Latrodectus hasselti
Redback Spider at Garran, ACT
Identify this sighting
| Latrodectus hasselti | KimPullen | 4 Dec 2017 | |
| Latrodectus hasselti | MichaelBedingfield | 4 Dec 2017 | |
| Redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii | ruthkerruish | 3 Dec 2017 |
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User's notes
Found inside shrub guard at the base of the stem of a planted 2-year old Kunzea ericoides. Not sure how I escaped being bitten (hence not so good pictures). I presume it would have come with the tube stock, wood chips or? This planting is in the middle of a large area of regularly mown grass with no rocks etc.
3 comments
4 Dec 2017
Lots of spiders disperse at a very early age by 'ballooning', whereby they go to high point and release a thread of silk which catches in the breeze and carries them into the air. This way they can turn up anywhere - although the majority will likely perish.
5 Dec 2017
Hi Ruth - wikipedia has an article about ballooning at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider) . But I don't know whether redbacks use this method. Kim.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.102089-35.338285
- Maps Hughes Garran Woodland Red Hill to Yarralumla Creek
- Places Garran, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 3 Dec 2017 03:43 PM Recorded on
- ruthkerruish Recorded by
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
Collections
- ruthkerruish Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Latrodectus hasselti Other web-building spiders Spiders
Species information
- Latrodectus hasselti Scientific name
- Redback Spider Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 823.7m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
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- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location