The Six-Eyed Sand Spider

Let this organism serve as your reason not to visit southern Africa. Sicarius hahni possesses the deadliest venom of any spider in the world, and is not only able to camouflage itself by burying under sand, but specially formed setae on the exoskeleton make sand particles stick to the cuticle, making it virtually invisible in sandy areas. Don't be too worried though, this spider is very shy and usually will not bite when it comes into contact with humans… usually. It is called by the common name, six-eyed sand spider, because of its ability to camouflage in sandy areas, along with having three pairs of eyes. It is light or reddish brown in color, with a body that grows to about 15 mm. It can also be referred to as the six-eyed crab spider, named because the way the legs are held in crablike fashion.

This web page was created as a project for an Organismal Biology course at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. My name is Jordan Pendergast, and I am a sophmore studying Biomedical Science. To begin learning more about the six-eyed sand spider, click on one of the tabs on the top right of this page. Enjoy!

 Click here to learn more about the six-eyed sand spider, beginning with the classification.

To learn about other interesting organisms made by other UW-La Crosse students, check out Multiple Organisms!