Did I Discover The Big Boy Funnel Web First?

aussieprepper on 15/01/2025 - 09:39
Last edited 15/01/2025 - 09:53

So about a year ago I took these photos, I don't usually go around taking candid photos of spiders, but this spider piqued my interest it looked like a funnel web, but it was much bigger.
It could be a mouse spider, but the fangs look a bit small?, I don't know, the photo was taken at night and this is when the Big Boy Funnel Web is active. Also, same location, this is on Lake Macquarie not too far from Newcastle.

Any spiders experts on here?

https://ibb.co/xH2c0K9
https://ibb.co/yFMzs65

Link to article.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14280255/funnel-web…

Poll Options

  • 3
    Yes
  • 21
    No
  • 10
    I don't care
  • 26
    Burn the house down now
Pets Spider

Comments

  • pegaxs on 15/01/2025 - 09:41
    +7

    Not an “expert” but a lover of spiders… that is not a “Funnel web” it is more likely a “black house spider” based on the colour, shape, size, the amount of web it is living in and where it is located.

    • aussieprepper on 15/01/2025 - 09:51

      Don't the house spiders look more grey not that dark? I don't usually see funnel web up high I've seen a few in grass before.

      • pegaxs on 15/01/2025 - 10:11
        +5

        Funnel webs are shiny/glossy. They also dont live on the sides of houses, they live in undergrowth, under old logs and leaf litter. Funnel webs are mostly ground dwellers, not "door" dwellers.

        Added to this, funnel webs have larger "butt fingers", they dont have any distinctive markings (they're just black) and their fangs to body to abdomen ratio is much closer in size (their fangs are almost as big as their mid section).

        What you have there, on your door, on the side of your house…. is a common black house spider… No scientific discovery for you today. You dont get to submit a claim for finding it and getting to name it. Although, you probably could have done better than "big boy" considering most "large" funnel web spiders are female. So, who ever gave them that name is an idiot.

        • aussieprepper on 15/01/2025 - 21:28

          Thanks for the info.
          It's the females that are the dangerous ones?

          • pegaxs on 16/01/2025 - 13:51
            +1

            @aussieprepper: Yes… and not just for spiders… ;)

            As for funnel webs, the males are smaller, but not that much smaller, unlike some spiders where the males are tiny and non-venomous (ie: redbacks). I believe that the male funnel web is venomous and just as deadly as the female (possibly even more so, as males are the ones milked for anti-venom production).

            If you see either out in your garden, I would give either male OR female funnel webs a wide berth.

    • mapax on 15/01/2025 - 09:54
      +1

      Agree that it looks like a black house spider. My parents garage is full of them.

  • ihfree on 15/01/2025 - 09:45

    It looks much smaller than the "big boy funnel web" based on the screen door. It's hard to tell without something like a banana for scale.

    …it can grow up to 9cm (3.54 inches) compared with 5cm (1.97 inches) for the more common Sydney funnel-web

    • aussieprepper on 15/01/2025 - 21:25
      +1

      But bananas come in all different sizes, lol.

      • ihfree on 15/01/2025 - 21:42

        You should get a spider identification chart. Could be a decent prep item.

  • CheapandUsed on 15/01/2025 - 09:51

    Anyone else concerned that the Big Boy Funnel Web is Huntsman coloured?

    taken at night and this is when the Big Boy Funnel Web is active

    Wish I remained ignorant of this fact

    • Protractor on 15/01/2025 - 10:19

      Maybe we have a mega-spider aka deadly hybrid?

  • FezMonkey on 15/01/2025 - 09:53
    +3

    Those links are staying unclicked

    • Protractor on 15/01/2025 - 11:18
      +1

      Don't look now, but there's a link on your left shoulder

  • Protractor on 15/01/2025 - 10:03
    +1

    Completely wrong shape and colour markings for a FWS.Why didn't you do a basic comparison? It's what good preppers always do.

    EDIT BTW It could be the South American ear canal nesting tarantula

    • pegaxs on 15/01/2025 - 10:15
      +1

      It could be the South American ear canal nesting tarantula

      I have head that the South American ear canal nesting tarantula is responsible for about 80% of all the spiders that people eat in their sleep each year…

      • Protractor on 15/01/2025 - 10:17

        and vice versa

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 15/01/2025 - 11:01
        +4

        eaten spiders

        Whenever I hear about people eating spiders in sleep statistics I like to imagine it’s just this one person with a weird kink/obsession and just absolutely smashing spiders by the handful just to really mess up the stats lol

        • Protractor on 15/01/2025 - 11:19
          +1

          Like "redback smoothy" scale gorging?

    • aussieprepper on 15/01/2025 - 21:25

      I did, and it looked like a Funnel Web to me, so I let the internet decide.

  • c64 on 15/01/2025 - 10:11
    +2

    put your phone right next to it and take a photo with a macro lens

  • Kiro on 15/01/2025 - 10:37

    all i can say is that if it fits under my UBD directory then its big enough.

    i still have the mental image of the grosby commercial living rent free in my head.

    https://youtu.be/BF0QzvlIg9I?si=9gcC-7JjyVopD1OT

  • jv on 15/01/2025 - 11:01

    Did I Discover The Big Boy Funnel Web First?

    No

  • Duckie2hh on 15/01/2025 - 11:04

    NGL, I was expecting a NSFW image there.

  • ForkSnorter on 15/01/2025 - 11:23
    +1

    Funnel web spiders live in tunnels. They don't build webs on doors. Also doesn't look chunky enough to be a funnel web in my opinion.

  • Pelicannn on 15/01/2025 - 18:23

    That’s just a black house spider and definitely smaller than the newly discovered.

  • suronja on 16/01/2025 - 09:52
    +1

    Post pics on the Reddit /AustralianSpiders forum. They’ll let you know

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