Spiders of Australia

Redback spider

Australia has a number of highly venomous spiders, including the Sydney funnel-web spider,[1] its relatives in the family Hexathelidae, and the redback spider, whose bites can be extremely painful and have historically been linked with deaths in medical records.[2] Most Australian spiders do not have venom that is considered to be dangerously toxic.[3][4][5] No deaths caused by spider bites in Australia have been substantiated by a coronial inquest since 1979. There are sensationalised news reports regarding Australian spiders that fail to cite evidence.[6] A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia published by CSIRO Publishing in 2017[4] featuring around 836 species illustrated with photographs of live animals, around 381 genera and 78 families, introduced significant updates to taxonomy from Ramirez, Wheeler and Dmitrov.[7][8][9][10]

Estimates put the total number of Australian spider species at about 10,000.[11] Only around 3,600 have been described.[12] Little information is known about many undiscovered species.[11] New species are found each year.

  1. ^ Binstead, Justin T.; Chen, Richard J.; Nappe, Thomas M. (2024), "Funnel-Web Spider Toxicity", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 30571015, retrieved 2024-11-16
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Egerton2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Atkinson1993 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Whyte field guide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Volker guide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thuilier2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference arachne.org.au was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wheeler2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dimitrov2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ramirez2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b van de Wetering, Jodie (2 May 2008). "Hundreds of undiscovered spiders on Fraser". abc.net.au. ABC News. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Spiders". qm.qld.gov.au. Queensland Museum. Retrieved 27 October 2021.