Spiders in Western Australia

Spiders found in Western Australia

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"Do Not Enter"

The majority of Australian spiders are new to science. Most southern hemisphere spiders are unknown!

Australia leads the world in the number of venomous spiders as well as the toxicity. However, of almost 10 000 species of spiders in 70 families throughout the country, most are harmless to humans and interesting to study.

Redback

All spiders in Australia are venomous but only two have caused deaths, the Funnel Web and Redback.

The Redback is the most well known Australian spider and found in all areas except the highest mountains and deep in the ocean.

She can store sperm up to two years then lay 10 egg sacs, each containing about 250 eggs, and can repeat this a week later.

"Do Not Touch"

Closely related to the Black Widow and identical except for the red dorsal stripe.

The Redback "venom is highly neurotoxic, which is to say that it attacks the central nervous system causing intense pain, profuse sweating, difficulty in breathing, loss of consciousness, violent convulsions and, finally...Death."

Prior to the introduction of specific antivenom in 1956, Redbacks had been responsible for thirteen deaths in Australia. None since!

More redback pics | |

Web Drops

Most spiders are predators with eight legs, eight eyes, fangs and venom but the the most prominent feature is the ability to produce silk.

Silk is used as a safety-line, to catch prey, wrap up prey and to make egg sacs.

It is also used for transport, shelter and courtship.

Golden Orb

The Golden Orb spider gets her name from the beautiful golden, orb-shaped web that she makes. This web is the largest and strongest in the world.

The tiny males live on the edge of her web feeding on small insects. They are so small that they can sneak in for a quickie without the female noticing. But if they are caught they may get eaten.

Huntsman

Huntsman spiders are those big, hairy, scary, long-legged spiders we often find behind curtains, in the shower cubicle and under the car's sun visor.

These timid creatures are harmless and will run from humans at lightning fast speeds.

The design of the legs allows the Huntsman to run sideways as well as forward.

Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Long-legs hunt, kill and eat Redback Spiders, House Spiders, Wolf Spiders and more. An ideal pet to keep in the house.

When hunting other spiders it will tap the victims web to attract it, quickly envelope it with silk and then inflict the fatal bite.

When threatened by a touch to the web the Daddy Long-legs become invisible by vibrating rapidly and becoming blurred. Their main predator is the vacuum cleaner.

Tubeweb

Segestriidae - Tube-dwelling spiders have only six eyes.

They build a tubular web with radiating silk triplines for detecting prey. (Monitored by the six forward legs.)

Crab

Flower Spiders (or Crab Spiders) are colourful and camouflage well in flower petals. This serves a dual purpose of hiding from potential predators and concealing from possible prey.

They feed on nectar feeding insects including bees.

Huntsman

I think most aussies have a scary Huntsman story.

The Battle

This spider has been immobilized by the sting of a wasp and will become living food for the larvae.

Web Site

Garden Orb Weaving Spiders are common in gardens during summer. They build their webs in the evening and before daylight will sometimes eat the web, then hide all day.

They are non-aggressive and low risk to humans but walking into a web at night can cause panic, especially if the spider is on your face.

Harry

All the indoor pics were taken inside my house. I removed the Redback, the Daddy Long Leg ate the Black House spider and Harry the Huntsman is still here.

Jewel

Jewel Spiders (Christmas or Spiny spider) are orb weavers.

These tiny spiders are usually found on a web strung between two bushes.

They look like a creature you don't wanna touch.

Banded Garden Spider - Argiope trifasciata

Bandy

Banded Garden Spider or Banded Argiope

Generally seen arse-up in the centre of an orb web, with legs together in pairs. Trifasciatas are found throughout Australia around autumn. Often mistaken for the St Andrews Cross spider which is only found in the east.

These awesome creatures are totally harmless.

Argiope trifasciata

Wolf Spider

Tiny immature wolf spiders hiding in the dunes at Cape Range NP, Exmouth.

Wait until dark, grab a torch, enter the sand dunes and hold the torch about eye-level. The bright pinpricks of light in the sand are reflections from the spiders eyes. I saw up to 10 from one location.

When alarmed the spider will quickly disappear into the sand.

Spider

Here is a Flickr group on Australian spiders with a search function. You can post spider pictures and get feedback from others.
Moderated by spider experts like Volker, an arachnologist from W.A.

Check out Jean's collection of spiders from W.A.

Comments

carmen

i recognized the "jewel" spider as soon as i saw it. we have those in miami, fl, US. i used to grab them from outside my grandma's house as a kid. they're very small but spiky and cool looking.
Spiderman

Where is the picture of me?
Bender

You Must not forget the Aussie Tarantula spiders, these are the biggest and are becoming more frequent throughout Australia with new species being discovered all the time, the latest being the australian Goliath which reaches a body span of over 23cm or 9 to 10 inches which matches pretty much south americas amazon species called by the same name [goliath] this was dicovered by Steve Nunn in 2008-9 along with the swamp ghost tarantula, these are known to be able to bring down snakes and lizards frogs and even birds, one was seen dragging a dead bird of the side of the road at tamborine mountain on the hinterland goldcoast, qld but have also been spotted all over Australia in various bushland pockets.
FRANCES

HI, I DON'T LIKE THE SOUND OF THE RED BACK SPIDERS EFFECTS. I WOULD IMAGINE THE PAIN FROM ONE OF THEIR BITES WOULD BE HORRIFIC. I WONDER HOW LONG IT TAKES TO KILL A PERSON?
alex

very nice pix
BOB

THEY ARE ALL DISGUSTING THEY MAKE ME CRINGE !!
BillyBob

I had a scary huntsman story! I was just sitting there watching TV then in the corner of my eye is see this HUGE gray thing! I was like WTF!!! and then it ran towards me. God that was some scary stuff, anyways I just stamped on it xD
larry woods

I live with these sorts of spiders they are all so kool but soo SPOOKY when your asleep.once i woke up with a red back spider on my face i yelled and my girlfriend slipped it off my face she isn't even scared of poison spiders. I really need to find a new house. ONE WITHOUT SPIDERS!!! and she stopped on it after woods. NOW I DON'T LIKE SPIDERS today one was on my leg.its a spiders palace in here.
nina

we got crab spiders in our trash can and we also like the picture of the orb spider.I also want to know where did you get those cool pics from.also creepy but cool!!!! (:(:
Shae

Hi Frances, just to let you know, this year i was sitting on a chair watching TV when i felt this painful sting on my bum, i thought i had been bitten by a soldier ant it was so painful!! Then the pain spread to my groin muscle and i started telling my friends "Shit! I think i have been bitten by a Redback!" They were all teasing me telling me i was a hypochondriac but then i felt the sight and it was all sweaty and really painful and i said "I swear its a Redback!" so we shook out the doona i had over me and sure enough, out fell a little Redback, which i stomped on quick smart. We rang the hospital but they said unless i started vomiting or having respiratory issues just to take pain killers and put ice on the bite. Well i survived, but it was excruciatingly painful and i felt a little nauseous for a while and had a sweaty bite site!! Otherwise i was just fine!
JJ

Man these spiders are the bomb! There also creepy! Imagine spider man in it LOL!
Alex

LOL i have to do a report on spiders so i have to print something out, i like these spiders i wanna scare my teacher lol!
jayme

Did you know that the red back cant kill a healthy human being
but can put the very young and aged into hospital :)
LYNDA JONES

HI IM IN DARKAN WA and have found a black spider with red/black legs and two big curled fangs with 5 orange/yellow spots on back/bum. do u have any idea what it is. thanks
Royce

When i bought my home, i ripped the for sale sign off the barky gum tree out the front and found a sydney funnel web rearing up at me with juice on the end of its fangs, it was pissed off, trying to bite my golf club and every time it struck it left venom on the club. All very nice but the thing is i live in geelong victoria. Is it common to get funnel webs in victoria??
Michelle

I was laying down watching a movie the 5 January 2010. And this spider came outta nowhere. Now, i sat up to have a look at and it took off like lightning. Now the colors of this spider were, grey and black, like they greyest of greys and on it's back and halfway down its 8 legs it was black. It did come back out l8tr, but did not get a chance to kill it, i h8t spiders, they make my skin crawl.... I was wondering if any1 new wot kinda spider this was/is?

Cheers.
louie

We had a garden orb in the garden (funny that! lol) thanx for helping us figure out what & who she was. Cheers
Ez

You should see the spiders at my mums house, red backs cross daddy long legs. They look like a black daddy long legs with a slightly larger body but still slim, also they have 3 to 4 red arrows pointing towards the head in a similar style to this >>>

I'd love to take a picture of one and mail it to you but I haven't had the chance to go there for a long time, kind of unbelievable I know but true. 13 years of red backs and daddy long legs over running 4 sheds, a caravan, and tons of tires I believe is responsible.
Lexi

My aussie scary huntsman story is when I was about 24 I walked through a spider web at night and felt a heavy thud on the top of my head. I realised a big spider had landed there and hesitantly raised my hand to my head before summoning the courage to flick it off in one fell swoop, all the while cringing and mumbling eeewwwww.

The other night I spread the blankets I had stored on the top of my wardrobe over the summer back over my bed as it had gotten a little cooler. Throughout the night I was tormented by itching insect bites on my arms and feet. Thinking it was a mozzie, I thought nothing of it. the next morning I had had large red inflamed welts all over me. When i went to sleep the following night, I noticed this black bodied spider next to me. I grabbed the empty drink bottle next too me and got it in there. The next day I'll put it outside. It most resembles the pictures of the Black House spider. I don''t know if he was the culprit for the bites, but it should be happy now.
Ethan

I came across a Golden Orb spider now that was scary!!!!!!!!
Cherry

Huntsman Spiders are my favourite. I used to be terrified of spiders as a kid, but then my dad found a young one and said it looked hungry, so I caught it in my brother's bug catcher and gave it a few flies. It tried to gobble up three flies all at once, and after that I was no longer afraid of spiders. I decided to keep "Inci" as a pet, and after a few months of feeding him daily, he shed his skin. It was an awesome sight watching it happen. Anyway, he moulted every few months, and grew to as big as my dad's hand. Inci grew so tame that he would know when I was picking his cage up to feed him, (he'd get all excited), or when I was just picking it up to handle him. I let him run up and down my arm under my jumper sleeve and out at my neck like a pet mouse would. To make a long story short, I found so many interesting things about huntsman spiders (I decided to breed them and have studied them for about 7 years). Their venom is pink; the males are hairier and have more red-fuzz around their fangs than females; if they lose legs, they grow back at the next moult; and their blood is a clear turquoise colour. The females lay an egg-sack that's about the size of a ten cent piece, and have about 100+ spiderlings in each one. When the babies hatch in the egg-sack, the mother will chew a hole in it to let them out, and she counts them as they come out by having a foot over the hole. I've heard a lot of people think that they can jump, but they don't. If they're afraid they'll run, then suddenly drop off the wall they're on. Generally if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. ;-)
hayden

incredible little things
1.Springbokbaby

I thought I recognized the Redback Spider. In South Africa its known as the Button Spider or Knoopie spinnekop.
klee

awesome pics....love them!

huntsman story. was having a candlelight bath once, turned my head to get shampoo and a palm sized huntsman was sitting 4 inches away from my head...he ran right down and across the floor and under the sink cupboard....he is still around somewhere i think... couldn't bring myself to kill him, since he didn't hurt me...

we also allow daddy long legs to live in the house.... as previously said they do keep away other spiders and are very useful.

we have a few orb weavers in the backyard too.... amazing webs...

love the info cherry, that's so cool to know lol!
adelie

OMG I HATE SPIDERS SO MUCH!!!!!!! i mean i think i have arachnophobia! we have this HUGE spider in our yard in Perth, WA and i think its a golden orb but its getting bigger everyday and absolutely freaking me out! and then they live for like, 2 years! can i please gas it!? i mean, whats a spider-hating girl to do???
Tania

Hi, I was just wanting to ask if you've ever seen a bright orange spider before? I have this little fellow living in my parents laundry, it's about the size a 10cent coin, bright orange with a little black on the very tips of it's front legs (I'd put a picture up but don't know how)

I'm from the southwest near bunbury
Justin Lee

Great pictures and I enjoyed the humor through out the text which made for a fun read.
lau

Hi, I don't like spiders but i think if we don't hurt them they'll leave us alone...not always the way. The tiny little ones don't scare me although they should!!! its the big hairy ones!!! I'm scared wen i go to sleep :)

Perth WA
Bo

I found to spiders today one among my dry herbs I keep in a box at the bottom of my pantry and the other on my bedroom floor. They are small with distinctive white strips on its legs with a white dot on the top of its head. I have been all over Oz and never saw a spider like this. My concern is that in the box with the herbs is some Benzoin Sumatra, Manila Copal and some Dragon's Blood all imported and I am worried that it has come in from another country. Can someone identify this spider and put my mind at ease please
Cara and Family

Thanks for helping us identify the Golden Orb spider in our garden. Now we know that she is no danger to us or the pets, she can stay where she is in her happy home in Perth WA.

Cheers
charles

I was in Dongara in Western Australia a few days ago, i believe i was bitten by a spider. I have a huge knot under my arm where i was bitten. My sister says the spiders are pretty bad there, I was told to watch out for snakes not spiders. I guess i should go to a doctor and have it checked out. Are they all pretty bad cause i saw one in my room before i left. it was small and tan or gold in color, i smashed it and then couldn't see exactly what it looked like, would anyone out there be able to give me some useful info? I am going to India in a week there will be no decent doctors there. I hope they don't have spiders. Australia was sweet, if you plan to go bring some insect repellent.
Meng

Moving to W.A in the near future to live with relatives. Scared as hell but cant wait. I hope to get pictures like these to send back to my relatives in the UK and make them think I'm the UK's answer to the Late steve irwin
Pipes

We have this fantastic golden orb right outside our kitchen window she has been there for a few months now- her web is more than 1 metre across and just under the eaves is her recently laid egg sack - she doesn't move around much but has a steady supply of moths that are attracted to the light at night. Not sure what we are going to do when the babies hatch - I mean one is really cool but hundreds!!!!!!
rogues

I like it when I turn into a ninja as soon as I walk through a web :D
WA_Mum

Found your site when browsing for a name for an 'unknown' (to me) spider specimen I caught in the house! Been in Australia for 15 years and I don't remember seeing this one before. We're in in SW WA.
Love your website - congratulations - especially love the travelling accordion menu. AAA+++ from me :o)
morelle

Great site good for all interests and info we have moved here from the suffolk uk 10 months ago and have come across a couple of red backs,white tips,house blacks, huntsman,garden orb(tonight 18/5/10),and a wolf spider. And having no knowledge of them or real awareness good or bad have shat myself while trying to catch and study before removal of them, but its getting some what easier (ha ha) as we see more of them and armed with the correct info on the spiders know what to do at arms (broom lol) length so cheers keep it going
jewel

I think spiders are gross! but my little brother loves them for some stupid reason! i really don't know why, but i still think its gross!!!
skeeder

hi!!!!!! I'm jewel's little brother and i love bugs!!!!! especially spiders!!!!!!! i think they are very, very, very, very,very cool!!!!!!
kylee

Not enough info on your spiders.......
Robin

I see spiders in the WA bush quite often. Over the years I have learned to appreciate them; and wonder at the construction of their burrows and webs. I wish I knew more about their behaviour, but especially the orientation of their webs in relation to natural features, water, wind, etc.

Big hairy spiders scare me a little, but I know it's an irrational feeling, and have tried hard to overcome it. They are after all important species in the ecosystems.