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Funnel webs are considered one of Australia’s most fearsome spiders, but their ability to kill humans is by accident rather than design.
There’s a very good reason for those leg hairs.
Flickr/Hamish Irvine
Believe it or not, I have studied the hairy legs of spiders for years and can give you some definitive answers on this.
The largely harmless white-tailed spider has copped a lot of flak.
Robert Raven
Whether it’s a bite from a spider or another insect, the management is the same - most will get better without any medical treatment.
As a generalist predator, spiders, like this Western Rough Wolf Spider, help limit the number of insects in your garden.
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Only two Australian spiders can kill you, but the rest are a pretty fascinating bunch.
Spiders such as this funnel-web (Hadronyche infensa) will only bite if threatened.
There are more than 45,000 species of spider, but only a handful are potentially dangerous to humans.