A bite from the sydney funnel-web should be regarded as a medical emergency. The venom twice as strong as cyanide. The bandage should be around the area and the limb towards the heart. Its bite is capable of causing serious illness or death in humans if left untreated. Funnel Web Spider prey consists of insects and small vertebrates such as lizards … This quiz hopes to shed some light on the truths and myths about the funnel-web spider. Like many spiders the funnel web is active at night. From 1927-1980, 14 deaths were reported due to Sydney Funnel-Web Spider bites. The toxic ingredient to the venom is the neurotoxin atraxotoxin a substance that attacks the nervous system effecting any of the body’s organs. The Sydney funnel-web spider’s diet consists mostly of insects, although items as large as frogs and lizards may also be taken. How Quick Can the Sydney Funnel Spider Bite Kill. Sydney funnel webs do not live in houses. Reproduction: Males reach sexual maturity at four years of age, females a year later. Antivenom was developed in 1981 since which time there have been no fatalities. Each Sydney Funnel-web Spiders leg has six joints, giving the Sydney Funnel-web Spider 48 leg joints. A number of other Australian spiders are commonly mistaken for Sydney funnel-webs. Females tend to stay in the same place and can occur in “colonies” of over 100 spiders (Yikes!). As of Jan 27 21. The Sydney Funnel-web Spider (Atrax robustus) occurs in New South Wales, from Newcastle to Nowra and west to Lithgow. The burrow and web can be anywhere from 20 to 60 cm (up to 2ft) deep. Primates (humans and monkeys) appear to be most susceptible, along with guinea pigs and mice. 2. but can kill an adult in a couple of days. Funnel-web Spiders do not occur in Western Australia or the Northern Territory. The diet of a Sydney Funnel-web consists of other spiders, small skinks and lizards, snails, frogs, and ground-dwelling insects. Redback spiders have made headlines in 2016 for killing a young Sydneysider. Rats, rabbits and cats and some other animals are unaffected by the bite of a female spider. Male venom only slight effect on cats and dogs. This is partly because the daytime temperatures would dehydrate them. A large, bulky spider, with females reaching over 35mm in body length and males around 25mm. As the name suggests the spider lives in a funnel shaped web. Deaths have occurred in as little as 15 minutes. For example under houses, crevices between rocks or in holes in trees. Funnel-web spider antivenom (FWS AV) reverses clinical effects of envenomation from the bite of Atrax robustus and a small number of related Hadronyche species. The spider’s body length measures 25mm (1 inch) and 35mm (1.4 inches) respectively. What would you say the qualities deeply esteemed by the people of those time? White-Tailed Spider The white-tailed spider has a long cigar-shaped, dark grey abdomen with a creamy-white speck on the tip. Venom from the male Sydney funnel-web spider (A. robustus) is used in producing the antivenom, but it appears to be effective against the venom of all species of atracids. The Sydney funnel-web (Atrax robustus) is generally found in both suburbia and bushland in an area bound by Newcastle to the north and Illawarra to the south. Why don't libraries smell like bookstores? The World's Deadliest and most dangerous... December 9, 2013 by Chris Simons Leave a Comment. Seek medical aid as quickly as possible. That said they live within a 100 miles (160km) range of Sydney. Typical prey includes  cockroaches, beetles, snails, millipedes and occasionally frogs or other small vertebrates such as lizards. These  include mouse spiders, trapdoor spiders and sometimes black house spiders. They are allegedly able to pierce a fingernail and shoe leather. The moment an unwitting insect trips on of these threads the funnel web spider. Like with most spiders the female is considerably bigger than the male. They may enter houses though, particularly in the summer after a downpour. Another identifying feature of the male is the spur halfway along the second set of legs. A Sydney Funnel-web will wait until its prey walks across the zigzag threads of its web, at which point it will rush out and subdue its prey by injecting venom. The most notorious funnel-web is the Sydney Funnel-web Spider (Atrax robustus) which is considered to be the deadliest spider in the world. According to Iowa State University’s BugGuide.net, webs are also often seen in the corners of porches or in the cracks of shingles (anywhere there is a crevice for them to build a funnel web inside). Unlike many spiders the venom of the male is far more potent than the females. 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