Australian spiders: description, types, classification and interesting facts

Australia is a country where a modern person who does not know its jungle and deserts can survive only in the city, but it is not a fact either. There are so many animals that are dangerous to humans, that the country can be entered in the Guinness Book of Records.

Here, the largest number of poisonous snakes on the planet, and in the waters of the ocean, you can face the deadly blue-eyed octopus, whose bite causes death, and the huge cuttlefish that arrange marriage games near the shore.

Famous Australian spiders the size of a plate or running at a speed of one meter per second are ordinary "guests" of houses and cars of local residents.

Three of the most dangerous spiders in Australia

Although the death of the spider bite in the country was last recorded in the 80s of the XX century, the fear of them is transmitted from generation to generation. In this country, children begin to get acquainted with animals, insects, reptiles and the inhabitants of the ocean from a young age, which can harm their health or even kill them. Knowing what a possible "offender" looks like, often saved people's lives, as some Australian spiders are not only poisonous, but also extremely aggressive.

Sydney funnel-web spider - this arthropod can be written in the leaders for lethal. The Sydney leukopausal spider (also called funnel), possessing long and strong fangs, prefers to attack first the possible, in his opinion, the enemy. He is able to bite not only the skin, but also the man's nail, and, as a rule, causes lightning at once several wounds, injecting poison into them.

Especially dangerous is the spider for children, since they die in just 15 minutes, if they do not enter the antidote that was invented in the 80s of the last century. Before the antidote was found, the death rate from the bite of the funnel spider was quite high.

On the second place on the threat to human life are red-spined Australian spiders. They are easy to see on the bright red strip on the abdomen, but their poison is also one of the most deadly. An adult dies from biting for an hour, experiencing severe pain, sweating and nausea. Old people and adolescents are especially vulnerable, as some people are already weak in their bodies, and others are not yet strong. If you ask for help on time, you can avoid a fatal outcome.

Interestingly: red-spined Australian spiders, more precisely, their females, are prone to cannibalism and eat up their partners during mating. They are also dangerous for the person they are, but do not figure out the sex of this arthropod at the meeting.

In the third place in terms of "harmfulness" for humans, the Australian classification of spiders places a red-headed mouse representative of the family of arthropods. This is a fairly large creature, able to eat not only a small mouse, but a toad, and a lizard that is larger than its size.

The bite of this spider is not as toxic as the previous one, but it can deliver a lot of unpleasant moments. It's good that this species is non-aggressive and slow, but judging by their size and type, you will not say that.

Australia - is a dangerous territory for a person's life, if he does not follow the precautionary rules and does not carry with him several types of antidotes at once.

Spider-Horse

The Australian bouncing spider is a nightmare of arachnophobe, and this is not surprising. These creatures have 8 eyes that are placed in three rows on their head, hairy legs and a fairly large abdomen. Although they are unattractive, people can not be afraid of them. Spiders-hoppers prefer tropical forests, deserts and semi-deserts, where people have nothing to do.

As the name implies, these arthropods prefer not to wait for prey in the burrow, as, for example, tarantulas do, and do not run after it like a spider-hunter, but jump, often for quite long distances. They even have their own safety thread, which they fix where they expect to make a jump. This type of spider prefers day hunting, and thanks to the hairs on its legs can conquer any vertical surface, including glass.

Spider-Wolf

These Australian spiders got their name due to the habit of living and hunting at night alone on the territory they consider their own. They can hardly be called cute because of large eyes and hairy legs, but people avoid them, hiding from them in foliage or in their burrows.

The size of the body of this arthropod is rarely more than 3 cm, but the feet are rather long. The Australian wolf spider belongs to the category of "jumpers", since it prefers not to chase after prey, but to jump on it from an ambush, for which it weaves a safety silk web, and when it overtakes prey, it eats it, holding it with its front paws.

Caring for the offspring is an amazing feature of this species of spiders. After mating, the female wraps eggs in several layers of cobwebs, constructing a kind of cocoon that bears on itself for 2 weeks, until the spiders are hatching.

After the appearance of the offspring, the caring "mummy" carries them on themselves until they learn to hunt independently. Sometimes there are so many of them that only her eyes are visible.

Typically, wolf spiders avoid people and are not dangerous to them, but they can bite if they are disturbed. Their toxin is not fatal, but it causes itching and redness.

The largest spiders in Australia

In the issue of the size of arthropods, this country can also compete. For example, the largest Australian spider is crab, or, as it is also called, a hunter. He does not eat crabs and is so named because of the structure of the paws, which are bent, like a representative of crustaceans.

The size of these spiders along with the paws reaches 30 cm or more, the color mostly black, but there are instances of brown or gray. Fluffy paws, and the front paws with well-marked spines, do not add beauty to this huge spider.

The hunter is named that way because he drives his prey, like a real huntsman, quickly moving on the ground. People, as a rule, avoid these giants, but especially bothersome can bite. Although their poison is not fatal to humans, the bite site is swollen and painful. The bitten feels weak and dizzy.

Loksotselesy

The most frightening thanks to the Internet are quickly hermit spiders. Their bite is not fatal to humans, but the toxin that enters it does not allow the wound to heal, which sometimes leads to an amputation of the arm or leg.

As a rule, the bite of this small-sized arthropod often goes unnoticed, since it resembles a small needle prick, but after a few hours a person feels itching and pain, which are followed by a fever. If you do not do the treatment right away, it can drag on for many months, because the reaction to the poison of the hermit spider is tissue necrosis. Restore the damaged skin is impossible, and sometimes for the salvation of the patient's life amputated limb.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to hide from these spiders. They often hide in shoes and clothes, in boxes, drawers and tables, so Australians should always shake their things before they are put on.

The good news is that this spider-killer, as he was called, is non-aggressive and never attacks first.

Black house spider

These Australian spiders are the most common inhabitants in gardens, in cracks of fences and walls, on windows and in the corners of rooms. Females, as a rule, do not leave their web, waiting for the "dinner" itself to fall into it. Although the sight of these small creatures is not at all friendly, they bite people extremely rarely, and if their cobwebs were damaged during the cleaning of the room, they simply restore it and live there further.

White-tailed spider

If the Australian spider-diver catches prey due to his ability to push off from the surface and make a jump, and the black house waits for food in his web, the white-tailed species of arthropods just catches up with his prey.

He does not weave cobwebs and prefers to hide in secret places, which often become cabinets with things or boxes with shoes. His bite is not fatal, but causes severe swelling and pain.

Australian tarantulas

These representatives of arthropods would be stars in horror films. Not only are they large, and their fangs reach 1 cm in length, they also live long (females under 30, and males - up to 8 years). Their bites are extremely painful to humans, but not deadly, whereas for animals, such as cats or dogs, everything ends sadly if not rendered them on time with medical care.

Interesting facts about spider "kingdom"

The surprising event in the country was the reaction, which showed Australian flying spiders in the beginning of the flood. Trying to escape from the water, they launched into the air thousands of cobwebs, trying to get the wind caught them and carried away from the danger zone. The consequence of this was the white earth from their networks, as the web tightly covered it by tens of centimeters in height.

Spiders are interesting and useful creatures, and if they are not disturbed, then they are harmless. Australians know this, so for a long time there have been no appeals to the hospital because of their bites.