Spiders Control

Unpopular as they are, most spiders are shy and harmless to humans. Most have fangs too small or weak to puncture human skin. They usually win not attempt to bite unless acadentally trapped or held. Most are quite beneficial by feeding on insects (flies, crickets, etc.) and mites in and around the home, yard, garden and field. Spiders have eight legs (four pairs), vary in size, shape and color, and lack wings and antennae. Their body regions consist of two parts: a cephalothorax (fused head with thorax) and an abdomen.

Black House Spider :

The female house spider is larger than the male. about 1/3 inch long, gray to brown with the rounded. globular abdomen mottled with several dark stripes on the upper side (Black Widow Spider shape). House spiders spin their webs in dark comers of moist rooms and outdoors. They hang upside down in the center of an irregular cobweb. The outside sticky threads entangle many insects, specially flies which are bitten and sucked dry. Females are fertilized several times during a lifetime with up to nine egg sacs, each containing 200 or more eggs. Young hatch in about eight days, staying within the sac until after the first molt. They are cannibalistic, eating one another. Spiderlings take several months to mature. Webs become dust covered when abandoned.

Wolf Spider :

Female wolf spiders are large, up to 112 inch long, hairy, running spiders, often confused with tarantulas. Their bodies are covered with shades of brown, black, gray, white, yeflaw, orange or green. Many have a stripe or pattern the length of the first, and sometimes the second, body segment. Most are dark brown, large and run rapidly after prey. They are nocturnal, occur outdoors but may wander indoors, especially cellars and basements, in late summer and fall when cooler temperatures prevail.

These hunting spiders, which do not construct webs, carry the large, globular egg sac attached to spinnerets under the abdomen. Upon hatching, the spiderlings climb onto their mother's back and ride there several days before dispersing. They do not establish themselves indoors and are not aggressive, but may bite if handled or molested.

Sydney Funnel Web Spider :

Australasian funnel-web spiders are very dangerous spiders of the family Hexathelidae. These spiders are found in two genera of the family: Hadronyche (which is not associated with any known human fatalities) and Atrax (which is known to have killed 13 people). They are notorious for the inclusion of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) native to eastern Australia. There are other genera in family Hexathelidae, but these don't have the notorious reputation of the Australasian funnel-webs.

Description ;

These spiders are medium-to-large in size, with body lengths ranging from 1cm to 5cm (0.4" to 2"). They are darkly colored, ranging from black to brown, with a glossy carapace covering the front part of the body. The hexathelids generally have long spinnerets; this is especially true of A. robustus.

Medical significance ;

This spider is probably one of the three most dangerous spiders in the world and is regarded by some to be the most dangerous. It has a powerful neurotoxin that is known to cause death within a period ranging from 15 minutes (this occurred when a small child was bitten) to three days. Although extremely toxic to primates, the venom appears to be fairly harmless to many other mammals, including cats and dogs which neutralise the venom totally within 30 minutes. While some very venomous spiders may give dry bites, these spiders do so much less frequently.

The female venom was thought to be only about a sixth as potent to humans as that of the male but recent research has proven that false. The bite of a female or juvenile may be serious; however, considerable variability occurs in venom toxicity between species.

Redback Spider ;

The red-back spider (Lactrodectus hasselti) is a potentially dangerous spider now found throughout Australia. Its origins are uncertain, and it may have been spread by human activities during the 19th century. Red-back spiders are now found in all but the most inhospitable environments in Australia, particularly in urban and suburban areas. The female red-back has a round body about a centimetre long, with long, slender legs. The body is a deep black colour, often (but not always) containing a red line or small red dots on the abdomen. The male red-back is three to four millimetres long and is light brown in colour with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen.

A successful bite from a female red-back injects a neurotoxin into the blood stream. Individuals bitten often describe the bite as extremely painful. Despite this (and in contrast to common belief in Australia) deaths from the red-back have been rare: A single death has been reported since the introduction of antivenin in 1956. It is, however, recommended to seek medical attention following a bite. This is particularly true for children, the elderly or those with serious medical conditions since the bite could be much more life threatening to these groups.

White Tailed Spider ;

White-tailed Spiders have a dark reddish to grey, cigar-shaped body (males about 12 mm, females up to 18 mm long) and dark orange-brown banded legs. The grey dorsal abdomen bears two pairs of faint white spots (less distinct in adults) with a white spot at the tip; the male has a hard, narrow plate or scute on the front of the abdomen. The two common species in southern Australia, Lampona cylindrata and L. murina, are similar in appearance and have overlapping distributions in the south-east. Their bites have been controversially implicated in causing severe skin ulceration in humans.

Daddy Long Legs :

The Daddy long-legs spider, is a true spider and not a harvestman. "Daddy long-legs" is a name that is used for several unrelated arthropods with extremely long and thin legs, including these spiders. The Daddy long-legs spiders comprise the Pholcidae family, in the suborder Araneomorphae.

Appearance :

Pholcids are fragile spiders, the body being 2 to 10 mm in length with legs which may be up to 50 mm long. Pholcus and Smeringopus have cylindrical abdomens and the eyes are arranged in two lateral groups of three and two smaller median contiguous (together) eyes. Spermaphora has a small globose (round) abdomen and its eyes are arranged in two groups of three and no median eyes. Pholcids are gray to brown with banding or chevron markings. Curiously, the shape of the Pholcus and Smeringopus's body reflects that of a peanut shell.

Huntsman Spider ;

Huntsman spiders is a common name given to the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae). While frequently very large, Heteropoda maxima males can attain a legspan of 25–30 cm – and quite a fearsome sight, they are not deadly to humans. They do bite if provoked, but the victim will suffer only minor swelling and localised pain and will recover in a day or so. Huntsmen generally can be identified by their legs, which rather than being jointed vertically relative to the body, are twisted such that the legs extend forward in a crab-like fashion.

Many, but certainly not all, huntsman spiders are dull shades of brown or grey. Their legs are covered with fairly prominent spines, but the rest of their bodies appear smooth but not shiny. They are frequently found in sheds, garages and other infrequently disturbed places. The banded huntsman (Holconia) is larger, grey to brown with striped bands on its legs. The badge huntsman (Neosparassus) is larger still, brown and hairy. Its bite will inflict the worst injury, as well as local swelling and pain may cause nausea, headache, vomiting and heart palpitations. The tropical or brown huntsman (Heteropoda) is also large and hairy, with mottled brown, white and black markings. Nevertheless, their vision is quite sufficient to detect approaching humans or other large animals from some

St Andrew's Cross Spider :

The St Andrew's Cross spiders are large and spectacular spiders of the genus Argiope, also commonly called black and yellow argiopes due to the markings on their abdomens. The spider gained its common name for its habit of resting in its web with its legs outstretched in the shape of an X, the traditional shape of the cross of St. Andrew. The large white zigzag in the centre of its web is called the stabilimentum or web decoration and its function is controversial.

The average orb web is practically invisible, and it is easy to blunder into one and end up covered with a sticky web. The very easily visible pattern of banded silk made by Argiope is pure white, and the highly visible spider sitting in the center is bright yellow on a field of black.

Leaf Curling Spider :

The leaf-curling spiders (genus Phonognatha) are day-active orb weavers that protect themselves from predators by sitting inside a silk seamed, curled leaf. This leaf is suspended just above the centre of the web, but may be placed higher in other species. Juvenile spiders start off by bending over a small green leaf, but eventually graduate to larger dead leaves that are hoisted up from the ground on silk lines (other objects, such as snail shells, are occasionally used). Such leaves are already part curled and the spider pulls and silks its leaf into a retreat cylinder, silked shut at the top and open at the hub. Male spiders often take up residence nearby, or in the same web as the (often immature) female, mating as soon as she has her final moult. The female also lays its eggs sac within a dead leaf, bent over and silked back on itself. This is suspended among foliage well away from the orb web.

Mouse Spider ;

The common name of the Mouse Spider is derived from the mistaken belief that this spider excavates a deep mouse-like burrow. Mouse Spiders belong to the family Actinopodidae, which consists of one genus - Missulena - and eight described species. 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.

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