11-02-2016, 11:32 AM
1
our infamous Redback spider
Hi everybody,Just another little bit of info on our redback spider, mentioned it in a recent post by myself.
They are very common in W Australia plus I believe other states have them as well. I will have to get my good lady Patricia to take a pic with her Ipad. Along our boundary fence there are countless webs which they use to capture small insects etc, they then bind the victims up with a very fine silk like thread until they are ready to be devoured. Attached is a bit more official info
Description
Redback spiders, Latrodectus hasselti, are almost too familiar to need description.
Mature female redbacks are jet black spiders with a variable red stripe on the back of their spherical abdomen. Immature females are smaller, usually brown with whitish markings.
Their tough, untidy webs are usually near the ground with the spider hiding in a shelter tucked in a corner, often guarding her round woolly egg sacs.
Male redback spiders are rarely seen. They are small and brown with red and white markings.
Redback spiders are found throughout Australia, in drier habitats and built-up areas. They are common in dry places around buildings, outdoor furniture, machinery and stacked materials.
In the bush, redback spiders nest under logs and rocks. There is some evidence to suggest that redbacks are not native to Australia.
Redback spider bites usually occur when part of the body comes in direct contact with the spider or its web.
Life history
Redback spiders feed mainly on ground-living insects that blunder into their webs, but small vertebrates such as lizards and even mice can fall victim.
Also eaten - after mating - are the tiny male redbacks.
A female redback spider can produce eggs for up to two years after a single mating. Eggs are enclosed in 3-5 dirty-white, woolly, spherical egg sacs suspended in the retreat of the web and guarded by the female.
Spiderlings emerge after about 14 days and disperse on the wind as soon as conditions are right. This is how redback spiders turn up in new places or quickly recolonise areas from which they have previously been removed.
Pest status and management
Redback spiders are not aggressive, and rarely leave the web. However caution is advised as their bite is very poisonous and potentially fatal for children or the elderly.
After a bite, the onset of pain may be delayed for five minutes then increase in intensity. Subsequent symptoms vary but have included:
• nausea
• vomiting
• abdominal or generalised pain
• sweating
• restlessness
• palpitations
• weakness
• muscle spasm
• fever.
Anyone bitten by a redback spider should seek medical attention.
Do not bandage the bite but apply iced water and take simple painkillers.
An antivenene is available and very effective.
Manage redback spiders by learning to recognise their webs and the kinds of places they live. Always take care when gardening or moving objects where redback spiders might be hiding.
Fumigation has only temporary effects on redback spider numbers and kills its natural enemies.
CSIRO Entomology is not currently researching redback spiders. This fact sheet is provided for information only.
As I mentioned in a previous post I have only been bitten just the once without realising it at the time.
A few days in bed with a high fever before I was diagnosed by a doc.
Nothing changes ,I still rummage through stuff in my shed without giving them a thought.
I hope I do not bore the members with all this sort of stuff, but just at the moment after recently being diagnosed with short term memory loss I find that talking about different subjects etc certainly helps my memory problem.
PS,ask me about something that happened around seventy years ago when I was just a kid & it is as clear as day.
Simmo
11-02-2016, 11:38 AM
3
Re: our infamous Redback spider
Here it is. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...side-shed.html
11-02-2016, 11:56 AM
6
Re: our infamous Redback spider
Just confirmed with my good lady about the spider post, I should have said a Huntsmen spider, they are quite large & there web can stretch between two small trees, we were watching one in our back yard a few weeks ago, we actually had to go round the web which was blocking our garden path.It was interesting to watch how they captured there prey.A very large moth like insect got tangled up in the web but had no chance of getting free,
The Huntsmen waited about 30 minutes until it had almost stopped struggling & then proceeded to wind web thread around it until it was just like a cocoon. A day later it disappeared but we found it hidden in a secret larder on the fence close by.
Facsinating stuff to watch. Simmo
11-02-2016, 12:29 PM
8
Re: our infamous Redback spider
Originally Posted by Ole Simmo 1939
->
Just confirmed with my good lady about the spider post, I should have said a Huntsmen spider, they are quite large & there web can stretch between two small trees, we were watching one in our back yard a few weeks ago, we actually had to go round the web which was blocking our garden path.It was interesting to watch how they captured there prey.A very large moth like insect got tangled up in the web but had no chance of getting free,
The Huntsmen waited about 30 minutes until it had almost stopped struggling & then proceeded to wind web thread around it until it was just like a cocoon. A day later it disappeared but we found it hidden in a secret larder on the fence close by.
Facsinating stuff to watch. Simmo
They do built very large, strong and sticky webs across big gaps. The one in my photo built its web across an 8ft passage, I walked into it nearly every morning.
11-02-2016, 12:44 PM
9
Re: our infamous Redback spider
Hi again Norm, thanks for the info, they sure are mean little buggers ,I had better start giving them a little more respect.Yes my wife has showed me the video, it happened at Dongara a few hours drive from us, strangely enough when our boys were young we used to go up to Dongara & camp on the beach for a couple of weeks during the summer school break.We used to rough it in tents plus we had to take all of our supplies with us, no shops etc in those days. The other thing was it was all gravel roads with the last few miles soft sand.The upside was the fishing off the beach was fantastic. It must have been in the seventies which was a long time ago.
Our boys still like to talk about those little adventures plus they tell there kids about it.
Simmo
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