Baby huntsman spiders are pale, soft-bodied spiderlings that hatch in clusters and look like miniature versions of their parents, complete with the signature crab-like leg posture. They’re common finds in Australia and warmer climates worldwide, often appearing in groups under bark, on walls, or inside homes. If you’ve spotted a cluster of small, flat, long-legged spiders, you’re likely looking at recently hatched huntsman spiderlings.
What Baby Huntsman Spiders Look Like
Newly hatched huntsman spiders are pale, almost translucent, and tiny compared to the adults they’ll become. Adult huntsman spiders can reach a leg span of up to 15 cm (about 6 inches), but spiderlings start out just a few millimeters across. Their bodies are soft right after hatching, and they lack the darker brown coloring of mature spiders.
As they grow and molt, baby huntsmans gradually harden and darken to the grey-brown tones typical of adults. Even at a young age, they share the distinctive huntsman body plan: a flattened body and legs that splay outward in a crab-like fashion rather than tucking underneath. This flat profile is an adaptation for squeezing into tight spaces under loose bark and rock crevices. Their legs may show faint banding, which becomes more visible with each molt.
Hatching and Early Life
Female huntsman spiders are unusually attentive mothers for spiders. The mother builds a flat, silken egg sac, typically tucked under bark, and then stays with it, actively guarding it until the spiderlings hatch. A single egg sac can contain around 200 eggs, though numbers vary by species.
After hatching, the spiderlings don’t leave the egg sac right away. They remain inside until they complete their first molt, shedding their initial skin before emerging. Once they do come out, they cluster together near their mother for several days, sometimes undergoing another molt during this period. They then begin to disperse gradually, heading off on their own. This is why people sometimes find a startling mass of tiny spiders all in one spot: they’ve likely stumbled on a brood that hasn’t yet scattered.
Where You’ll Find Them
Baby huntsman spiders turn up in the same places adults prefer: under loose tree bark, in rock crevices, behind wall hangings, inside sheds, and in garages. Because they hatch in large groups, it’s common to see dozens of spiderlings clustered together before they spread out. In warmer regions like Australia, Southeast Asia, and parts of the southern United States, they can appear indoors, especially during warmer months or after rain pushes them to seek shelter.
One species, the pantropical huntsman (Heteropoda venatoria), is found across tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, including Florida and the Gulf Coast states. Baby spiders of this species are a common sight in homes throughout these regions.
Are Baby Huntsman Spiders Dangerous?
Huntsman spiders, including the babies, are not considered dangerous to humans. Like most spiders they do have venom, but they are reluctant biters and will almost always run away rather than act aggressively. A bite from an adult huntsman can cause some localized pain and swelling, but serious medical effects are rare.
Baby huntsmans are even less of a concern. Their fangs are extremely small and generally can’t deliver a meaningful bite to human skin. They pose no threat to pets either. The main reaction most people have is surprise at finding so many tiny spiders at once, which is understandable but not a safety issue.
How to Tell Them Apart From Other Spiders
Small, brown spiders can be tricky to identify, and baby huntsmans sometimes get confused with other species. One common concern in the United States is whether a small spider might be a brown recluse. There are a few reliable ways to tell them apart.
- Leg pattern: Baby huntsman spiders often have banding or multiple colors on their legs. Brown recluses have uniformly light-colored legs with no stripes or bands.
- Body shape: Huntsmans are noticeably flat with legs that splay sideways in a crab-like posture. Brown recluses have a more compact, rounded body with legs that angle more conventionally.
- Eyes: Brown recluses have six eyes arranged in three pairs, which is unusual. Most spiders, including huntsmans, have eight eyes.
- Leg texture: Brown recluses have only fine hairs on their legs, with no spines. Young huntsman spiders typically have visible fine hairs and a slightly rougher texture.
- Abdomen color: A brown recluse’s abdomen is uniformly one color at a time, never showing two pigments simultaneously. Huntsman spiderlings often show some variation in shading across their bodies.
If you’re in a region where brown recluses don’t naturally occur (they’re concentrated in the south-central United States), the small spider you’re seeing is almost certainly not one, regardless of color.
What to Do If You Find a Cluster
Finding a group of baby huntsman spiders in your home can feel alarming, but they’ll disperse on their own within days. If you’d rather not wait, you can gently sweep them onto a piece of cardboard and move them outside. They won’t survive well indoors long-term anyway, since they need insects to eat and prefer the sheltered gaps found in natural environments like tree bark.
Sealing gaps around windows, doors, and wall vents can reduce the chances of huntsman spiders entering your home in the first place. Removing loose bark piles, firewood stacks, and debris near exterior walls also makes the area less attractive to egg-laying females. That said, huntsman spiders are effective pest controllers, eating cockroaches, moths, and other household insects. Many people in Australia and tropical regions consider them welcome houseguests for exactly that reason.