A man captured a goosebump moment when he opened the egg sac of a Huntsman spider, releasing hundreds of hatchlings into his hand.
Adrian Kozakiewicz, breeder and collector of tropical insects in GermanyHe shared images of himself opening the white sack, releasing tiny spiders that wrapped around his fingers and moved over his hand until they fell off one by one.
He shared the video on YouTube, where it received more than 255,000 views, as well as hundreds of comments expressing every emotion from shock to horror.
And while the horde of spiders may look scary, they’re actually relatively harmless, especially when they’re babies.
Adrian Kozakiewicz gently cradles the egg sac of a huntsman spider, woven from the mother’s biological silk.
Commenters on Kozakiewicz’s ‘spider unboxing’ video were mostly uneasy.
‘You’ve lost all your mind!!!!’ wrote one commenter. ‘I immediately started feeling itchy and nauseous!!!! I couldn’t even be your neighbor knowing that you have all that witchcraft, aka devil’s pets, in your house! You are a brave soul…. Crazy… but brave hahaha
“A new fear released,” wrote another.
“As a true arachnophobe, I will say that I really had a heart attack, thanks to the author,” someone else commented.
Others, however, were delighted.
“Beautiful spiders,” one viewer commented.
“Can’t wait to get my Huntsman,” wrote another.
The hatchlings will not reach adult size for one to three years.
When they do, the arachnids will have a body length of 2.2 to 2.8 cm (about 1 inch) and a leg span of seven to 12 cm (3 to 5 inches).
But for now, the babies are the size of a freckle.
A group of young spiders look pale and have not yet developed color through molting. The delicate silk can tear easily, so the mother tends to protect the eggs from it while they develop.
Huntsman spiders do not usually bite people, and if they do, it is painful but not fatal.
Instead, they tend to flee when they encounter danger, like in this video.
Kozakiewicz is a breeder and, as you can see in the video, the baby spiders are dropping into an enclosure where they will likely live as they begin to grow.
However, in its natural environment, a huntsman spider is unlikely to allow another animal to open its egg sac, at least not without a fight.
When the time comes for the female huntsman spider to lay her eggs, she often spins an oval sac of white silk, depending on the color. Australian Museum.
She lays up to 200 eggs in the sac and hides them somewhere where they are unlikely to be caught by a bird or other predator looking for an easy snack.
Often the hunting mother hides her developing eggs under a rock or under the bark of a tree.
However, there are many species of huntsman spiders and not all of them have the same habits.
Dozens and possibly hundreds of baby huntsman spiders swarm Adrian Kozakiewicz’s hands as he opens his egg sac.
Some will place the egg sac on their belly and carry it with them.
The mother will remain on guard, often without eating, for the approximately three weeks it takes for the eggs to grow into hatchlings.
When they are born, the mother will stay with them until they can care for themselves, which can take several weeks.
Spiders, like their insect and crab relatives, molt as they grow.
Once they outgrow an exoskeleton, they shed it and a new one hardens in its place.
The huntsman spider can measure up to 30 cm (11.8 in) across, which has earned it the common name “crab spider”.
This is what happens during the first weeks of life of hunting spider babies.
They are born pale and molt several times while still with their mother.
With each molt, they darken a little and their exoskeleton becomes a little harder.
Over time, they turn completely brown and disperse, making their own way in the world.
There are more than 1,300 species of huntsman spiders, most of which are native to warm tropical and temperate regions of the world.
The spider gets its name from its habits of stalking, chasing and killing.
Although their diet is varied, some can eat prey the size of a lizard.
People in Australia sometimes find them in their homes, but spiders pose little risk to humans.