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Redback with egg sacs
Adult female Redback - recognised by the spherical jet black body which has a prominent red stripe on the upper side of her abdomen and an hourglass-shaped red/orange mark on the underside. The females do not leave the web and can lay up to 10 egg sacs as seen here, each containing an average of 250 eggs.
The Redback spider is responsible for more envenomations requiring antivenom than any other creature in Australia, but no deaths caused by this spider since anti-venom became available in 1981. It is only the females that possess the venom potentially harmful to humans. This female had made her home inside a piece of external metal piping at my property.
10 mm body length
The redback spider is a species of venomous spider indigenous to Australia. It is a member of the cosmopolitan genus "Latrodectus", the widow spiders. The adult female is easily recognised by her spherical black body with a prominent red stripe on the upper side of her abdomen and an hourglass-shaped red/orange streak on the underside.
