Giant Amazonian Whip Spider
The giant Amazonian whip spider (Heterophrynus batesii) is one of the largest whip spiders, with a leg span of up to about 45 centimeters across its whip legs. It lives on tree trunks in the Amazon rain forest.
The giant Amazonian whip spider (Heterophrynus batesii) is one of the largest whip spiders, with a leg span of up to about 45 centimeters across its whip legs. It lives on tree trunks in the Amazon rain forest.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Giant Amazonian Whip Spider in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Big Predator in the Canopy Understory
The whip spider clings to trunks at night, using its huge spiny pedipalps to snatch insects and small vertebrates. Pedipalps in males are especially large and used in contests.
Named for Bates
The species honors Henry Walter Bates, the English naturalist who collected in the Amazon in the nineteenth century and described mimicry in butterflies.
Forest Dependence
Like other whip spiders it needs humid, intact forest. See Tanzanian Giant Whip Spider.
Giant Amazonian Whip Spider at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Heterophrynus batesii |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Arachnida |
| Order | Amblypygi |
| Family | Phrynidae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Arachnida (Spiders, Scorpions & Allies) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Large dark Amazonian arachnid with long spiny raptorial pedipalps and thread-thin feeler legs spanning over 30 cm; hunts on tree trunks at night. |
| Order | Amblypygi |
| Habitat | Amazon rainforest trunks |
See Also
- Tanzanian Giant Whip Spider — an African giant
- Goliath Birdeater — another Amazon giant