A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Lampona sp
a black spider about 15mm long. Legs have pale brown bands but what makes them stand out, and gives them their name is the white patch at the posterior tip of the abdomen. A pair of pale white markings on either side of the midline are found on the dorsal surface of the abdomen. The first two pairs of legs are usually pointed forwards.
gardens, houses - anywhere where their prey the red-back, house spider or daddy-long legs are found. These are endemic to Australia
The bite of the white tail spider is said to be painful with some bad side-effects. It is often blamed for the necrosis of the tissue around the bite however, recent research has indicated that the necrosis could be due to secondary infection of the bite. White tail spiders are often found inside homes, amongst bed clothes and washing off the line. The advice given to keep these spiders away is to get rid of the white tail spiders' prey -all house spiders, red-backs and daddy long legs!! - I don't really like them... but these photos show them eating a pholcid ( daddy long legs) the kind that attacks every other insect or spider.
Spotted on Feb 16, 2012
Submitted on Mar 5, 2012
10 Comments
Oh yes, Sydney Funnel Web Spiders appear in television all the time.
The funnel web spiders here are much more smaller and do not bite when handled (so far).
That's good to hear about Malaysian spiders. There are a few here that can do some damage - but you can avoid nasty accidents if you are careful. when you get a moment read about the Sydney Funnel Web (Atrax robustus)- you might find them interesting..
Excellent idea CXW. They really should know by now shouldn't they. :)
There are venomous spiders over here but so far there is no known record of them biting humans. Maybe their jaws are too weak to bite the human skin or they just know that it's useless to bite us. It is also recorded somewhere in a natural history book of Malaysia that the arachnids here should be feared less than centipedes.
ChunXW, No venomous spiders in Borneo? i am surprised. Still, I think you're brave.
Shanna, I agree with you and it's tough to erase that kind of reputation..I just give my clothes a good shake before putting them on - we have all kinds of spiders around this place.
I think these poor spiders are so demonised!!!
Thanks for the information.
I will keep in mind not to handle the spiders there in Australia with my hand.
So far none of the spider species here in Borneo are dangerous, that is why I handle them with my bare hand all the time.
yes ChunXW - apparently they bite and the side-effects are said to be quite bad. Everyone here is always warned about these little spiders and so most of them, I am sure, get killed as soon as they are spotted. I haven't spotted many these few months but, they usually hang around in the bed room of all places !!
Wow, I never suspected that this spider could bite human.
Fabulous to see! After watching pholcids stop so many bigger creatures instantly it's sort of good to see that something can keep their numbers down.