Spiders of Australia
Barbara York Main, based in Western Australia, wrote a Jacaranda Pocket Guide in 1964.
Peacock spider males extend brilliantly coloured fans and wave their legs in a display for their female partners.
Their fans are flaps and fringes on the sides of the abdomen, normally folded away, are inflated and spread wide when displaying.
Presently the Australian peacock spiders are assigned to two genera, Maratus Karsch 1878 and Saratus Otto & Hill 2017.
The female epigynum has heavily sclerotized (darker) ducts at the lateral and medial posterior margin of each fossa.
The male M. plumosus is also the most atypical of the group, with feathery plumes that it extends to the rear above its elevated and partly expanded fan.
The harrisi group includes two closely related species with a lobate or rounded flap on either side of the fan.
The discovery and later rediscovery of M. harrisi by Stuart Harris was the subject of an award- winning documentary entitled Maratus: A Documystery.
The redback spider's original range is considered to be parts of the South Australian and Western Australian deserts, from where it has since invaded the rest of Australia and several places overseas, including New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Japan.
[18] The most obvious sign of a redback bite is extreme pain accompanied by localised sweating, beginning three to five minutes after being bitten.
This is the result of the body reacting to its own neurotransmitter chemicals leaking from nerve junctions at the bite site.
Isbister et al. reported in 2015 that any patient for whom antivenom is considered must be fully informed that there is considerable weight of evidence to suggest it is no better than placebo, there is a risk of anaphylaxis and serum sickness, and that routine use is therefore not recommended.
Some wander into houses or fall into swimming pools, where they can stay alive underwater for long periods.
[4] The urban myth of the bite of the white-tailed spider leading to severe illness and large flesh-eating wounds has never been verified.
[4] The urban myth originated in 1982 when Australian medical researcher Struan Sutherland claimed the white-tailed spider as the culprit of severe skin ulcers and necrotic lesions.
Research by toxicologist Geoff Isbister and arachnologist Mike Gray investigated verified Lampona cylindrata bites, patients complained about pain, redness and itchiness, but researchers could find no resulting necrotic ulcers or other confirmed infections.
[20][22][23] The daddy long-legs spider Pholcus phalangioides (so named because the abdomen is finger-shaped) is one of nine introduced pholcids in Australia.
A myth developed around its venom, suggesting it would easily kill a person if only its fangs were big enough to penetrate skin.
The spider is also unusual as it appears to be feeding almost exclusively on a single ant species, Camponotus consobrinus, in the area studied.
