Spiders found in Western Australia

Friends found a large white spider with vivid red markings on the body and vivid red and blue markings on the legs. Any ideas what kind of spider it was?

Hello
Have funnel web spiders been found in WA bushlands? If not what spiders in WA dig holes and live in the ground with funnel type Web? Have pic of hole/web but not of the spider.

Spiders are crap

Hi, Can u tell me what spider is brown and hairy with a black flat spot on its back and very distinctive brown & cream striped legs?

I took a photo of a white spider in my garden after I cut the lawn. I've no idea what it is! I have a photo and a video of it. I would love to know what it is.

I found a golden orb spider in my yard your website was very helpful

Have a black house spider who has lived in the corner of the window in my bathroom for a year or two. She is beautiful. We have had a really cold spell in the Perth Hills both yesterday and today and the window fogged up when I was showering. To my surprise she came out of her hole, climbed up her web until she could reach the window and then proceeded to scratch her front legs backwards and forwards on the glass causing small droplets to form which she then appeared to be drinking! She "cleared" quite a large area of mist off the glass in this way! Is this an unusual sighting or do they do this regularly to get a drink?

Hi, I tried to paste a photo for you but it won't work. We have a beautiful spider in our boot room. A bit like a huntsman but not flat. About 8cm legspan, or more and really big body, at least 2cm X 1.5cm. I wondered if it was a pregnant female but don't know what sort of spider. We live in Tenterden, an hour north of Albany on the south coast. Any idea what she might be? I thought it was a mouse at first, she's so big, and that sort of colour. Thank you! Kate

I don't like spiders and I have to do the tarantula for a high school assignment!!!

All your photos but the first name the spider. What is this one since I recently encountered it at Coral Bay.

Can you send me your email so I can send a pic of my spider?🕷

Love the Vincent Price (Alice Cooper-Black Widow) quote.
And great info.Keep up the good work.

Hi, what about our (WA) white tail spider, not like the white tailed one that most pictures display. This one is similar to the red back except smaller and with a white arrow running from partway down its back to its tail?
Is this the opposite sex red back?
Stewart

Go on the Department of agriculture website and email them a picture of any insect or send it to them via snail mail (dead) sticky taped and they will identify the insect for you free of charge.

Thanks

What a great site and loved some of the comments and stories too! Just moved to WA from the UK and our house has just been fumigated due to infestation of Ants (they are evil here!!) We also found a dead red back and an old huntsman egg sack according to the gardener we hired who used to have a huntsman in his house that he could hand feed. My partner is petrified of spiders and we also recently got rid of an Orb spider, but after reading this site I am going to try and hide the spiders from her and relocate them!!

When you see a spider just kill it. worlds a better place

We've had a lot of very small spiders in the house that look like they are covered in Tiger stripes. Any idea what they are?

I live in Perth now after growing up in Sydney for most my life when I saw a spider that looks like a male sydney funnel web . I have it in a jar with all but a bit of its rear is it possible can I take it anywhere to be identified. It was at the edge of the pool

I live in Perth W. Australia south of river. I found a bright orange coloured spider very long legs small body similar in shape to a huntsman, no web on the wall stayed there 2days same place. Any idea what it could be

We live north of Perth and have found a spider that we can't identify. Have done the Google search and can't find it anywhere. Wish I could upload a photo here to show you all as it is quite striking, anyway it has a velvet blue abdomen and red legs and head, similar shape of a red back. Anyone have any idea on what type it might be?

Hi there,

I have a story to tell, but it involves trying to identify a spider too. So the first thing is:

This spider is tiny. I mean approx. 2-3mm long from the tip of the thorax to the tip of the spinnerets, which I actually cannot see because they must be so small.

Its leg span from the body is approx 7-10mm from attachment to the thorax to the tip of the leg. The legs are colored a pale yellowish brown with very dark spots at each segment of the leg.

It's mandibles, or whatever they are called, are really thin at the head where they attach, but very bulbous at the ends almost like a snails eyes.

The abdomen is like a pale dirty brown, with a very pronounced central white dorsal stripe, with two identical parallel dorsal stripes either side of the central one, separated by the same dirty brown color of the rest of the abdomen.

Okay so the story is:

3 days ago I was bitten in the midst of the night. I thought it may have just been a bull ant, so at first I did not think much of it. I got out of bed and got my little LED flash light and started scanning my side of the bed for a black ball that would signify a bull ant (did NOT want to wake my partner less she bite me too :@). But after about 20 seconds, the pain did not start getting less sharp as a bull ant bite normally would. This triggered something in the back of my mind to keep looking and find whatever it was, so after about 2 mins of looking, I spotted this little spider crawl out of the blanket (where it would have been over my legs), and start it's little walk over the top of the blanket and onto my partners arm. At this point I flicked it off her towards me (smart moves...) and she woke up. I then placed the torch directly over the spider and it seemed to be subdued by the bright proximity of the LED lights. I asked my partner to turn the lights on and get a container and told her I'd just been bitten by it. She grabbed a container and I managed to coax this thing into and closed the lid.

Thats when I saw the stripe on it's back. I instantly remembered stories of white tailed spiders that cause necrotic arachnidism told by my mother... Oh the fun of being a kid.

So seeing this stripe, I immediately got ready and headed stright to the hospital where they treated me with painkillers (which just so you know, the pain got MUCH worse over the course of 30 mins and started burning almost as though I'd spilled boiling water on the spot.) and antihistamines. The triage nurse told me that white tails are now only treated generally as most spider bites are and no longer have specific anti-venom. Apparently this has been since a study in 2003 found that they are not actually liked with the infection that causes necrosis in the bite.

Now after this trip to the hospital I went home and went to sleep. the next morning I woke up with a splitting headache and the bite area was itching like crazy. It was still red and hurt a little, but was not hurting so much that I noticed it after my morning shower. The headache passed over the course of an hour, so I just scratched it up as sleeping the wrong way.

When the bite first occurred, I presented at the hospital with textbook symptoms of a white tail bite: slight nausea (I only attributed this to the adrenaline of knowing I'd just been bitten by a spider), inflamed local area around the bite, redness of the bite are, localized pain, sweating from the bite area, itchiness and general malaise.

Now when the triage nurse brought me in to look at the bite, she did not look at the spider and trusted my opinion of this being a white tailed spider in the container. I believe this was out of a strong arachnophobic reaction.

Today though, the redness, itching, malaise, sweating from bite site, burning sensation and headache are all returning.

The thing is, I still have the spider in the container, and just had a look at it and googled white tailed spider, and it doesn't even look close to being related to the Lampona cylindrata genus (White Tail). The abdomen of this spider is bulbous and curled down just like a redback/fake widow.

So I want to know if anyone could help me identify it and give me a little help in trying to find what symptoms to expect down the track?

This morning when I woke up I found a spider in my hippy room, a spider always comes inside my house when a full moon has been. It seems to be harmless its size its just smaller than my palm and is dark brown and has light brown tiger stripes across its body with thin legs..Does anyone know what kind of spider this is? I live in Perth in a forrest kind of area near mundaring..Ive also come across a black and white spotty spider,a pregnant huntsman,a few large light brown velvet like spiders..I used to be terrified by spiders but now they keep coming into the house i'm warming up to them and even giving them pet names..They seem to be attracted to the insense I have burning,can spiders smell? Thanks :)

I was in my garage and was getting out a small fold out chair. It had lots of webs but I didn't think much about it, but as I opened it, a giant black spider ran out. Now, I just moved to Fremantle from Queensland so I'm unfamiliar and I've done plenty of research but I can't find any that are like it. The house spider is closest, yet, there are still differences. While, it had long legs, they weren't spread out like a huntsman--more hunched. The body, was abnormally large and it was as if it had socks on. Most legs had white patches at the end of it. It also raised it's front legs at me and hissed! Now, I am petrified of spiders and would like to know if I should be worried about the scarily large and possibly dangerous spider living in my garage..

I was walking home from work in Perth, WA the other day and came across the largest living spider I've physically come across.
It had a large grey abdomen roughly 6-8cm long and 4-5cm in width with long dark legs.
Now i can assure you that due to having a very bad phobia of arachnids i have been unable to get this of off my mind, i do not know what species it was and would like to know if you could help me?

The web was from the roof of a house to the tree out the front so it may be a tree spider of some sort?

I have found a big round bummed brown spider rather small 5cent piece with white marks along back maybe four or so?!

Huntsmans can jump, I have seen one , and it wasn't dropping!!!

We found what looks like a female mouse spider under the coffee table which is unusual as i thought they were burrow and none house spiders,large fangs with shiny black appearance with a dark brown rear with two appendages at the back or possibly a trap door spider

what a amazing website by your man Spiderman :P
My website is so much better though

I would not hesitate to kill any spider yeah I've heard all the arguments not to but they are horrible nasty creatures

We love Australia and would like to come to your country at the beginning of 2014. We are from Holland. My wife is scairly terrified of spiders, its a real fobia. Where in Australia do you have no spiders. A question of my wife, are there spiders also in Sydney and Aidelade? We we would like to go to those two fantastic citys.
Thanks in advance.

I have found a spider the shape of a red back but it has no red it's got cream stripes with black and more hairs than a red back and I can't find it on any pages or pics

Can anyone identify this spider?
Large grey egg shaped body with 2 horizontal white stripes (ie across body from side to side, not to head to tail). It also had four dots in square pattern behind stripes & long brown/black legs. It had a massive web with very tough web.
I have quarantined it as I have kids but want to know if its safe to return to garden or not?
Thanks

pretty and spooky at the same time. Had a huntsman "living" on the light switch at night in the outdoor toilet, a "pet" black house spider we used to feed flies to, to get the kids used to spiders, and many white tails around the house. One in the pocket of my jeans which I "found" while fumbling for a tissue... it just curled up and I shook it out of the pocket. - and then killed... sorry, I am happy for spiders living outside, tolerate daddy longlegs and some huntsmen inside, but redbacks and white tails die - too much risk. Hubby got bitten and ended up with a sore that wouldn't heal for months and then pop back up once a year...
On the golden Orbweb spider though - I collected some web years ago and wrapped it around a small container. 5 years later it was still intact and strong enough to unwrap - fascinating!

hi i walked oround my varander and saw a spider with a white head black eyes and a greyish body and abdomin they kind of look like they are merged together brown legs and is pretty big web about one meter wide

i hate spiders although i love scorpions and i used to love spiders i am thinking of going to lessons to overcome the fear its the worst, they are everywhere there is no point of hiding from them.

i have found a tiny spider in my house i think it may be a huntsmen or a wolf spider but it may too tiny for that, it as a white stripe going dow its back an bum with black inbetween the white on the bum if anyone knows what kind of spider this is please let me know.

Hi, I was camping along the Murry River in Dwellingup, Western Australia during Autum season, when i came across a Fluro red spider with a blue/black type coloured stripe on the legs.. I have taken a photo and gone through every site pertaining to Australian spiders trying to find any information to no avail.

I found an orange colored spider on my broad beans, it was about the size of a medium huntsman and it had markings like little jewels outlining its abdomen and down the legs, really beautiful. But what is it called?

hi,
i was walking in a reserve in bunbury today and came across a spider i have never seen before. do you have any ideas what it could be?
it was bright orangey red including its head and legs with a black body. probably a similar shape to a redback.
i have a picture if you would like to see it.
ive searched various sites an can find nothing like it.

I luv all the info given it will also giv me a head start on my childrens book I'm writing in my year 6 class at Two Rocks Primary thanks for all the help you've given me and my friends

<3 Tahlia and class of year 6

HI....we were cleaning out a room in our house and we came across a spider that we have never seen before.....It is maroon coloured, rounded and shiny, legs were medium length. its speed is medium (its getaway was fast). The size varies as we have only seen a few. The biggest we saw was no bigger than the thumb nail, the smallest your pinky nail. We are worried as we have pets and were wondering if it can cause illness in both the animals and us.
We are located In Western Australia, Perth.

Thanks

Very much enjoyed reading this, thank you!

Hi, i was freaking out coz i came accross 5 spiders in one day in my house and thanx to this website i can rest a little easier coz i see that they are harmless huntsmans,still a bit scary tho:\

I am going to live in perth with my father who is building a house in an area next to whteman park

I am terrified of the thought living next to a park should i be worried about snakes aswell as spiders

I am looking at a huge Huntsman I found in my shed this morning and he is busy looking at me (from the inside of a jam jar!) I came from Zimbabwe some years ago and thought I had seen some big spiders but this one takes the cake. Your site is a great one. When 'Henry the huntsman' and I are tired of looking at each other he can have his freedom - not in my shed though! I nearly jumped out of my skin when he came to visit me a while ago.

I love spiders..I have daddy long legs all over the house. Have 2 orb spiders outside my back door and I have always been fascinated by them. Every night they come out just after dark and patiently and meticulously spin their webs then sit and wait for their dinner not knowing if they will get any that night. Then in the morning the web is all gone and they are tucked up nice and tight under the eaves. How they know exactly when to come out and spin their webs and when to take it down and hide amazes me. So if anyone sees a spider please do not kill it, it is more scared of you. If you don't like it being in your house catch it in a jar and place it outside. All living things deserve respect and protection. They all have a purpose on this earth.

i have 4 female orb spiders in my backyard:) been protecting them from my husband who is terrified of spiders. Found him on different occasions with a can of flyspray:/

We have a Garden Orb Web Spider that has come to stay with us! It is beautiful..I'm so glad my kids didn't spray it with Mortein!! They freak but I love it, it's fascinating. Also we will not kill a Daddy long legs ever again!!

This is a lovely site, nice aussie feel to it :) Thank you for sharing the pics and info. Also the second last picture (Above the Huntsman) is called a White Tail (or White Tip) Spider, quite venomous and bites cause large ulcerations and are rarely felt. They very common where i live on the SW coast of WA

Further reading if anyone is interested: the info provided here says they can grow up to 12mm. i think they should reassess this as I've seen countless numbers of them (and killed them after watching dad suffer a bite) 20-25mm (body length excluding legs)

I have loved spiders since i was 3 the only spider I don't like is the redback. I've held a huge spider. I found a spider and called it charles (short for charlie). I made him a house. I was catching some flies for him. My best friend is really scared of spiders and charles got out of the trap door so he was walking all over the place. Cody my best friend saw him and got a rock and killed him. Spiders are the best.

Had a spider living in a huge web for weeks above the outside bins and never knew what kind it was. Thanks to your site I have worked out its a Jewel Spider, very pretty. Interesting site.

My youngest daughter was bitten by a baby white tail on the side of her big toe. It came up like a blister, but was black! Took her to the doctors who just said that it was a normal blister that had got dirt in it (yeah right).
After a week, it split on the side and oozed black liquid. After the skin dried and fell off, she was left with a indent in the side of her toe, that took weeks to grow out. To this day you can still see where the indent was, as its left a 10cent size pale scar, and this happened 3 years ago! Now all white tails are swept up and put outside.

I have a pet daddy long legs.

It freaked me out when it was shedding. I didn't know it got bigger, it was huge already! It freaked me out and I was crying and everything, but then I saw its "skeleton" twitch a bit! I didn't give up hope! Later, I came back up and saw it had moved! It had spread out its legs! It was HUGE! Then later, it had moved away from its shell and compared to what it looked like before, I think it's bigger than a regular daddy long legs! It had taken off its body of its shell and put it back on, but other then that, it looks almost ghostly!

I have a new name for my pet. At first I thought it wasn't even a daddy long legs! It made me feel worse when I counted its legs wrong. I thought it had eight legs instead of seven! My spider has seven legs, so when I recounted, I was all like, "Oh my god yay!" Now my spider is known as Ghostly! It was called "That spider," or "My spider," or possibly "Seven," due to her legs.

And that is the story of Ghostly the spider.

Really nice site layout but I'd be rechecking 90% of your spider identification as they are WRONG!
ie. your wolf spider is a golden orb
If you doubt this I have a book my four year old cousin uses for id
Thanks

I love spiders. i have a golden orb in her web next to my front door. i called her Emilie. I feed her little green grasshoppers every mornings when she sees me she comes down her web waiting for her breakfast. spider are better than human they recycle their webs human trash nature!

I just came home from work and saw what I thought was a big black rat on the drive, i thought WT? i got off my bike and went over to it and it was a huge black spider as big as my hand , not hairy just big and black, i stomped on it and it just ran away into the bushes outside our house, super strong spider to survive me stomping on it! i told my mum to be careful when she's outside or in the garage coz i don't know what it is or where it went, never seen one of these in all my 20 years. Does anyone know what type of spider it is and is it dangerous?

Built a Metal Cat Enclosure 2m x 1.6m x 2m high over Christmas, and the first inhabitant was a cute little Jumping Spider...... the Cats aren't impressed with my work. Ungrateful so and so's..... :)

this is dardzz id love to keep one of these spiders

As a Perthite I have many Spider Stories. I love Spiders in the Main, but when surprised by them its "Fight or Flight".
As a 5th Grader we all had to do Science Experiments on Silk....Silkworms being the preferred Teachers Choice. She then trips over our bags behind our desks and squashes my shoebox with my silk worm Experiment inside. I was then allowed to demonstrate how Spiders use silk. That was awesome, 6 Garden Orb Spiders were collected and as I'm standing out the front of the class with all of them on me the first 2 rows of desks were cleared back to the 3rd row as they were frightened....but I got an "A"

Huntsmen are my Achilles heel though.....Quick, Big, and aim straight for you when they run (Strange though that Tarantulas dont bother me...)
My Ex Wife is terrified of Spiders and one day while vising my Mum in Mandurah (5 Acre Bushland Property) there was this Hugh Huntsman sitting on the wooden beam right over the sliding door leading outside, I was ordered to get rid of it (the Ex is scarier than the Spider). I used Flyspray and it just sat there and took it....squirt some more...nothing....more....nothing....1/4 can later it hadn't moved. So I just turned the can over and clubbed it...still not dead....it was like it had the outer exoskeleton of a Hornet...bloody tough!!!! The hunter/gather in me won out in the end!!
My Dad was bitten by 2 Redbacks (Early 80's) within seconds of each other while cleaning up his Shed (Spiderland Theme Park would be a better name). Severe localised Pain around the bites and Nausea, but he came through it after 2-3 days and didn't need Hospital treatment.
Some Experts claim that among other things we eat 3-5 Spiders while we sleep in our lifetime....I must be below average as I've never noticed a spider leg stuck between my teeth in the morning!!!!
Last Summer (2010) in a 2 week period I cleared 36 Black House Spiders (Adult), 11 White Tip Spiders (Asst Sizes), 5 Huntsman, and 1 Scorpion from my Caversham House....the Bush Fire in the Bushland opposite my house may be a big factor for the invasion... I didn't think the house spiders lived in the bushland though...

@Omg, if you think Black Spiders are bad and Brown Spiders are ok....Look up the Brown Recluse Spider and pray you don't come across one....it's like a Ground version of the Redback and very adaptable like Redbacks to Human Buildings.

Hey, I loved the info and the pics!
 I've had heaps of encounters with huntsmans and i get bitten by spiders a lot, not sure why but they seem to like biting me, but I'm still not scared of them, and afraid of big moths!! I used to bring my mum spiders as presents, even red backs... Hmmm. When I was about 4 I had a massive huntsman sleep next to me, it wasn't scared of me and when I touched it it would move a little... It was kinda my friend! Lol!! But I stopped liking them so much when I was about 19 and one was a little close to my head when I was trying to sleep, so put it outside. As I was walking back in it ran right up my leg and bit my butt!!!!!!! I flicked it off and it kept running at me the crazy thing!!!!
And another huntsman story, as i said, I really hate moths, especially the huge ones that seem to fly at your face... I was laying next to my boyfriend playing with his hair and suddenly what i thought was a gigantic moth 'jumped' onto the back of my hand, I freaked out for a second, but it was a huntsman about the size of my hand, it dropped onto the blanket and ran onto the wall. I was weirdly relieved and apologized to the the poor thing.. Also the other night, my little boy who loves spiders and i, watched a little huntsman curiously approach a big one and the big one attacked the little one and landed right next to us.. Needless to say the little one made a quick exit..!!

I almost sat on a Huntsman a minute ago in my car. I think that's why I am reading this page.

To get things into perspective. During the past 100 years in Australia there has only been 27 recorded deaths from spider bites, 13 of them from funnel webs. Note this is for the last 100 years.
During the past 50 years there has been 53 fatal shark attacks.
So why all the fear and horror about spiders which, unlike sharks, are encountered on a regular basis?

It is highly unlikely that a redback will kill a person, unless they are a young child or an elderly person with medical issues, in which case its just the course of nature. Those of you who step on huntsman spiders need to man up and catch them and release them outside.

I used to love Jewell or Christmas spiders (I used to call them Enamel Spiders) when I was little and I would love to show one to my grandson but I haven't seen one for over 40 years. Are they rare these days?

I was out on a drilling rig at Mt Monger 40 min east from Kalgoorlie, and I have taken a pic of what looks like a Sydney funnel web I thought funnel web aren't WA ???

my hunstman story, I found one on my 9 month old baby girl in her cot (this was 4 years ago) and when I flicked it off her it reared up on its bum with its front legs in the air. after researching huntsmans a little more, I'm not thinking it was a big hairy grey wolf spider and not a hunstman at all. when we moved out of that house (it had wayyyy to many spiders they used to fall out of the aircon vents when I turned the ducted aircon on) I took my clock off the wall and there was a huge hunstman under there it was the size of the clock. i hate spiders, i hate living in Australia even though i was born here lol and here in WA we have these spiders that looks like munted white tails that JUMP at you! OH AND A WHITE TIP, I found one drowning in my kids bath, so I got a cup, got it out, drained the water and was going to go throw it outside, and it ran at me to bite me! SQUISH!

huntsman spider...oh god haha
i must have been around 12 years old
and i was going to bed, turned the light off
and was just laying there with my eyes open
and i looked at my wall in front of me...i had no idea what it was at the time
it looked like a star shaped object...
i turned my lamp on, and screamed my face off
it was HUGE!
oh my god.
it was the size of my head...even bigger
dad came in and saw it and laughed at me!
he got the dustpan and brush and flicked it into the dustpan..and chucked it outside...every night i would close my window..shut my door..i would even spray my whole room with the spider killer spray stuff
:)

Hi

My boyfriend has had these spots that come and go like blisters appear on his body they are like chickenpox but then they get really full of puss when they have developed, the doctor etc says they are flea bites but I dont agree. He works outside in the metro area near trees and bushes.The other day he was working and there were all these little micro red spiders (that's how he described them) crawling on his pants and arms etc, and now he is covered in all these blisters, spots and they are soooooooo itchy does anyone know of little red micro spiders that live in the bush your response will be greatly appreciated

Cheers
H

Fantastic website! Great photos. Thanks for sharing

I have a strict kill first and ask questions later policy with any spider other than huntsmans, golden orbs and daddy long legs, just a moment ago a black spider darted up my leg and shorts wich prompted me to do some kind of back flip on the couch and smash my knee, and after some pain induced dancing it fell out of my pants and i took great pleasure in killing the arachnid, then this feeling of guilt set in and i googled your site in the hope to find a picture of a spider of the same species.

Wowww we are thinking (as a family) moving to Perth WA, I'm terrified of spiders and it's been this fear that really put's me off moving there :(((( are they really that common? and will they come after me??? eeekkkkkkk

Greetings from the UK

hi I'm from Scotland and am considering moving to Australia but i am terrified of spiders!! It's the only thing that puts me off moving there, do you really these kind of situations that often? should i be worried about them?

ok i have just experienced an awesome thing i was watching a spider spin its web awesome i don't know what sort if its still there in the morning ill take a pics and send it to ya(i have vids of it spinning it) now i freak with spider used to love them but a few times as a kid i had unfriendly encounters.

i have heaps of huntsman stories like once at my horse riding camp we had this one called fred now he hanged around all the time we all knew him? her? and one day we going into the showers (where he lived) and the other girl was not showering with him soo i was like fine! i had 8 scary eyes staring at me the whole time iv got heaps more stories but I'll bore you lol now i dont hate them and i think they r amazing from a distance come near me though or touch me they r pancake usually depending what mood im in

We have scorpions, rattlesnakes, all kinds of spiders... but my scariest experiences with bugs are in Australia! I can deal with the stuff we have out here, but Australia grows the scariest bugs and in the highest concentration. And I'm AMAZED at how non-chalant Aussies are about it all. 'She'll be right, mate.'

We have hundreds even thousands of black orb spiders around the outside of our house.
They can scare the daylights out of you in the heat of the day when they are hanging away from the roof heat.
Had the pleasures to watch one catch and kill a wasp took it the whole of 2 mins to get the wasp under control the whole time the wasp was trying to sting it.
I leave these spiders as they don't come in the house and i don't have any problems with wasps or red backs or come to think very little other insects, kinda lesser of the 2 evils i think and there fascinating to watch catch other insects.

I grew up near albany wa and there are heaps of all different pretty brightly coloured christmas spiders all over the coastal heath there. they are like christmas decorations on the scrub.

I HATE SPIDERS!!!!

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.

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!!!

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)

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!!!!!!

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.

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

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

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???

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. ;-)

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.

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?

Saw similar here today in Busselton. It looks like a Golden Tailed Jumping spider. What stood out was the large bright yellow spot on the tail and the vivid white fangs. About 1.5 cm long overall. Shaped something like a white tailed spider.

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

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

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.

THEY ARE ALL DISGUSTING THEY MAKE ME CRINGE !!

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?

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.