Tarantulas from the Genus Selenocosmia are known from Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. They occupy many habitats ranging from rainforest to desert but are not found in the southern coastal areas or northern tropics.
Australia's tarantulas make a fine hissing sound, hence their other name, Whistling Spiders. They have been called name Bird-eating spider but that is incorrectly modified from "Bird Spider" which was given because the giant South American spiders resemble a fluffy bird chick. These spiders rarely eat birds.
VENOM TOXICITY - Australian tarantulas are non-aggressive, but if provoked it can inflict a painful bite. An adult's fangs can be 1cm long. Severe illness may result with nausea and vomiting for 6 to 8 hours have been reported from bites.
A large species of tarantula native to the east coast region of Australia, the whistling spider, is the largest spider in the country. As the largest spider in Australia, whistling spiders can grow a leg span of up to 16 cm (6.2 inches) and a body size of around 6 cm (2.3 inches).
Selenocosmia crassipes can attain legspans of up to 22 cm (8.7 in). Its body length, from eyes to the rear of its abdomen, measures between 6 and 9 cm (2.4 and 3.5 in), making it the largest Australian tarantula.
The Goliath Bird Eating Tarantula is considered to be bigger than the Huntsman Spider because of its heavier body mass.
Fast Facts. Scorpions are common arachnids found in gardens and forests throughout Australia. They are found under logs, rocks and in shallow burrows in earth banks. There are also desert species that construct deep spiral burrows in desert sand.
The Australian funnel-web spiders are among the deadliest spiders in the world in the effect their bites have on humans and our primate relations (although the bite has little effect on dogs and cats). There are many species of funnel-web spiders in Australia but only male Sydney Funnel-webs have caused human deaths.
In Australia they are only found in the southeastern part of the country, from South Australia to Queensland via Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. You won't find them in the dry and arid zones. On the other hand, huntsman and wolf-spiders are found all over the country.
They will never intentionally run towards you because they're small and not highly venomous. They can bite you, but they won't do any harm. "Huntsmen are super fast but they get confused, so if a huntsman is running towards you, it's confused.
The Huntsman Spider
Low Risk and Non-toxic to humans. Non-aggressive. The name Huntsman is derived from their speed and agility when hunting prey. (Which has been known to be mice and small birds as well as other insects like cockroaches).
If a tarantula bites you, you may have pain at the site of the bite similar to a bee sting. The area of the bite may become warm and red. When one of these spiders is threatened, it rubs its hind legs across its own body surface and flicks thousands of tiny hairs toward the threat.
The Sydney funnelweb spider Atrax robustus, is considered to be the world's most dangerous spider. It is found within a 100 km diameter circle around Sydney. No deaths have occurred since the advent of an antivenom in 1981.
… and is native to Australia. The giant green-bellied huntsman (Typostola barbata) wears yellow eyeshadow, has pins to die for, and births hundreds of fluorescent mini-mes.
Habitat. Adult female Australian tarantulas live in web-lined burrows in the ground. Younger stages and males may use flimsy silk retreats under rocks and logs. The burrows may have a flange of grass or leftover soil from burrow excavation around the outer rim.
Licenses and Permits
In Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT, you do not require a permit to keep a pet tarantula or to move one across state/territory borders.
That is quite the sight, but picture this — millions of tiny spiders raining from the sky. While it can sound like something out of a horror movie, in Australia the transition from late summer to fall can trigger what is known to the locals as spider season.
Australia and Antarctica finally broke apart around 100 million years ago. Today, venomous snakes are found in all of these places – apart from Antarctica, where it is too cold for them to live. On the original combined land mass, it is thought that there was a population of ancestral snakes that was venomous.
An estimated 5 per cent of Australians have arachnophobia, but there are plenty of others happy to get close to the creepy crawlies. "People find it thrilling," said Catherine Timbrell, the producer of a major exhibition on spiders opening on Saturday at the Australian Museum.
Tarantulas Just Aren't That Into You
Spiders do have feelings, but unlike a dog or a cat, they won't bond with you. In fact, they likely won't even recognize you. They simply aren't hardwired to be companions to humans and should never be bought at pet stores, online, or anywhere else.
Avoid dead scorpions
The muscles that administer a sting can actually fire in a dead scorpion, under certain circumstances. If you find a dead scorpion, use a broom and dustpan to pick it up.
Very few deaths from scorpion stings have been reported in the United States. Another possible complication of scorpion stings, though rare, is a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis).
Contrary to popular belief, Australian scorpion stings do not appear to have life-threatening effects, even in children, researchers from the University of Newcastle have found. There are no recorded deaths from the sting of an Australian scorpion. The sting of the scorpion is at the end of its long tail.