Need help identifying spider in our laundry (~4cm long), and whether get the house sprayed (have twin toddlers)
Posted Jul 28, 2022, 11:02 AM UTC
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Hey folks, my wife found and eventually squished this spider that she found in our laundry. It wasn’t that big, about 4-5cm with legs extended, but looks kinda nasty.
She is keen to get our yard and under house sprayed by a pest man, just to make sure our 18mo twins don’t run into any of his/her friends in the backyard.
How essential is that? Generally we don’t mess with the spiders (and we have quite a lot of huntsmen, black house spiders, St Andrew’s Cross, etc) and they don’t mess with us. But obviously we don’t want poisonous spiders around with the kids playing outside.
Edit: here are a couple more photos of it dead and close up, if that helps: https://imgur.com/a/Bt8sKRI
24
Spray inside the house and around its openings on the outside. You don’t know what else is lurking inside.
Do not fucking spray the garden or under the house… that’s a pretty rare ecosystem you are contemplating poisoning!
Teach your kids to be afraid of dangerous spiders and be aware of possible hiding spots in the garden. They learn fast. Teach them to be kind to the nice spiders. They will survive.
39
Spray under the house but agreed you don't need to spray the garden for spiders anyway
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Do you have any birds that regularly visit your yard? They'll eat all the spiders and any other undesirables living near your place and all they ask in exchange is a little fresh water in a bird bath or some native shrubs or trees to nest and forage in.
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Yeah, we used to have butcher birds that would come by. But it seems like they haven’t returned much lately, perhaps due to all the rain.
2
Butcher birds and kookaburras are excellent for this, and can be encouraged to be regular visitors if you offer them a little treat whenever they turn up.
As always i highly recommend the pet mince cubes that you can get from aldis or woolies. They are good for birds too and you can toss one in the air and butcherbirds especially will zoom up to catch them. You can freeze them and leave a handful in a container in the fridge for when birds turn up.
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I would rub some rearing mix into any normal minced meat.
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Sydney brown trapdoor. Not harmful
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I use boron powder for cockroaches but I’m not sure if it works for spiders and especially funnel webs. It’s a concern with little ones for sure. I’m also concerned with the spray and it’s effect on people and the environment. Do you know what they use to kill spiders? I know it’s a balancing act for sure. Good luck, certainly a perplexing situation.
1
If you have a sand pit, don't let the kids play in it until you're sure it's spider-free. Spiders love sandpits.
19
Annnnnnd I just removed the sandpit from my kids Christmas list 🤣 I can do snakes, I can do vermin, I can't do spiders.
4
Could be either a funnelweb or a mouse spider. Both pricks of a species.
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Funny enough Huntsman will eat funnel webs but yeah seriously do not risk that crap specially with wet weather we have been having lately and cold weather draws out funnel webs like a moth to flame
I would advise don't fuck around and just get a pest controller in - be advised that for a decent pesty to spray you want a week of no rain for the pesticide to be effective
16†
You actually have no idea do you?
Huntsman spiders and Funnel Web spiders will never cross paths. You will almost never see a Huntsman on the ground, and almost never see a Funnel Web anywhere but on the ground!
Redditors, this guy has no idea what spider is what. It’s just upvote farming, at the expense of thousands of good invertebrates that will be killed from unnecessary spraying.
I really didn’t want to do this to you, but I’m calling you out on your bullshit ‘knowledge’ of spiders. I’m doing this to save all the harmless bugs and spiders that are killed due to poor information from amateurs.
Someone’s even suggesting pouring boiling water down Trapdoor holes 😢🤯
Killing invertebrates indiscriminately has massive repercussions on native animals further up the food chain.
You have flipped and flopped ID’ing this spider as either a Funnel Web spider or a Mouse spider (when it is clear that it is neither, but instead an Idiopidae), citing issues with the ‘angle’ of the photo being a problem.
Then, you go around throwing about snippets of unverifiable, vague scraps like “funny enough Huntsman spiders will eat Funnel Web spiders” and “rain draws out Funnel Webs like moths to a flame” to feign some kind of knowledge in the area.
Tip: rain doesn’t ‘draw out’ spiders (most prefer to never leave the burrow). It can flood/force out any burrowing spider (trapdoors, FW, Mouse, Wolf etc) equally. It’s pretty rare that their burrows flood as most spider burrows are designed and positioned NOT to flood (they’re instinctively very good at this but a percentage can get it wrong)
You really would be better off to just admit you don’t know what it is and withdraw from giving incorrect IDs or anecdotes.
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I'm amazed how many people are condemning getting a pest controller.
They've got young kids. Even if it isn't a funnel web, it's worth it for those kids safety and you're so right that they shouldn't fuck around.
20
They should also kill all the dogs in the area. Just to be safe.
5
Considering young kids usually can't handle spider venom
0†
Stop killing spiders that are actually no harm to you or your children! Teach your children what to do if they spot one, teach them what to look out for, educate them. I am absolutely petrified of spiders but will always put them in a container and take them outside. This makes me so sad to see. It’s definitely a trap door spider - poor thing.
12
The amount of people that can differentiate between a funnel web and a trapdoor reminds me that I’m just not Aussie as I think I am! I saw the pic - and being born and raised in Sydney, every fibre of my being said “funnel web”.
Listen to people here for identification - they obviously have great knowledge and also good to know your kids aren’t in immediate danger.
That said - every kid in Sydney needs to know that spiders can be dangerous but are not necessarily out to get you. Teach them to respect spiders (not fear them like I did growing up… and still do). That way if they happen upon a trapdoor, mouse or funnel web: they’ll know to steer clear and get mum or dad.
I appreciate the arguments pro and con spraying. Sure take advice, but do what makes you and your household comfortable - you have kids and no one’s personal environmental ethics trumps yours children’s livelihood and wellbeing. Good luck mate.
Of course if it were me - I’d have already sold up and moved ;)
6
The body/leg ratio looks like a female mouse spider, or possibly a trapdoor. Funnelwebs are leggier.
As for spraying- spiders aren't that easy to kill. Your kids would probably be at greater risk from whatever insecticide you used than from the spiders, and it would be unlikely to stop them for very long, if at all. Much safer to focus on teaching your kids not to touch spiders if they do come across them.
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Looks like a mouse spider to me.
Doesn't seem to have the extra long spinnerets a funnel web has.
Not necessarily deadly, but still not a spider you want to have around.
2†
It's a variety of funnel web, notice the hind legs have a U at the top which the mouse lacks, the top left leg in the picture has a spur which the mouse also lacks.
Further, the hind leg that's detached also has four clear segments while the mouse spider hind legs have five segments.
Lastly, mouse spiders have spinnerets.
16
It is a Trapdoor spider.
The spur is on the first set of legs - indicator of a Trapdoor
Funnel Web Spider males have a spur located on the second pair of legs
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I have a confession, I've known it was a Arbanitis for way longer than I care to admit. Regardless, I just wanted to validate Ravin's claim and apologise for not updating sooner.
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This guy spiders
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Idk, I'm still leaning towards mouse spider due to the lack of spinnerets on its abdomen.
-2
Don't worry, that's just confirmation bias, you'll get over it.
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So… we are here to fuck spiders then?
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Which suburb do you get such miracles? I’m in Rhodes and haven’t seen a spider yet 🕷
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Looks like a funnel Web to me. I saw my first one in years yesterday when walking the dogs, it was just walking across the footpath and reared up at me the prick
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Get Miley Cyrus and her wrecking ball real quick.
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Black house spiders can look a lot like trapdoors, the difference is black house spiders have a pattern on their adonemen or however it’s spelt. T he y are harmless although do give out nasty bites but they don’t attack often. White tip tail spiders love to eat them though. Black house spiders just want to eat ur insects
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If it moves kill it
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Why dont u ask this on the spider sub 🤣🤣
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It shit it’s pants 😢
0
This is not a Funnel Web Spider.
It is a Sydney Brown Trapdoor/Arabantis. They are often confused with Funnel Web Spiders.
Arabantis males have their spur on the first set of legs (as in this example - don’t confuse the pedipalps with the first pair of legs).
Arabantis are not considered medically significant. I wouldn’t recommend spraying just because you have a trapdoor around. You are better off leaving them around.
Apologies for breaking up the panic party. Nothing frustrates me more than people not actually knowing what a spider is, but just taking the approach “I’ll call it a Funnel Web and recommend they kill it and every other invertebrate creature in the yard coz the worst that can happen is a few bugs and spiders get killed.”
Well, killing all the bugs and spiders in your yard can actually have dire consequences. Humans are only just beginning to realise it.
This guy knows what he's talking about. Either way these kinds of spiders are not much of a threat since they struggle to climb walls. You might get bit while gardening, but just wear gloves and always keep the spider to show medical if you get bit.
If you do find a funnel web. DO NOT KILL IT. Anti-venom supply requires people capture them... also be kind to nature.
Thank you for your efforts in shutting down all those other comments. I can’t believe people see one spider and think to just indiscriminately nuke their entire property and everything living organism within….what people should be doing is educating themselves (and their kids) on the common creatures they’ll find around their home and what role they play in this ecosystem so they understand how to appropriately deal with them.
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Can someone pin this comment please?