Spiders
A spider has two sections to its body with a waist between. It has four pairs of walking legs. Usually six to eight eyes and no antennae or wings. They make and use silk webs. They can inject poison and suck up liquid. Spiders breath through tiny holes in the sides of their bodies.
Female spiders may reproduce up to 300 spiderlings per hatching 2 or three times per year, depending on their species. The spiderlings (baby spiders) are then distributed en masse on gusts of wind on parachutes of web, or crawl to their new home. Their life cycle is usually less than 12 months for webbing spiders, but some ground-dwelling spiders may have a life cycle of many years.
There are nine Australian Spiders whose venom ranges from extremely toxic to resulting in painful bites;
Funnelweb
SYDNEY FUNNELWEB-(MALE) The most dangerous spider in the world is the male Sydney Funnel Web. It has killed three children in under two hours. This spider is quickly identified by a glossy black body with long spinnerets. An aggressive spider which rears up when challenged. His venom is seven times as toxic as the female, yet is dangerous only to primates. Secondary identification is a pointed spur on each second leg and reddish black undersides.
SYDNEY FUNNELWEB-(FEMALE) Similar in appearance with a stockier body than the male. Lives in web-lined retreats in moist, cool locations. The female although less toxic than the male, has caused fatalities, mainly amongst the young, old and sick population.
Red-back Spider
RED-BACK This spider has a pea-shaped abdomen with a characteristic red or orange stripe. The male is much smaller and harmless. Makes untidy webs around rubbish and pot plants. Poison is much slower acting than the Funnel Web and bites causes severe pain with localised sweating. Is related to the Black Widow spider of the U.S.A. and the Katipo of New Zealand. Around 300 spider bites are recorded every year from the Red-Back with seven fatalities attributed.
Mouse Spider
MOUSE SPIDER Females often mistaken for Funnelwebs. Large glossy black bodied spider, with the male having a red forepart of the cephalothorax. Female lives in holes with double doors in the ground. Has blunted spinnerets and strong jaws. Toxic and painful bite.
Life history
Mouse spiders live in burrows in the soil, sealed with a hinged lid. The burrow
provides a refuge from predators, parasites, low humidity and high temperatures.
They feed by lunging at passing prey from the burrow entrance. A female mouse
spider is long-lived and will spend her entire life in the burrow. Females are
rarely seen except when accidentally dug up.
Male mouse spiders leave their burrows at maturity (a couple of years old) to
search out a mate, usually after rain. Mating takes place in the female's burrow,
after which the male dies.
Habitat and Distribution
Eastern Mouse Spiders are found in east coastal and highland regions
of Australia. Red-headed Mouse Spiders are found across the continent
mainly west of the Great Dividing Range.
Like the trap-door spiders, the mouse spider lives in burrows in the
ground, often in banks of rivers, creeks and other waterways, and is
sometimes found in suburban gardens. The burrows are built with double
or single trapdoors and the entrance is oval-shaped. The burrow can extend
for a depth of about 30cm - which is unusually deep for a spider, but
not as deep as previously claimed for this species.
The females tend to remain in or near their burrows throughout their
life, and are sluggish spiders that are rarely aggressive. However M.
occatoria females have been found to produce copious amounts of highly
toxic venom, which is potentially as dangerous as that of the Sydney
Funnel-web Spider. A male M. bradleyi caused a serious envenomation in
a child in the Brisbane region. Males wander during early winter, especially
after rain. They will assume a threatening posture if disturbed.
Insects are the main prey of Mouse Spiders but their diet could possibly
include small vertebrates and other spiders. Predators of the Mouse Spider
include parasitic wasps, bandicoots, scorpions and centipedes.
Habits, Mating and Reproduction
Males reach sexual maturity at about four years. They leave their shallow
burrows during the breeding season to find a mate. They are unusual in
that their wandering behaviour occurs during the day, unlike other mygalomorph
spiders, whose males are night wanderers. Mating usually takes place
within the female's burrow.
The female lays 60 or more eggs within an egg sac that she places into
a brood chamber off the main shaft of her burrow. The spiderlings hatch
from the egg sac over summer and remain with the mother into autumn when
dispersal occurs.
The spiderlings of the Red-headed Mouse Spider disperse by ballooning,
a technique that is rare in mygalomorphs. This explains the relatively
wide distribution of Red-headed Mouse Spiders compared to other mygalomorph
species, including the Eastern Mouse Spider, which probably disperses
on the ground.
White Tailed Spider
WHITE TAILED SPIDER A small dark brown spider with a characteristic white spot on the end of the abdomen. Usually encountered inside houses sheltering from the weather or introduced on clothing brought in from the clothes line. Bite is not usually painful, though may become very painful at a later stage. Ulcers may develop to a stage where necrosis of the skin occurs.
Black House Spider
BLACK HOUSE SPIDER Both sexes are dark brown to grey/black with body markings. Builds webs in dark corners of windows, verandahs, sheds or fences. Bite very painful with severe vomiting and nausea resulting. No fatalities recorded.
Wolf Spider
WOLF SPIDER Mottled grey and brown body with Union Jack appearance on cephalothorax. Carries young on its back. Makes web-lined holes in the ground. Moves rapidly when disturbed. Bite may be toxic and painful for a short while. Ulcers from bite suspected of developing necrosis of skin.
Brown Trap Door
BROWN TRAPDOOR Brown to dark brown covered with fine hairs. Leggy spider with male having "Boxing glove" palps. Does not usually leave lid over hole. Painful bite.
Huntsman Spider
HUNTSMAN Grey to brown spider with large very leggy body. Lives under bark during day and emerges during night. Walks sideways on occasion. Non-toxic and rarely bites. Is known to hide under sun-visors in cars.