Australian Spiders: A Large White Tail came to Visit
This is a whitetail spider. If you look very closely, you can see a faint white marking near the end of her abdomen that gives it the name. The sun glare is from the bathroom, she later headed into.
That, as well as the long, almost cylindrical body and distinctive layout of the head and legs is a giveaway. As you can see, they are climbing spiders.
They also have a nasty habit of dropping onto things that pass below them - and biting them. They are quite poisonous.
This one measured around 2.5-3 cm (approximately an inch) long and about 0.5 cm (or around 1/4-1/5 of an inch) across, which makes it probably female, and most definitely the biggest of these spiders I've seen in an urban environment. I've used a door jamb here to give you an idea of the size. Not my best photo, but I hope it helps in understanding the size.
I've seen one larger, but not much, and that one was in a still-establishing housing development, in a crease in a pair of jeans that were waiting to be folded. Quite a surprise - and one that was none too pleased to be disturbed.
They also like to hide behind things, and fit into quite narrow spaces. This one tried to take shelter behind a bathroom mirror, but we couldn't afford to let her get away - not with a small child in the house. Actually, not in the house at all. They can make adults quite ill, as well.
That, as well as the long, almost cylindrical body and distinctive layout of the head and legs is a giveaway. As you can see, they are climbing spiders.
They also have a nasty habit of dropping onto things that pass below them - and biting them. They are quite poisonous.
This one measured around 2.5-3 cm (approximately an inch) long and about 0.5 cm (or around 1/4-1/5 of an inch) across, which makes it probably female, and most definitely the biggest of these spiders I've seen in an urban environment. I've used a door jamb here to give you an idea of the size. Not my best photo, but I hope it helps in understanding the size.
I've seen one larger, but not much, and that one was in a still-establishing housing development, in a crease in a pair of jeans that were waiting to be folded. Quite a surprise - and one that was none too pleased to be disturbed.
They also like to hide behind things, and fit into quite narrow spaces. This one tried to take shelter behind a bathroom mirror, but we couldn't afford to let her get away - not with a small child in the house. Actually, not in the house at all. They can make adults quite ill, as well.
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