Sydney leucoweb spider: the most dangerous member of the family

What are funnel spiders

Name: funnel spiders
Latin: Agelenidae

Class: Arachnida - Arachnida
Squad: Spiders - Araneae

	Habitats:	grass and between trees
	Dangerous for:	small insects
	Attitude towards people:	bites but not venomous

Funnel spider.

Funnel spiders are a large family of 1100 species. They have several other names:

• herbal, due to their frequent meeting in the grass;
• funnelworm, behind the funnel-shaped web;
• tunnel, for preferring to live in burrows and tunnels.

The funnel-shaped web and a special way of locomotion, abrupt dashes and jerky movements, are the distinctive representatives of the species.

Description of the species

Representatives of funnel spiders have a number of notable features:

1. Sizes from 6 to 21 mm, females are larger than males.
   

   Spider in the web.

2. The body is covered with dense hairs, there is a pattern, a shade from beige to brown.
3. The paws are powerful, covered with spikes, ending in claws.
4. 4 pairs of spider eyes do not give good vision, they are guided more by touch.

The dense webs of the spider quickly become clogged, so it does not live long in one place. Usually, after 2-3 weeks, the funnel changes its location.

Hunting features

The network of spiders of this species is located horizontally along the ground. It is dense, loose, converges down in the form of a funnel. The supporting threads are vertical, go to the beginning of the spider's nest, which is hidden by a cutting from the web.

The victim of the spider gets into the trapping net, due to the loose structure, it gets stuck deeper. The hunter senses the vibrations and rushes out to grab the prey.

Interestingly, due to poor eyesight, if the victim stops moving, the spider does not feel it and may miss it. But he begins to cunningly move the web so that the prey begins to move.

Animal nutrition

Funnel spiders are bold and courageous animals, but they can also attack beneficial insects. In the grass spider diet:

Spider breeding

The spider and its prey.

Unusual and distinctive is the method of reproduction of funnelworm spiders. The male goes in search of the female when he finds her lair, moves the web at a certain age. The female falls into a trance, and the male catches her and takes her to a place for mating.

After the process, the couple lives together for another 2-3 weeks, but before the offspring appears, the female changes her mind and tries to eat the male. She lays her eggs in a cocoon, next to the living chamber.

Sydney Leukopaustin Spider

The fauna of Australia is very diverse, comfortable conditions and climate allow many spiders to exist and actively breed. The Sydney funnel spider is a bright representative of this.

This is one of the most dangerous inhabitants of the mainland. He has long fangs, high speed, he is aggressive and merciless.

Sydney funnel spider.

The size of females is about 7 cm, males are smaller, but more poisonous. The color of the animal is black, almost glossy, the scutellum is not covered with hairs. The species lives in tunnels up to 40 cm long, completely inside shrouded in cobwebs.

Males actively move all summer long in search of females, therefore they are more frequent guests in people's dwellings. They may hide among debris or things on the floor.

Sydney funnel spider and people

The spider is very aggressive and, upon meeting with people, immediately rushes to the attack. He lifts his front legs and bares his fangs. It bites quickly, even lightning fast, maybe even several times in a row.

The force of the bite is such that the spider can bite through human nail. True, there is not much time to inject poison, because pain pierces immediately and people, out of a sense of preservation, immediately dump it.

Bite symptoms are:

If you enter an antidote, then a coma does not occur. There were cases of children dying when they did not seek help in a timely manner.

Conclusion

Funnel spiders are dangerous animals. They are aggressive and can be the first to defend themselves. However, their way of life is such that a person encounters them very rarely.

One of the most aggressive representatives of the species lives in Australia and is called the Sydney leucoweb. Its bite can be fatal if not treated promptly.