The Australian Redback Spider: Meet Our Highly Venomous House Guest & Her Egg Sac
A little over 3 weeks ago, I posted about the Australian brown snake as one of the most venomous snakes in the world. It came as a warning in the wake of a fatality from a brown snake bite prior to my post.
This weekend just gone, we were visited by a different venomous creature, the redback spider. They're not a large spider but don't let that fool you. I remember as a kid being warned about the dangerous black spider with the red stripe on its back. It's part of the general knowledge that's required living in Australia.
The redback spider in our doorway this weekend
I happened to notice the spider in the corner of our front door, with a messy web and a spherical silk egg sac. Each such sac apparently contains an average of 250 eggs. Quite impressive given the small size of the sphere. Wikipedia has the following to say about the egg sac.
Spiderlings hatch from their eggs after about 8 days and can emerge from the egg sac as early as 11 days after being laid, although cooler temperatures can significantly slow their development so that emergence does not occur for months. After hatching they spend about a week inside the egg sac.
The redback egg sac, a silky sphere holding an average of 250 eggs
The redback is said to have originated in Australia but now can be found throughout south east Asia. Interestingly, the female is the larger of the genders and only the female carries the red stripe. Even so, the female is typically only 10mm in size, yet she's highly venomous and can be seriously harmful to humans. Apparently there have been no deaths directly related to redback bites since antivenom has been available, but that is not to encourage complacency.
Look how easy this beautiful yet venomous spider can be to miss!
Although I hate doing so, given the dangerous nature of this spider I disposed of her. I actually noticed some tiny spiderlings in the process. Normally, I like to trap spiders or insects that I find in the house in a glass and relocate them outside but I didn't want 250 redbacks in the entryway of our home! It's sad but I have my family to look out for!
Another beautiful and deadly Australian resident. Thanks for reading!
i love the redbacks, we have a few around the house (outside) i leave them because they stop some of the other nasties getting in like roaches and white tips :)
They're decent predators that's for sure and unlike snakes, you can be fairly comfortable around them... so long as you don't go playing with them!
When I was living in Sydney,Australia, I found this Red back spider in my home office in the middle of the night. I got so scared. I woke my husband up, and he killed this deadly spider and threw it out of the window.
They're tiny aren't they. It's hard to imagine how dangerous they are. I've always found the red stripe very attractive and being nocturnal, they're pretty placid during the day. Your encounter at night may have been a different story!
Oh man, I’ve come across a few of these in my time, but I can’t remember ever seeing one with an egg sack like that! That’s actually really interesting.
I know what you mean about trying to relocate them instead of squishing or spraying, but sometimes you just have to do it. The harsh reality of being top of the food chain with a heart 😂.
Hey mate, yeah that's a great way of putting it!
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Good thing you noticed that egg sac!
When I imagine 250 Redbacks crawling around my house I get the goosebumps.
Luckily I've only had these in the garage outside and not in close proximity to the house.
Hey @peterkkim96. They like the house, it's secluded and protected. Yeah I agree. We don't often use that door so it was lucky I was out that side of the house on the weekend and happened to notice it!
Personally XD I nurture any spiders I find in my house to kill the general cockroach problem Wollongong suffers
Nature the way it was intended!
Nice write up, I'm sure lots of people are unaware of these dangerous guys. We have quite a few that live in the garage and shed. I't good to note that they are quite shy and live in dark, dank places. It is rare to find them inside a house, usually would be in walls or underneath. They try to keep away from threats.
Hey @bogglemcgee. Yeah in my experience they don't go looking for trouble. This one was happy with me sticking the camera right up close to her. She was probably asleep, the poor thing!
I found one of this australlian little terror at my uncles backyard here in Dubai, it's living under an old mono block chair, I think they migrated here, I got scared so I run away, and from then I always check monoblock chairs bottom before sitting XD it's such terrifying!
In Dubai of all places! Wow! Yeah checking where you sit is a standard thing in Aussie sheds and the like. Thanks for the comment @nuedareniel ☺
whenever I remember that moment still give me chills! and as per the news the red back spiders is back Grrr! Ihttp://www.expatechodubai.com/health-wellness/poisonous-redback-spiders-in-springs-ranches-dubai-municipality-tells-you-what-to-do/
I simply had no idea that they were that far from "home". How amazing! Thanks for the neat information.
Spider "Black Widow" justifies its name: a female kills a male after mating. However, a tendency to kill their admirers have representatives of other species of spiders. Therefore, they can be considered "black widows".
Yeah they're intense arent they @petrovych!
That spider is very deadly but to kill it easily just use doom
Hi @tomixdante, what's doom? I only know it as the 90s computer game!
just kill the thing with the 12 floppy disks DOOM shipped on :D
(the new DOOM game from 2016 is amazing though)
Great article as always.
Thank you!
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