Spider ID please

[sej66]

Could be a male of one of the funnel-web types. Apparantly the venom from the male northern tree funnel webs is 5 times more toxic than the sydney version.

 

[moosenoose]

:lol: My God! I don't know!! :lol: :lol: That's why I asked you people!!

I'll send a pic into the Museum and see if they can get a positive ID on it I'm still fairly convinced it's a Southern Funnel Web. Particularly with the red under it's fangs (but hey, I'm not good with spider ID's). Undoubtably it's still in the same place I found it. I check in on him next time I'm out there :lol: :lol:

 

[miley_take]

looks like a funnel web of some sort

 

[the_tsar]

Just to throw in my 2 cents.

I think it isnt a funnel web and also think it seems like a male trap door spider.
Funnel webs seem to have a larger set of mouthy parts (wider).

SO I will lock in B : Trap door.....?

 

[m.punja]

daddy long legs maybe? on steroids?

 

[moosenoose]

For those of you who locked in trapdoor, give yourselves a big pat on the back

I just recieved this letter from the kind gentleman from the Melb Museum:

Dear Luke,

Thank you for sending your very good spider images into Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum for identification.

Your spider looks to be one of the trapdoors and is most likely a species from the genus Stanwellia. Although they are called trapdoors, not all the species of trapdoor actually have the lid on the burrow. The good news with these spiders is that while the fangs of this spider can inflict a deep and painful bite, the venom is not known to cause serious medical problems. The habits of these spiders mean that you should also rarely encounter them. The females tend to remain in or near their burrows and are likely to come out only if dug up or flooded out. The males will go roaming in autumn or early winter looking for a mate and at this time people can encounter them.

The males sometimes fall into people’s pools and can survive for a period of time. The links below are to museum information sheets on the Melbourne trapdoor which is a species from the Stanwellia genus and one of the funnel web species. We get quite a bit of color variation with the trapdoors that are brought in; some are quite dark while others can be more of an orange/brown coloration. Trapdoors can be locally common; yet despite the many calls we get on these spiders I haven't spoken to anybody yet who has actually been bitten by one of these spiders.

The spiders are not interested in biting people or their pets, but if they are stood on or feel threatened, (i.e. by being dug up and exposed or caught in the open away from their burrows) they may defend themselves aggressively.

You can see with your spider that it has golden hairs on the legs and cephalothorax, whereas the Southern funnel-web has a very dark, shiny cephalothorax and hairless legs. Also the Southern funnel-web as far as we know comes down through the Central Highlands as far as the Dandenong Ranges, but we haven’t had any records of it being found down in the middle or inner suburbs.

http://museumvictoria.com.au/Discov...found-in-Victoria/Melbourne-Trap-door-Spider/

http://museumvictoria.com.au/Discov...ound-in-Victoria/Victorian-Funnel-web-Spider/

Kind Regards, Simon Hinkley.

 

[m.punja]

so it's not a daddy long legs...hmmm. my bad, i better get a spide book then

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Damn good roids if it was