If spotting a huntsman spider inside your home wasn't unsettling enough, new research suggests it may also be the fastest spider ever recorded. Scientists have found that Australia's brown huntsman (Heteropoda jugulans) can reach speeds of 3.59 metres per second (around 13 km/h or 8 mph), making it the quickest among 258 spider species analysed in one of the largest comparative studies of spider movement to date.
The findings come from an international team of researchers in Germany and the United Kingdom and are currently available as a preprint on bioRxiv, meaning they have not yet undergone peer review. Even so, scientists say the results provide important clues about how spider size and body mechanics influence speed.
