Atrax christenseni

One of several shots I took of this female, body length 45 mm.

UPDATE January 2025: Exciting development in the world of arachnology, and on my doorstep as it were. Seven years ago almost to the day, I came across my first Sydney funnel web. This is the time of year that males will be wandering in search of the females and I'd learned of several very large specimens having been found within a 25km radius of where I live. Scientific examination (gene sequences, in combination with fine morphological detail) has shown that Atrax in this area are indeed a new species and have been named Atrax christenseni. The new species is named in honour of Kane Christensen for his dedication to documenting aspects of funnel web behaviour and collecting specimens for study. So, I have to amend my records of sightings. (Males of this new species can be separated from the Sydney funnel web and the Southern Sydney funnel web by the extra-long palpal tibia and embolus). Sadly, our eight-legged icon is in decline. Loss of habitat and illegal trafficking being cited as probable main causes. For this reason, collection sites were not included in research papers.

https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-024-02332-0