With Australia being home to countless species of spiders, there’s a growing concern on the part of many people who are afraid of these arachnids.
At first glance, it would seem that spiders live everywhere in Australia, but not every species is harmful to humans and not everyone suffers from fear of these creatures. Nonetheless, there are people who are often wondering and asking whether it is common to see spiders in Australia.
As a general guide, it is not common to see poisonous spiders in Australia. While there are spiders in Australia, some areas have more spiders than others due to a number of factors, such as climate and rainfall.
Spiders carry venom so they can use it to attack their prey. The venom is usually used to attack humans and other living creatures like home pets. There are over 3000 a variety of arachnids taking to the list of Australian spiders records.
People see them daily, and others do not even recognize them until they are bitten by them.
While it’s true that we have some of the most venomous and dangerous spiders all around the world, Australia’s spider population is big.
According to the Australian nation, spiders are taken as dangerous if they are venomous, and not dangerous if they have less venom. Some people avoid visiting Australia because of the various spiders around it.
The country has so many types of spiders, his gives you the answer to the question asked, about how regular to see spiders in Australia. The answer is very clear, they are everywhere till they end up not being recognized. It also depends on where you stay.
This is so because spiders usually dwell in tropical places. In north Australia, it is more tropical making it the right and best place for spiders to survive. We have different kinds of spiders that live in Australia.
There are funnel-web spiders that favour temperature and humid climates. They are usually found in the southern parts of the Australian country. Let’s us look at the types of common spiders found in Australia.
Common types of spiders found in Australia
Although the population of spiders is high in Australia, it doesn’t mean they harm people and pets all the time. Yes, they are unpleasant to look at and their webs can cause a mess but not all of them are dangerous. Below we have listed the most common types of spiders found in Australia.
1. The Redback Spider
This is a spider that has red stripes on its back from a strong line to patterns or white lines to the females. The male spiders have two colours which are yellow and white with spots.
Distribution: These are spiders that are transported all around Australia.
Size: Female spiders are measured 15mm long while male spiders can grow to 5mm long.
Habitat: These types of spiders usually live in hidden places as under rocks, in logs, hip of leaves, floorboards, in flower pots and shelves.
Lifecycle: During mating season, a female spider matures in three months. It is between spring and the coming of winter when they can lay eggs. The female can lay 4 to 8 eggs which each sac having 350 eggs approximately.
The redbacks spiders are not seen all the time because of quantity meaning that many baby spiders do not live for a long time.
They are eaten by other spiders. The male hatchlings can live for 7 months and the females can live long for three years.
Food: These redbacks are under the carnivores group. They usually eat small insects, small mice, lizards, grasshoppers and frogs.
Venom: The redbacks spider are very dangerous. They have a strong venom that can cause big harm if not treated.
2. The White-Tailed Spider
The whitetail spider is not that attractive compared to other spiders. It contains white patterns at the top and tail of its grey body. It has brown dull legs joined the white tail spider’s body.
Distribution: There are two types of whitetail spiders with a microscopic difference. We have the lampona cylindrata which saw in south-east Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. There is also lampoon marina white tail spider which lives in the northern seaboard, from north-east Queensland to Victoria
Size: The male spider’s measure up to 12their body’s length yet the female’s measure up to 18mm long.
Habitat: These are a type of spiders dwelling in garden places, under hidden rocks, tree barks and leaves. They also love places that are dry with no moisture. The Whitetail spiders are also compared to owls because of being seen early hours at night.
Food: The whitetail spiders eat other spiders and other small insects.
Venom: Through their dangerous venom, the whiter spider’s bites can end up leading to bad human skin.
3. The Huntsman Spider
The large hairy huntsman spider has a brown, black and grey colour around the body.
The Huntsman spider Distribution: These are spiders that are found all around Australia.
The Huntsman Spider Size: The huntsman spiders are giants, they have legs that measure up to 160mm. This makes them look hideous yet they are not dangerous.
Habitat: The huntsman giant spiders live in tree trunks, garden small stones and beddings, brick walls and in tree hipped leaves.
Lifecycle: Female huntsman spider lays 200 eggs which are in a flat oval sac. The eggs stay in the sac till they mature in four weeks. When it is hatching, the female helps her babies out of their shells and lives with them for some weeks. The Huntsman Spider lives up to two years.
Food: The huntsman survives on small lizards, frogs, insects, other spiders and grasshoppers.
Venom: The venom of huntsman spiders is very low.
4. Mouse Spiders
The mouse spiders are related to the Sydney funnel and trapdoor spiders. The mouse spider is made up of a short, chunky body, which has big fang sheaths. They are made of brown and black colours.
Distribution: The mouse spiders are found around the eastern sides of Australia and in other big lands of the country.
Size: The measurements of the nose spiders depends on the size of the specimen. Not considering sex, they can reach up to 3 cm if they are not attacked.
Habitat: Similar to the Trapdoor spiders, the mouse Spider dwells in hidden places such as burrows and under the rocks. The barrow is 39cm long when measured.
Lifecycle: The male mouse spiders get mature at the age of 4 years and dies after mating. The female spider can lay up to 60 eggs which hatch after some months until autumn.
Food: Like other types of spiders, the mouse spiders eats insects, small animals, frogs, lizards and grasshoppers.
Venom: The venom is very dangerous. Once you see their bites make sure you get help very quickly.
5. Black House Spider
The Black House Spider is made from a combination of dark brown and black legs, with a dark grey body. They also have a white colour on their dorsal pattern.
Distribution: They are mostly found in the southern and eastern parts of the Australian country.
Size: The black House Spider can reach up to 1.5 to 2 cm long if they are healthy and safe.
Habitat: They usually live in places such as in ledges, tree trunks, rock walls, buildings, window panes and under logs. The female spider can cause more harm than the male because of her body’s shape.
Lifecycle: Black House spiders hatch after three months and they can survive for 2 years. The female spider stays with her eggs till they are mature.
Food: They eat insects, small animals and grasshoppers.
Venom: The bite of the black House is very irritating and can cause nausea, vomiting, and sweating, leading to skin lesions.
6. The Orb Spider
These are common spiders found in the garden. They are made of a body that is reddish-brown to grey with a triangular body. There is also design like leaves on the back part of the body.
Distribution: There are regular spiders found all around the eastern and southern parts of Australia.
Size: 1 to 2.5cm long
Habitat: Tree trunks and shrubs
Lifecycle: These spiders can live for 365 days.
Food: They eat insects, flies and beetles.
Venom: It is very low.
Conclusion
It is very common to see spiders in Australia, they can be seen anywhere but this doesn’t mean that they are all dangerous and a threat to the people in Australia.
The common types of spiders found in Australia are the white-tailed spider, the black house spider, daddy long legs spider, funnel web spider, garden orb-weaving spider, the redblack spider and many more.
