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Black and Grey House Spiders are widely distributed in southern and
eastern Australia and are also found in the United States. Their webs form untidy, lacy silk sheets with
funnel-like entrances. Black House Spiders are found on tree trunks,
logs, rock walls and buildings (in window frames, wall crevices, etc).
Badumna longinquus may be found in similar locations and
often builds webs on foliage. The Black House Spider (Badumna insignis) is a dark robust
spider, with the female (up to 18mm) being larger than the male (about
9mm). The carapace and legs are dark brown to black, and the abdomen
is charcoal grey with a dorsal pattern of white markings (sometimes
indistinct). B. longinquus (Grey House Spider) is a slightly
smaller (14mm) species with a greyish carapace and grey-brown banded
legs. The webs of Black House Spiders have a 'funnel-like' shape, which
is sometimes misunderstood as a Funnel-web Spider web. However, the
two spiders are not at all similar in appearance, size or life
history. See the
Funnel-web Spider factsheet to compare the two spiders. The
retreat of a true Funnel-web Spider is often less funnel-like and is
usually a burrow in the ground. Some funnel webs have burrows in
tree-trunk crevices but their web entrances are disguised with
detritus (eg, bark) particles embedded in the silk, whereas the silk
of Badumna webs is clean. Black House Spiders are timid animals and bites from them are
infrequent. The bite may be quite painful and cause local swelling.
Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating and giddiness are
occasionally recorded. In a few cases skin lesions (Necrotising
Arachnidism) have developed after multiple bites. A cold pack may
relieve local pain. Seek medical attention if symptoms persist. |
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15 May, 2008:
Hi Glen, Could you tell me what this spider is? It lives in my
bathroom window. I live in Northern California, Sonoma County. Thank you!
Nancy |
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20 April, 2008:
hey there! I stumbled upon this site while trying to identify a breed of spider
that seems to have infested the rafters surrounding the outside of my house. I
took a few photos (bad ones) in an attempt to find out what they are and the
best way to get rid of them!
the photos show two together in a web, a dead one, upside down on the pavements,
a single one in a web, and also two photos of what the webs look like. The
funnel looking one has a spider inside still. While the web resembles a funnel,
i'm doubting they are funnel webs (and hoping they're not!), my next guess was
the mouse spider...but to me the fangs dont seem large enough for a mouse
spider, and from what i know they're burrow dwellers, where as these ones are
all in webs up high in the rafters. But i'm not a spider expert, so perhaps you
can identify them? please!? If its possible it would be much appreciated!
thankyou for your time
Mally |
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31 Oct, 2005:
Hello, I've attached photos of her babies too - you can see
they actually have some fine detail on their backs, which is just
amazing. These babies are in a tub awaiting their release outside...
when they leave the web (10-20 per week) we catch them and set them
free. It's also pretty amazing what happens when the bathroom gets
steamy from the shower: The mother will run around her lacy web
(collecting the fine condensation) and then sit and
methodically drink the moisture from her hairy legs. The babies do
the same (we can't see them that well, but they spread out on
the web after a shower, almost definitely collecting moisture - it's
quite a display). Bye for now, Carine. |
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5 Oct, 2005:
Hi Glen, Here's another update on the spider we have living
in our bathroom: I am happy to finally present you with some decent
pics of her! She's rather fat right now (probably getting ready to
make another egg sac). This may have contributed to her falling out
of her web, which must have been horribly traumatic for her.
Fortunately, she was able to climb back up to her home in the door
frame, and I finally got some good photos! Now that you can
see her properly, do you think she is a black house spider? Thanks
again, Carine. South Australia |
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3 Sept, 2005:
Here are some better photos of the black house spider. Alec |
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31 August, 2005:
Thanks a lot Glen. Here are a few more images I took today when I
fed the spider :)
Enjoy, Dragan |
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Reply: That resembles the black
window
spider ( not widow spider, wiNdow spider ), Badumna insignis, which
is medically significant. See the "Common spiders Aus" section, via
the link at the top
left of this page. Nathan Hepworth
22 August, 2005:
Hello, Here are some more pictures of my spider. If you
recall, I e-mailed you a
while ago about her and her babies. I live in Adelaide, South
Australia, and the spider lives behind the door frame in our
bathroom.
The photos are of her catching a cockroach we put in the web for
her. The black dots you see are her babies. The last photo is of one
of the babies. cheers, carine. |
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26 May, 2002:
Hi,
I live in Los Angeles and I found this guy in my
apartment. I don't believe he's dangerous, but I was
curious if you could identify him. I suspect he's just
in the family of European house spiders - approx. 1-1.25" across leg span.
Unfortunately the black & white photo is the only one
that came out well - I'm still working on my close-up
photo skills. The picture on the left, was taken about a
year ago, no doubt the exact same type of spider. Please
feel free to use these pictures on your site - I'll gladly send
more when I find more accommodating "models" so I can
work on my macro skills.
Jason Malburg |
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