Animal Corner

Discover the many amazing animals that live on our planet.

  • Home
  • A-Z Animals
  • Anatomy
  • Glossary
  • Animal Lists
    • Animal By Letter
    • Animals by Location
    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
  • Free Resources
    • Animal Coloring Pages
    • Animal Jokes
    • Animal Quizzes
  • Pets
    • Dog Breeds
    • Rabbit Breeds
    • Cat Breeds
    • Pet Rodents
    • Animal Care
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Animals / Red Back Jumping Spiders

Red Back Jumping Spiders

Image Source

The Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) is a potentially dangerous spider native to Australia. The Redback Spider resembles a Black widow spider. The Redback Spider is a member of the genus Latrodectus or the widow family of spiders, which are found throughout the world. They are common in disturbed and urban areas.

Redback Spider Characteristics

The Redback Spider is easily recognisable by its black body with a prominent red hourglass shape on its abdomen. Females measure about one centimetre in length and have long slender legs, while the male is smaller being only 3 to 4 millimetres in length. Male markings are less distinct with the hourglass marking being more pale than the females. Juveniles have additional white markings on the abdomen.

Redback Spider Habitat and Webs

Redback spider webs consist of a tangled, funnel-like upper retreat area from which vertical, sticky catching threads run to ground attachments. The Redback Spider favours proximity to human habitation, with webs being built in dry, sheltered sites, such as among rocks, in logs, shrubs, junk-piles, sheds, or toilets. Redback Spiders are less common in winter months. Daddy-long-legs Spiders and White-tailed Spiders are known to catch and kill Redback Spiders.

Redback Spider Diet

Redback spiders usually prey on insects, however, they are capable of capturing quite large animals, such as male Trapdoor spiders, king crickets and small lizards, if they become entangled in their web. Prey-stealing is also common, with large females taking stored food items from other spiders webs.

Redback Spider Reproduction

The Redback spider is one of only two animals where the male has been found to actively assist the female in sexual cannibalism. In the process of mating, the much smaller male somersaults to place his abdomen over the females mouthparts. In about 2 out of 3 cases, the female consumes the male while mating continues. Males who are not eaten die soon after mating.

Once the female has mated, she can store sperm and use it over a period of up to 2 years to lay several batches of eggs. A female Spider may lay eggs every 25 to 30 days. A single female spider normally lays between 40 and 300 eggs in each sac, however, she can lay up to 5000 eggs. The eggs hatch 13 to 15 days after being laid. Young Redback Spiders leave the maternal web by being carried on the wind. The spider extends its abdomen high in the air and produces a droplet of silk. The liquid silk is drawn out into a long thread that, when long enough, carries the spider away. Eventually the silken thread will adhere to an object where the young spider will establish its own web.

Redback Spider Venom

Redback spiders, along with Australasian funnel-web spiders (a category of spider which includes the notorious Atrax robustus, or Sydney funnel-web spider), are the most dangerous spiders in Australia. The redback spider has a neurotoxic venom which is toxic to humans with bites causing severe pain. Redback bites occur frequently, particularly over the summer months.

More than 250 cases receive antivenom each year, with several milder envenoms probably going unreported. Only the female bite is dangerous. Redback spiders can cause serious illness and have caused deaths. However, since Redback Spiders rarely leave their webs, humans are not likely to be bitten unless a body part such as a hand is put directly into the web and because of their small jaws many bites are ineffective. The venom acts directly on the nerves, resulting in release and subsequent depletion of neurotransmitters.

Children, the elderly or those with serious medical conditions are at much higher risk of severe side-effects and death resulting from a bite.

Common early symptoms of a Redback spider bite are pain (which can become severe), sweating (always including local sweating at bite site), muscular weakness, nausea and vomiting. Antivenom is available. No deaths have occurred since its introduction.

The larger female spider is responsible for almost all cases of Redback spider bites in humans, the smaller male spider was thought to be unable to envenom a human. However, male bites have occurred; the rarity of bites is probably due to his smaller size and its proportionally smaller fangs, rather than the male being incapable of biting or lacking venom of similar potency of the female. Cases have shown that the male bite usually only produces short-lived, mild pain.

More Fascinating Animals to Learn About

  • Tarantula Spider
    Tarantula Spider
  • Katipo Spider
  • Tangle Web Spider
    Tangle Web Spiders
  • Mouse Spider
  • Hobo Spider
  • Wolf Spider
    Wolf Spider

About Joanne Spencer

I've always been passionate about animals which led me to a career in training and behaviour. As an animal professional I'm committed to improving relationships between people and animals to bring them more happiness.

Animal Classification

Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Subphylum:Chelicerata
Class:Arachnida
Order:Araneae
Infraorder:Araneomorphae
Family:Salticidae
Subfamily:Salticinae
Genus:Phidippus
Species:P. johnsoni
Binomial name:Phidippus johnsoni

Search

Most Popular Animals

  • Zebras
  • Aquatic Warbler
  • Atlantic Dolphins
  • Trapdoor Spider
  • Giraffe
  • Meerkats
  • Timber Wolf
  • Praying Mantis
  • Huntsman Spider
  • Vampire Bat

Galapagos Islands

galapagos-islands

Animal Names Glossary

Animal Names

British Wildlife

british-wildlife

Mammals

anatomy

Dog Breeds

dog breeds

Farm Animals

Farm Animals

Best of the Blog

  • 21 Amazing Animals that live in Lakes
  • What are the Fastest Animals in the World?
  • 31 Animals with Weird and Funny Sounding Names
  • Top 15 Deadliest Animals in the World
  • Ophiophagy – Examples of animals that eat snakes
  • List of Fascinating Solitary Animals

Copyright © 2005-2022 · Animal Corner · All Rights Reserved · Affiliate Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Animals Sitemap . About Us

AnimalCorner.org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.