The Huntsman spider belongs to the Family Sparassidae. Huntsman spiders are known as being the “hairy tarantulas”. They are often seen inside your home on the walls or from coming out from behind curtains.

Habitat

•  Can be found on tree trunks, under stones, under bark, on the windows and walls inside your home.
•  Can also enter cars & run across the dashboards
•  Can live between hairline cracks,  sandstone and granite outcrops
•  Feeds on a variety of insects, small lizards and frogs
•  Stalks and run down its prey
•  Poisonous to humans but not fatal

The Black house spider can be found throughout Australia. They are usually found on rough-barked trees and when they come inside they are often found in corners, around windows and doorways and any other light source that can attract prey.

Habitat

• The web of the black house spider is an untidy, lacy sheet with a funnel like entrance
• Their webs can be found on tree trunks, logs, rock walls, buildings, window frames and crevices.
• In built up areas webs can be found in dark corners of windows, veranda’s, sheds or fences.
• The female never leaves her web unless she is forced to.

The brown house spider is sometimes mistaken for the red back spider as it has a similar body shape and webbing. It can often be found in dark places inside your home. External sheds, under empty plant pots or among general rubbish.

Habitat

• Builds untidy, tangled webs
• Webs can be found on walls, under eaves, around garage doors and among leaves on trees and shrubs.
• Undisturbed dark areas are ideal for this spider
• In a cupboard signs of a brown house spider could be white specs of spider droppings

Habitat

• Spends most of the time in their burrows
• They wait for food by the front of their burrows
• Burrows are lined with silk
• The burrow can be as long as 25cm and approx 25mm in width
• Silk trip lines radiate from the burrow entrance
• Burrows are used for protection and raising young
• The burrow is made wider and longer as the spider grows

The Sydney Funnel-web Spider is one of the deadliest spiders in the world. When the funnel web is threatened it raises its front legs high off the ground and point its fangs forward ready to strike. When it strikes it drives its fangs down with force and speed.

Habitat

• Prefer forested areas
• Private gardens
• They build silk-lined burrow under a rock or log
• The burrow can be up to 60cm long
• The burrow has 2 entrances
• The burrow entrance has thicker lines of silk radiating from the entrance to form trip-lines
• They are attracted to water
• Can be found in your swimming pool

There are 11 known species of mouse spider in Australia and they are related to the trapdoor and the Sydney funnel web spider. Mouse spiders should be considered dangerous and treated with caution as they can be aggressive and will bite if provoked.

Habitat

• Can be found in both coastal and drier habitats throughout Australia
• Live in burrows in soil covered with a hinged top
• Large, silk-lined burrows can vary from 20 cm to 55 cm deep
• They create two surface trapdoors, at right angles to each other
• Difficult to see as the silk and soil trapdoors merge well with the soil
• Heavy rain often forces them out of their burrows

The red back spider can be found across all parts of Australia and will live anywhere there is adequate food, a sheltered area for its web and is warm enough for breeding. The Red back Spider is easily recognised by its black body with a prominent red hourglass shape on its abdomen.

Red back spiders are one of the most dangerous species of spiders in Australia!

Habitat

• Can be found in logs or under rocks
•  They tend to reside in dark, dry areas.
•  They can also be seen in roof eaves floorboards, toilets, shelves, flower pots, garages or sheds
•  Their web is a triangle shape of dry silk
•  Trap lines are sticky which assist in catching prey
•  Red back spiders are carnivorous eating almost any small insects that are caught in their webs.
•  They are known to also eat skinks and even juvenile mice, snakes and frogs
•  The red back spider rarely leaves its web

The St Andrews cross spider can be found all across Australia and is named because of the silky bluish white cross pattern it creates on its web, similar to that of the St Andrews Cross on the flag of Scotland.

Habitat

• Can be found on Low shrubby vegetation both during the day and night
• Suburban gardens
• Rainforest margins
• Males build smaller webs close to the female

White-tailed Spiders can be found all over Australia and its bites cause severe skin ulceration in humans. White-tailed spiders hunt their prey instead of waiting to catch it in a web. Their preferred diet is other spiders

Habitat

• Cool dark areas
• They often come into houses
• They are sometimes found in the folds of clothes, towels and shoes.
• They live beneath bark and rocks
• In leaf litter
• Logs
• Detritus in bush
• Gardens
• Houses