Spiders - Australia

Garden & Indoors		Ground Dwellers		Web Spinners
Whitetail Dangerous spider. Bite often results in necrotic lesion. Wolf Not considered dangerous, however bite is painful. Huntsman Not dangerous, are often found indoors where they search for insects. Garden Orb Weaving Not dangerous, found in large web in between trees/shrubs.		Sydney Funnelweb Female    Male   Poisonous spider. Aggressive, often found wandering after wet weather. Trapdoor Female    Male   Not dangerous, however are large and the bite may be painful. Eastern Mouse Female    Male   Poisonous spider, smaller than the Funnelweb spider, with strong fangs. Painful bite.		Redback Poisonous spider, found in disorganised web under loose materials. Black House Poisonous spider that has painful bite. Found in webs around eaves, doors and windows. Golden Orb Weaving Not dangerous, found in webs in gardens. St Andrew‘s Cross Not dangerous, web and legs make cross pattern.

Brief Information on Poisonous Spiders

Sydney Funnelweb

Male is 25-30mm in length, female up to 40mm in length. Both the male and female are shiny black in colour with a dark purplish brown abdomen. The mature male has a small spur on each of the second set of legs. Two spinnerets are usually found at the tip of the abdomen. The Trapdoor Spider is often mistaken for a Funnelweb however the Trapdoor has a dull brown appearance and is less aggressive.
These spiders are nocturnal ground dwelling spiders whose burrows are located in damp, dark and covered areas, eg, rockeries, retaining walls, under logs, rubbish etc.
The venom of the male is six times more toxic than that of the female. An anti-venom has been developed for the bite of the funnelweb by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories with venom supplied by the Australian Reptile Park. First aid for the bite should involve the application of a pressure bandage, immobilisation and transportation to hospital.

Redback Spider

Found throughout Australia as well as overseas. Female up to 1cm in diameter and are black usually with a red marking on the abdomen. Males are much smaller and are not considered dangerous. Webs are disorganised affairs beneath some type of cover, like loose timber, building debris, flower pots, buckets, tubs etc.
It is a highly venomous spider that has caused 13 deaths in Australia but none since the introduction of anti-venom in 1956. First aid should involve an ice pack without a pressure bandage and transportation to hospital.

Whitetailed Spider

Found throughout Australia. Female up to 17mm in length, Male up to 12mm. They are dusty brown to grey in colour with a white to cream coloured tip at the end of their cylindrically shaped abdomen.
The normal habitat is under stones, bark, leaves etc and they move about at night searching for food such as other small spiders and insects and can inadvertently enter dwellings. The bite is painful and can result in an inflamed, necrotic lesion, which may take a long time to heal.

General Safety Information for All Spiders

• Do not leave clothes, shoes, towels etc on the floor.
• Check shoes before putting them on.
• Do not walk about at night without footwear.
• Do not handle spiders that appear to have drowned in pools, buckets etc.
• Wear leather gloves when gardening or working outside.
• If bitten by a spider, seek medical advice as soon as possible.

Ant-Eater Environmental Services are a collection point for the Australian Reptile Park. Members of the public are urged to collect live Sydney Funnelweb spiders and bring them to Ant-Eater’s offices in Brookvale. These spiders are then collected by the ARP who milk the venom from the spider. The venom is then used by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories to produce the anti-venom.
We thank the ARP for the use of text for the descriptions of the spiders.

The ARP is located near Gosford on the Central Coast and is open 7 days. A great family day out!

We would like to thank the Australian Museum for the supply of the spider photographs.

– CSIRO Spiders Identification and Advice Service

For information on FIRST AID – spiders