# Black tunnelweb spider



## cheddah (Sep 3, 2010)

Just wondered if you have these in Aus? theyre about as close to a Tarantula as it gets in NZ


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## Scotty99 (Sep 3, 2010)

I think they got funnelwebs in NSW, correct me if im wrong! Its the big bad brother of the tunnelweb, im from nz too soo not 100%


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## giglamesh (Sep 3, 2010)

correct they are in qld too


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## wasgij (Sep 3, 2010)

they are all over the place, theres many different species of funnel web.


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## Bradchip (Sep 3, 2010)

Never actually heard of the tunnelweb. Nice looking spider though. 

I'm trying to find out which species of Funnel web is endemic to Mt Glorious... (brisbane)


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## Bradchip (Sep 3, 2010)

wasgij is right...there are a few species of Funnel Web. The Sydney Funnel Web is probably the most notorious, and most commonly found. 

There is a species of funnel web found on Fraser Island, and there's the northern tree dwelling funnel web (which from memory is the most venomous of the bunch)


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## wasgij (Sep 3, 2010)

theres alot more than that  theres even 2 or 3 (cant remember which) species in victoria. even though theres so many species however they vary in toxicity greatly. the most dangeroud would be the sydney funnel web _Atrax robustus_, followed closely by the northern tree dwelling _Hadronyche formidabilis_. There is many more though and no funnel web should ever be treated with anything but respect.


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## Pythoninfinite (Sep 3, 2010)

I think there are more than 20 species, they go from North Queensland, down the coast to the eastern part of South Australia, and there is even (at least one) species in Tasmania.

Sydney Funnelweb definitely the most dangerous, although I don't think there has been a fatality since the introduction of an antivenom. Prior to this it was probably the most dangerous spider in the world.

As wasgij says, a bite from any Funnelweb species MUST be treated as a medical emergency.

Ugly, aggressive damned things - thank goodness for Mortein!

Jamie.


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## Waterrat (Sep 3, 2010)

This is not a Funnel-web, it's a trap-door spider. The entrance into their burrow is like a tube lined with silk (with a lid), hence the nick-name tunnel-web spider. We don't use that term in Aus.


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## cheddah (Sep 3, 2010)

My pic is a NZ black tunnel web spider (it has a tunnel web ), related to your sydney funnel web i think. Not a trap door, dont think we have any spiders that use a trapdoor here. I have a feeling it is found over there but given Aus has so many other amazing spiders, maybe its not commonly known of. They're harmless other than giving a painful bite.


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## cheddah (Sep 3, 2010)

Blurry pic, but gives you an idea, its got a tunnel down into some driftwood. The web outside is like trip wires, the spider waits for a bug to walk past and out she comes.


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## wasgij (Sep 3, 2010)

trapdoor is just a name, most trapdoor spiders dont actually build a door! Mygalomorphs generally all hunt the same way, by ambush. some use trip wires which they rest their legs on some just stay near the mouth of their burrow until they feel vibration close by. mygalomorphs can be very fun to keep. that is, if you dont mind them sitting in a burrow for months now and then!


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