Description
These spiders are medium-to-large in size, with body lengths ranging from 1 cm to 5 cm (0.4" to 2"). They are darkly coloured, ranging from black to blue-black to plum to brown, with a glossy, hairless carapace covering the front part of the body. Like the related diplurid spiders, some hexathelids have relatively long spinnerets; this is especially true of A. robustus.
Like other Mygalomorphae (also incorrectly called "Orthognatha") —an infraorder of spiders that includes the tropical tarantulas —these spiders have fangs which point straight down the body and do not point towards each other (cf Araneomorphae). They have ample venom glands that lie entirely within their chelicerae. Their fangs are large and powerful, capable of penetrating fingernails and soft shoes.
Funnel-webs make their burrows in moist, cool, sheltered habitats—under rocks, in and under rotting logs, some in rough-barked trees (occasionally metres above ground). They are commonly found in suburban rockeries and shrubberies, rarely in lawns or other open terrain. A funnel-web's burrow characteristically has irregular silk trip-lines radiating from the entrance. Unlike some related trapdoor spiders, funnel-webs do not build lids to their burrows.
The primary range of the Australian funnel-web spiders is the eastern coast of Australia, with specimens found in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland. The only Australian states or territories without funnel-webs are Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Read more about this topic: Australian Funnel-web Spider
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