Many people are scared about spiders in Melbourne and Victoria. Some suffer from arachnophobia but it’s fair to say there are some dangerous spiders in Melbourne that are of genuine cause for concern, especially if you have children or pets.
Top 5 Common Spiders in Melbourne
We’ve ranked the top 5 common spiders in Melbourne, in terms of danger to humans and pets, which is a combination of how venomous their bite is and how often bites occur.
Redback Spider
Description: The female redback shouldn’t really need any description – a black glossy spider with red strip on its abdomen. Body up to 20 mm long, leg span up to 40 mm. Juvenile females may be browner in colour, with white markings in addition to the red stripe. Males are considerably smaller and are not dangerous.
Web description: A messy open web, often with bits of dead leaves and debris.
Web location: Builds webs in dry sheltered locations – under rocks and logs, in cracks and crevices, on fencing (in particular, in tubular metal fencing) and in downlights.
Bite information: Redbacks have a very painful bite with the pain increasing for the first hour. Pain can last 24 hours or more. Victims will sweat (including at the bite site), feel nausea and dizziness. Sometimes victims can experience stomach pains, high blood pressure and racing heart beats.
Black house spider
Description: Black / brown spider, with mottled abdomen and black / brown striped legs. Body length up to 20 mm, leg span up to 30 mm.
Web description: A dense, funnel-shaped web that leads to a hiding spot. The web gets denser over time.
Web location: Around doors, windows and under eaves. Often near lights where they can catch flying insects.
Bite information: Moderately painful bite but does not often bite, as it’s quite timid. If confident about identification, apply the standard spider bite first aid. If unsure about identification, apply large black spider first aid (pressure bandage).
White-tailed spider
Description: Grey / black thin body with 4 white spots in the middle of the abdomen and 5th white spot at end of abdomen. Black and brown stripped legs. Body length up to 18 mm, leg span up to 28 mm.
Web description: Does not build a web. The white-tailed spider is a hunting spider that roams around looking for prey.
Where does it hide: Outside white-tailed spiders hide under bark and rocks, coming out to hunt. They come inside by accident or when hunting and will often hide amongst clothes on the floor and bed sheets.
Bite information: The white-tailed spider bite is painful initially but subsides, leaving swelling and itching. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that white-tail bites cause flesh to decay.
Wolf spider
Description: There are number of wolf spider species. They are fast running ground spiders, with body length between 1 – 8 cm. They vary in colour from brown, to grey to black and are highly patterned. The main distinguishing feature is that they have eight eyes in a 2+2+4 formation.
Web location: Does not build a web. Wolf spiders are hunting spiders – some roam around looking for prey, others build burrows, like trapdoor spiders.
Where does it hide: Wolf spiders hide in lawns, in the leaf litter and under rocks.
Bite information: They generally only bite if picked up or by accident. The bite is generally mild with localised pain, followed by itching.
Huntsman spider
Description: There are a number of types of huntsman spiders, which are brown, grey or black in colour. They are often highly patterned which can be used for identification. Body length is generally only 2-3 cm, but their leg span can be 15 cm or more.
Web location: Does not build a web. Huntsman spiders, as their name suggests, are hunting spiders which roam and chase down prey.
Where does it hide: Outside, huntsman spiders hide under bark and rocks, coming out to hunt. They come inside by accident or when hunting and will often hide amongst clothes on the floor and bed sheets.
Bite information: Huntsman spiders are actually quite timid and will generally run away rather than bite. Their bite is relatively mild – pain and swelling around the bite site, occasionally nausea and headaches.
There are a number of other spiders of concern, which are less common, notably the trapdoor spiders, mouse spiders and funnel-web spiders. You might think that the funnel-web spiders are the most venomous, but actually the Victorian funnel-web (Hadronyche modesta) is not aggressive and is not considered dangerous. Although its bite is still painful, it had not been implicated in any fatalities or even serious hospitalisations.
Of the spiders found in Melbourne and Victoria, it is perhaps the mouse spiders which have the most dangerous bite. Mouse spiders, funnel-webs and even black house spiders can be difficult to distinguish to the untrained eye – they are all medium to large black spiders. As such, it is recommended that a bite from any large black spider be treated in the same way, which is to follow the snake bite first aid and not the standard spider bite first aid (above). Namely, the victim should be immobilised, a pressure bandage applied to the bitten limb, and you should seek medical assistance.
Standard Spider Bite First Aid
- Keep the victim calm and still
- Apply an ice pack to the bite area
- (Capture or take a photo of the spider for identification)
- Seek medical attention
- if the victim is young, elderly or infirm
- if pain is severe
- if victim has a severe reaction
First Aid for Large Black Spiders
- Keep the victim calm and still
- Apply pressure bandage to the affected limb
- (Capture or take a photo of the spider for identification)
- Seek medical attention
If you have a problem with spiders at your home or business please give Termites VIC Termite & Pest Control a call for a professional spider pest control treatment.
Medical disclaimer: The first aid recommendations above are taking from first aid websites. If in any doubt call for medical assistance.