Polybetes

{{Short description| Genus of spiders}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Polybetes

| image = Polybetes rapidus - 2021.jpg

| image_caption = Polybetes rapidus

| authority = Simon, 1897

| type_species = P. martius

| type_species_authority = (Nicolet, 1849)

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = 15, see text

| synonyms =

• Leptosparassus Järvi, 1914
• Streptaedoea Järvi, 1914

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Polybetes is a genus of South American huntsman spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1897.{{cite book| last=Simon| first=E| year=1897| title=Histoire naturelle des araignées| publisher=Roret | location=Paris| doi=10.5962/bhl.title.51973| author-link=Eugène Simon}} It is a senior synonym of Leptosparassus and Streptaedoea.{{cite journal| last1=Gerschman de P.| first1=B. S.| last2=Schiapelli| first2=R. D.| year=1965| title=El género Polybetes Simon, 1897, en la Argentina (Araneae-Sparassidae)| journal=Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia| volume=1| page=314}}

They are commonly found in tall grass and on the bark or branches of trees. At least two species have adapted to urban environments and have been found indoors. They are large and somewhat aggressive spiders, but their venom is not toxic enough to be dangerous to humans.{{Cite journal |last1=Rodríguez-Gil |first1=Sergio Gustavo |last2=Merani |first2=María Susana |last3=Scioscia |first3=Cristina Luisa |last4=Mola |first4=Liliana María |date=2007 |title=Cytogenetics in Three Species of Polybetes Simon 1897 from Argentina (Araneae, Sparassidae) I. Karyotype and Chromosome Banding Pattern |journal=The Journal of Arachnology |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=227–237 |doi=10.1636/S05-69.1 |jstor=25067834 |s2cid=86573497 |name-list-style=amp |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229008 }}