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Of all the thousands of Australian spiders, only two have bites
which alone are capable of causing death: the funnel-web spider
and the red-back spider |
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The Sydney funnel-web (and a few related atrax species) is the most
dangerous spider in Australia |
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The Sydney funnel-web is about 6-7 cm long |
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It is a black spider which looks very aggressive mainly because
of its massive fangs |
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These fangs are large and powerful enough to easily penetrate a
fingernail |
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It is a slow moving spider that does not jump but lunges when disturbed
and aggressively exposing the fangs |
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The spider firmly grips its victim and bites repeatedly; in most
cases the experience is horrific - their venom is highly toxic |
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The venom of the slightly smaller male spider is five times as toxic
as the female |
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It lives in burrows or crevices in rocks or around house foundations,
lining the burrows with silk |
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Colonies of more than 100 spiders may be found |
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The Australian Redback or Jockey Spider belongs to a group of spiders
known throughout the world as Black Widows (genus Latrodectus) |
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The adult female red-back spider is about 2-3 cm long |
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Their body is black with a distinctive red stripe on its abdomen
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The male is much smaller and considered harmless |
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The bite of this spider is immediately painful |
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Redbacks occur throughout Australia, but are most common where the
natural environment has been disturbed, such as settled or urban
areas |
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White tailed spiders are found in most areas of Australia, and are
common in urban dwellings |
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They are readily identifiable by their cylindrical body shape and
the presence of a white or grey spot on the end on their abdomen |
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They are active hunters, preying upon other types of spiders, and
may be found roaming inside houses, especially in warmer weather |
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Other common spiders include the Common huntsmen, which frequently
enter houses at night. They do not build a web, but hunt for insects.
They are large, fast moving spiders, but are not considered aggressive |
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Mouse spiders, which belong to the trapdoor family of spiders, are
found throughout mainland Australia. They are aggressive, and will
adopt an attacking posture when threatened, rearing up on their
hind legs. They have large fangs capable of inflicting a painful
and potentially serious bite |
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The black window spider is usually found building untidy looking
webs in the corners of windows, doors and crevices |
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The brown house spider is a relative of the redback spider, which
it resembles in size and body shape, but not in colour. It is often
found under furniture or in other dark places inside houses. It
is very common in urban gardens |
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Orb weavers are a diverse group of spiders that build rounded webs,
sometimes quite large, to catch nocturnal flying insect prey. Bites
may occur when people walk into the webs accidentally |
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Trapdoor spiders superficially resemble funnel web spiders, but
have not been associated with any significant systemic illnesses.
The may be bite painful, however, due to the large size of the fangs.
Like funnel web spiders, they live in burrows, often with a trapdoor
entrance, from which they ambush prey. Also like funnel webs, males
leave the burrows to roam in search of a mate, and may enter houses
in the autumn for this reason |
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Wolf spiders do not build webs, but actively hunt their prey of
small arthropods. Some live in burrows, while others are free ranging
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Jumping spiders are a diverse group of many different species, some
of which may be found in suburban houses and gardens. Their large,
forward facing eyes allow them to accurately judge distances as
they jump to capture their prey |
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Bird-eating spiders are amongst the largest spiders found in Australia.
These large primitive spiders, native to northern and inland Australia,
excavate long burrows from which they emerge at night to ambush
prey including spiders, insects, frogs, lizards and sometimes small
birds |
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