Deadly spiders send Australians scurrying - National

More than 30 species of the highly dangerous funnel web spider exist throughout Australia. There is known to be at least one species in Papua New Guinea as well. The best known is the Sydney funnel web (Atrax robustus) which is found only within a 160 km radius of Sydney. The male is more dangerous than the female, which is unusual in the spider world. The male Sydney funnel web is also Australia's most dangerous spider, capable of causing death in as little as 15 minutes. However in most cases of bites on humans little venom is injected and no symptoms develop. This is not the case with bites to primates, as they appear to be particularly susceptible to funnel web venom. An antivenom was introduced in 1980 and since then no definite funnel web connected deaths have been recorded. Also, time spent by bite victims in hospital has been greatly reduced. Prior to this, however, 13 known fatalities associated with bites from this spider were recorded.

Sydney funnel web spiders are large, black, aggressive creatures with large downward-pointing powerful fangs. The males live in burrows or rock crevices which they line with silk. They attach external silk trip lines to the burrows to alert them to possible prey or mates. Colonies of more than 100 spiders may be found. The funnel webs also like to live around house foundations. The male spiders in particular often wander into houses in the summer, especially during wet weather.