Rare photos of the mating habits of one of Australia's most unique looking spiders, the golden huntsman, have been snapped at Taronga Zoo.

"Spiders are rather secretive and don't normally mate out in the open - but sometimes, usually at night, you might see some doing it on a wall or in the middle of a web," Taronga Zoo's spider keeper Lachlan Manning said.

Golden huntsman spiders mating at Taronga Zoo as part of their breeding program. Credit:Steven Siewert

"You'd only really see that once a year. It only really happens in the warmer parts of the year, when more mature spiders are around."

But how does the mating process work?