Huntsman spider that survived harsh NZ winter has one thing on his mind

A male, grey huntsman spider found in a suburban Napier bathroom after surviving a harsh Hawke’s Bay winter has one thing on his mind, an expert says. 

Jo Minchin of Alpers Terrace in Marewa said her husband Tony Minchin first spotted the arachnid on a windowsill at their home about 8.45pm on Thursday. 

“It climbed up the house and obviously in through the window, and it was just sitting there,” she said. 

Minchin said she wasn’t a fan of spiders, but the sighting didn’t frighten her and prompted her to research the species. 

“It was actually quite cute – for spiders,” she said when recalling its face. 

“It was just sitting there, happy as.” 

Minchin said she placed a $2 coin beside the huntsman to show its relative size and took a photo before flicking it out the window unharmed. 

“It’s not a white tail, which I would kill in an instant.” 

Dr Phil Sirvid, curator of invertebrates in Te Papa’s natural history team at Te Papa, said the spider found in Marewa on Thursday was male and had likely spent the winter as a juvenile. 

“When spring arrives, these spiders will have their last moult and reach adulthood. 

“This particular individual is a male, and when male spiders reach maturity as he has, he will have one thing on his mind, and that’s finding a female of his own species to mate with. 

“He probably won’t feed much, if at all.” 

Sirvid said huntsman sightings were less frequent in Napier than in Auckland, but there had now been a slow, steady “trickle” over several years. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a small population was living there.” 

He said the population could grow over time making sightings in Napier more frequent. 

It’s not the first huntsman sighting in the city. 

There have been several sightings over the past couple of years. Cor Vink, associate professor of entomology at Lincoln University, said spiders may have established a population in Pandora. 

One spider was photographed in a backyard and reported to the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) in March 2025. 

Later that month, Dene Kirdy, who worked in shipping container logistics, found another at the entrance to the Pandora estuary while walking during his lunch break. 

Kirdy said he bent down to tie his shoelace and spotted what he believed was a juvenile huntsman in the grass. He estimated it was 5cm to 7cm long. 

Though harmless to humans, these spiders are known to jump large distances. 

They sit motionless for long periods before rushing after and eating prey, sucking out the juices and discarding the hard outer pieces. 

Their favourite foods include moths, flies, cockroaches and earwigs. 

Huntsman spiders live under loose bark on trees, in crevices in rock walls and in logs, beneath rocks, bark and corrugated iron. They also wander into homes, where they hide behind pictures and bookcases. 

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.