This huge hairy-legged Australian arachnid may be the fastest spider on the planet

The Guardian World Thursday 09 July 2026, 15:00 UTC By Graham Readfearn, Nick Evershed and Andy Ball 1 min read

Key Points

A brown huntsman is the quickest of more than 250 species analysed by scientists in the UK and GermanyIf arachnophobes were not frightened enough by the horrific ability of Australia’s huntsman spiders to drag dead mice up the sides of fridges, they now have another reason. They might be the fastest spiders on the planet.

A brown huntsman is the quickest of more than 250 species analysed by scientists in the UK and Germany

If arachnophobes were not frightened enough by the horrific ability of Australia’s huntsman spiders to drag dead mice up the sides of fridges, they now have another reason.

They might be the fastest spiders on the planet.

Australian (ORG) UK (LOCATION) GermanyIf (ORG) Australia (LOCATION)

Originally published by The Guardian World Read original →

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This huge hairy-legged Australian arachnid may be the fastest spider on the planet

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