EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Huntsman in My Shower

Huntsman (cf. Heteropoda sp.), Family Sparassidae 
Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Explanation:  After last week's encounter with the dangerous eyes in the Rapti River, here in Royal Chitwan National Park of southern Nepa, I settled back into my bungalow ... only to discover an unexpected friend in my shower.  We startled each other, I think, as it scampered across the smooth tile wall and into a tight crevice and out of sight.

This was a huntsman spider, quite a large and amazing specimen.  Huntsmen (huntsmans?) are typically large, with wide thin legs that somewhat bend sideways, allowing them to squeeze into flat, tight areas ... such as under tree bark, behind your car's sun visor (that can be startling, too), and into crevices in your shower.  

This individual seemed agile and relatively healthy, despite an apparent deformity, having only 6 functional legs, a malformed 7th leg, and missing the 8th leg altogether:

I identify this individual as potentially belonging to the genus Heteropoda, which means "different legs," referring to the characteristic of the genus as having legs of unequal length (deformities notwithstanding).  You can clearly see this inequality in the above photo, with this individual nicely stretched out flat against the wall.  

This is hardly the first huntsman I have encountered, having stumbled upon them in Australia, along the Ubangi River in central tropical Africa, and even as an odd roommate in my cabin in the heart of the Congo River Basin. 

And, moreover, this is also not the first interesting friend I have discovered in a shower during my travels!