Skin-crawling! Man opens a Huntsman Spider egg sac and releases hundreds of tiny babies into his hand

By William On Feb 27, 2024

A man captured a skin-crawling moment when he opened the egg sac of a Huntsman spider and released hundreds of spiderlings onto his hand.

Adrian Kozakiewicz, a collector and breeder of tropical insects Germanyshared footage of himself tearing open the white bag, releasing tiny spiders that enveloped his fingers and moved on his hand until they fell one by one.

He shared the video on YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 255,000 times – as well as hundreds of comments expressing every emotion from awe to horror.

And while the horde of spiders may seem terrifying, they are actually relatively harmless, especially as babies.

Adrian Kozakiewicz gently cradles a huntsman spider’s egg sac, which is woven from the mother’s biological silk.

Commenters on Kozakiewicz’s “spider unboxing” video were largely upset by it.

“You’ve gone completely crazy!!!!” wrote one commenter. ‘I immediately started itching and felt nauseous!!!! I couldn’t even be your neighbor knowing you have all that sorcery, aka the devil animals, in your house! You are a brave soul…. Crazy…but brave lol

“New fear unlocked,” wrote another.

“As a true arachnophobe I will say that I actually had a heart attack thanks to the author,” someone else commented.

Others, however, were delighted.

“Beautiful spiders,” one viewer commented.

“I can’t wait to get my Huntsman,” wrote another.

The spiderlings will not reach adult size for another one to three years.

When they do, the arachnids have a body length of 2.2 to 2.8 cm (about 1 inch) and a leg span of seven to 12 cm (3 to 5 inches).

But for now, the babies are about the size of a freckle.

A group of young spiders is seen as pale and has not yet developed any color due to molting. The delicate silk can be easily torn open, so the mother tends to guard her eggs as they develop.

Huntsman spiders don’t often bite humans, and when they do, it is painful but not fatal.

Instead, they tend to run away when they encounter danger, like in this video.

Kozakiewicz is a breeder, and as you can see in the video, the baby spiders fall into an enclosure where they will likely live when they start growing.

However, in their natural environment, a huntsman spider is unlikely to let another animal tear open its egg sac – at least not without a fight.

When it’s time for the female huntsman spider to lay her eggs, she often weaves a white, oval sac from silk, according to the Australian Museum.

She lays up to 200 eggs in the bag and hides them in a place where they are unlikely to be snatched by a bird or other predator looking for an easy snack.

Often the hunter mother puts her developing eggs under a rock or under the bark of a tree.

However, there are many species of huntsman spiders, and not all have the same habits.

Dozens and possibly hundreds of huntsman spiders swarm into Adrian Kozakiewicz’s hands as he tears open their egg sacs.

Some attach the egg sac to their abdomen and carry it around.

The mother will stand guard, often without feeding, for the three weeks it takes for the eggs to hatch and develop into spiderlings.

When they hatch, the mother stays with them until they can fend for themselves, which can take several weeks.

Spiders, like their insect and crab relatives, molt as they grow.

Once they outgrow an exoskeleton, they shed it and a new exoskeleton hardens in place.

The huntsman spider can measure up to 30 cm (11.8 in) in diameter, giving it the common name ‘crab spider’.

This is what happens during the first weeks of the huntsman spiders’ lives.

They are born pale and molt several times while still with their mother.

With each molt they become a little darker and their exoskeleton becomes a little harder.

Eventually they are completely brown and spread out, making their own way in the world.

HUNTINGMAN Spiders:

Huntsman spiders are large, long-legged spiders. They are usually gray to brown, sometimes with striped legs.

They are commonly found under loose bark of trees, in crevices in rock walls and in tree trunks, under rocks and slabs of bark on the ground, and on foliage.

Their food consists of insects and other invertebrates.

Many huntsman spiders have rather flattened bodies that are adapted to living in narrow spaces under loose bark or rock crevices. This is aided by their legs whose joints, instead of bending vertically relative to the body, are twisted in such a way that they spread forward and laterally like a crab.

Hunter spiders of many species sometimes enter homes. They are also notorious for getting into cars and hiding behind sun visors or running across the dashboard.

Source: Australian Museum

There are more than 1,300 species of huntsman spiders, most of which originate from warm and temperate tropical regions of the world.

The spider gets its name from its stalking, chasing and killing habits.

Although the diet is varied, some can eat prey as large as a lizard.

People in Australia will sometimes find them in their homes, but the spiders pose little risk to humans.