Heteropoda cervina, commonly called the brown huntsman, is a large species of spider in the family Sparassidae often found in leaf litter in central Queensland, Australia.

The species was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1875 as Sarotes cervinus.

[1][2] Heteropoda cervina shelters under bark or other dark places during the day, emerging in the evening to find prey, often on tree trunks.

These spiders are also known to enter houses, though they are extremely timid, and their bite – while painful – is only mildly toxic.

[3] Their unequally sized legs, after which the genus is named, are splayed to the side allowing very fast sideways movement and abrupt change of direction.