedella leai 107 9.21
Delena cancerides 119 10.24
Total 591 50.87
The majority of species of huntsman spiders present in the ANHAT database have been
rarely recorded, with 86 of the 116 species being represented by 10 or fewer individual
record sites (Table 67). Again, such a large number of species leaves little opportunity to
recognise trends in the database, especially as the habitat types of the majority are not easily
identified. The very few records for most species leave it essentially impossible to state
clearly what their habitat preferences are, even if there is any published information available
to provide an indication. The limited information does not even allow broad regional
distributions, with only state listings generally being available. This means that in most
instances the distribution of a species is very difficult to assess with any confidence.
However, some species with location data occur in more than one state, and the majority of
species occur in eastern Australia. The lack of records for clearly often widespread species
reflects the general lack of collecting and identification of the invertebrates within Australia.
As is common for the invertebrates in general, no huntsman spider species have been
assessed for listing under the EPBC Act.
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