# Red Back Spider vs Antaresia



## Snowman (Jan 7, 2013)

A friend of mine working out at Newman WA was doing a prestart (checking his vehicle) and came accross this on the wheel arch of his 4x4. He's not into reptiles and spiders but thought this was cool and shared the pictures with me. I'd have loved to of been there to see it for myself. But pictures are the next best thing 
The photos arent all in focus, I suspect a phone camera or something. Not everyone has a DSLR on them when these things pop up. Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy something a bit different. 
Shout out to Jason Rajah for the photos!


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## Bananapeel (Jan 7, 2013)

Wow! That's very cool.
Wonder who won... :lol:


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## Snowman (Jan 7, 2013)

The python was dead by this stage.


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## Shotta (Jan 7, 2013)

wow that redbacks a greedy guts lol 
reminds me when i was working in laurieton petstore and a lady brought in a tiny red belly that had been bitten by a redback it died half hour later and boy it let off an unearthly smell


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## Venomous_RBB (Jan 7, 2013)

I guess just a way of life, poor snake though 
Nice food for the redback, will last her through till next summer, lol.


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## Eamon (Jan 7, 2013)

Wow, very interesting. How big was the snake?


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## sharky (Jan 7, 2013)

Well that's something you don't see everyday


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## Snowman (Jan 7, 2013)

Jason said the python was about 20cm and the red back was about 2cm. It's super specimen of a red back though isnt it?!


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## Venomous_RBB (Jan 7, 2013)

I agree, such a nice looking spider


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## Bananapeel (Jan 7, 2013)

Damn that's a big meal for that stunning spider. Didn't realise the spider had actually killed it by that stage. Puts my red back to shame  eating moths, flies etc.:lol: That's gold though.


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## imported_Varanus (Jan 7, 2013)

Typical woman! Won't be satisfied till she's got that Blackheaded!


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## thomasssss (Jan 7, 2013)

wow , wonder what the odds are of anyone getting to see that sort of thing again are , your mates a lucky guy , i knew birds and stuff picked off young snakes but a spider is a new one


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## Chanzey (Jan 7, 2013)

Haha wow, I've seen golden orbs take snakes and birds, but a redback I haven't, beast of a spider


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## outbackstorm (Jan 7, 2013)

Damn introduced spiders preying on our native wildlife!

On a serious note though, that is a pretty impressive spider and not something you are likely to see everyday. Great photos thanks for sharing.


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## Umbral (Jan 7, 2013)

Wow!!!! Thanks for sharing.


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## Elapidae1 (Jan 7, 2013)

outbackstorm said:


> Damn introduced spiders preying on our native wildlife!
> 
> On a serious note though, that is a pretty impressive spider and not something you are likely to see everyday. Great photos thanks for sharing.



Introduced?


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## Venomous_RBB (Jan 9, 2013)

Elapidae1 said:


> Introduced?



Was thinking the same thing?



outbackstorm said:


> Damn introduced spiders preying on our native wildlife!
> 
> On a serious note though, that is a pretty impressive spider and not something you are likely to see everyday. Great photos thanks for sharing.



Red Back's are native spiders?


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## reptilezac (Jan 9, 2013)

my velvert gecko died from a red back that I never found in its cage until it was too late


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## myusername (Jan 9, 2013)

Really cool, thanks for sharing.


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## eipper (Jan 9, 2013)

Awesome work snow, thanks for sharing!


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## Darlyn (Jan 9, 2013)

What a beautiful spider, awesome critters.
Lucky to be able to witness that.

I wonder what your mate did when he needed to use the vehicle?


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## lizardjasper (Jan 9, 2013)

Red-back spiders are not introduced, they're native. Well that's what I was always taught anyway...
now a black widow is very similar but it's the American version of our red-back.'
Poor snake. shudder...
Sorry about your velvet gecko AusHerps. That sucks.


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## Shotta (Jan 9, 2013)

whats the difference between redback and black widow? they both look the same to me is the black widow bigger?


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## lizardjasper (Jan 9, 2013)

I dunno biologically but it's the location. Red-back = Australia Black Widow = America


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## junglelover01 (Jan 9, 2013)

That's a hefty sized redback!


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## SteveNT (Jan 9, 2013)

No-one knows if redbacks are native. First recorded 1850 in SA but not in the other colonies for some time later. May be introduced as it's hard to imagine nobody noticed them for decades.

Oh yea, we recently accidentally exported them to Japan. Some of my older friends think it's appropriate lol.


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## lizardjasper (Jan 9, 2013)

SteveNT said:


> No-one knows if redbacks are native. First recorded 1850 in SA but not in the other colonies for some time later. May be introduced as it's hard to imagine nobody noticed them for decades.
> 
> Oh yea, we recently accidentally exported them to Japan. Some of my older friends think it's appropriate lol.



Oh well. Red back spiders - Native to Australia since 1850! Also available in Japan...


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## Elapidae1 (Jan 9, 2013)

SteveNT said:


> No-one knows if redbacks are native. First recorded 1850 in SA but not in the other colonies for some time later. May be introduced as it's hard to imagine nobody noticed them for decades.
> 
> Oh yea, we recently accidentally exported them to Japan. Some of my older friends think it's appropriate lol.



Yes but they are endemic to Australia and therefore it's also hard to imagine that if they occurred elsewhere and were introduced from that place then they also went unnoticed there.


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## Ryderthefrog (Jan 9, 2013)

Wow that's crazy never thought I'd be seeing that. Cheers for sharing.


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## Gonemad (Jan 10, 2013)

That's unbelievable! Poor snake!


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## Bluetonguesblack (Jan 10, 2013)

I have 2 young kids and a lot of Redbacks here so therefore my priorities lie with my kids safety. So when i find a Redback it gets squashed with my finger. I`ve done it dozens and dozens of times.


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## SteveNT (Jan 10, 2013)

Elapidae1 said:


> Yes but they are endemic to Australia and therefore it's also hard to imagine that if they occurred elsewhere and were introduced from that place then they also went unnoticed there.



Or is it? The redback and black widow are extremely close and there is a lot of confusion within the genus. Either way they're locals now. It is interesting if you look at the records that they start in Adelaide, then move to eastern capitals then spread from those centres. They are just starting to appear in Arnhem Land, being spread via human elements (trucks, barges, etc).


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## imported_Varanus (Jan 10, 2013)

I've rarely found them (redbacks) in natural bush environments, usually only in/around man made habitats??


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## Snowman (Jan 10, 2013)

By some of the logic on this thread you'd believe that rough scales pythons are introduced. 
Anyways...


It was once thought that the Redback Spider, Latrodectus hasselti, was a sub species of the Black Widow Spider but it is now known to be a distinct species.

It has also been suggested by some workers that the Redback may not be native to Australia but have been introduced since European settlement, although it's not clear where they originated.

Recent research on the DNA sequences of all recognized Latrodectus species indicates that the Redback is a distinct species, most closely related to the New Zealand Katipo, and probably an Australian native.


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## outbackstorm (Jan 10, 2013)

Snowman said:


> It was once thought that the Redback Spider, Latrodectus hasselti, was a sub species of the Black Widow Spider but it is now known to be a distinct species.
> 
> It has also been suggested by some workers that the Redback may not be native to Australia but have been introduced since European settlement, although it's not clear where they originated.
> 
> Recent research on the DNA sequences of all recognized Latrodectus species indicates that the Redback is a distinct species, most closely related to the New Zealand Katipo, and probably an Australian native.



I just read that website where you got that information from too, I was under the impression that they were introduced, I guess I stand corrected.


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## Wing_Nut (Jan 10, 2013)

imported_Varanus said:


> I've rarely found them (redbacks) in natural bush environments, usually only in/around man made habitats??



European settlement has affected the distribution of many species, and in the case of the Redback Spider, it has simply provided everything they need to thrive, habitat (buildings, wood piles, drains etc) and a ready source food.


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## BIGBANG (Jan 10, 2013)

lizardjasper said:


> Oh well. Red back spiders - Native to Australia since 1850! Also available in Japan...


wonder if the ones over there have made in Australia stamped on them


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## Variety (Jan 10, 2013)

I wonder who was the aggressor here,
Is it just me or does that look like a monster of a spider ?


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## Snowman (Jan 10, 2013)

Variety said:


> I wonder who was the aggressor here,
> Is it just me or does that look like a monster of a spider ?


It's only 2cm. They can get up to 4cm.


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## Echiopsis (Jan 10, 2013)

Latrodectus webs are perfect for trapping terrestrial inverts and sometimes verts. Theres multiple 'trip wires' than hang down and are secured to the ground. When something stumbles into them the web is often dislodged, pulling the critter off the ground and entangling it further. I had a red back in the shed a couple of years back feeding on a good sized Hemiergis.

As far as the distro goes, I see them quite regularly in cave entrances and gorges in remote parts of the Pilbara. They're around, just not as common (or visible) in natural scrub as they are in suburbia.

Nice pics, the sort of thing I tend to come across when the camera is back in the donga :lol:


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## Jackrabbit (Jan 12, 2013)

I realised I had lifted my feet off the floor by the time I had finished reading this.

Am surprised the fangs could penetrate the snakes scales


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## ronhalling (Jan 15, 2013)

@ Nilesh the main difference between the redback and the black widow is mostly visual, where the redback has the distinctive red slash on it's back the black widow has an hour glass shaped red marking on it's underside Ron


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## Shotta (Jan 15, 2013)

ronhalling said:


> @ Nilesh the main difference between the redback and the black widow is mostly visual, where the redback has the distinctive red slash on it's back the black widow has an hour glass shaped red marking on it's underside Ron



ah i see thanks for that


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## Barrett (Jan 19, 2013)

Damn, that is impressive. Saying that, I hate red backs, only spider I will kill without a second thought.


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## Mangy_Wombat (Jan 21, 2013)

That's very interesting to see. Looks like a big redback, the snake was very pretty as well. The scary thing is that it was living on the car and you could have put your hand on it and been bitten doing checks and servicing.

Just shoes how wild nature truly is.


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