Common White-tail Spider

Appearance

The two common species of white-tailed spiders are "Lampona cylindrata" and "Lampona murina". They are similar in appearance; "L. cylindrata" is slightly larger with females being up to 18 mm long while males are up to 12 mm in body length....hieroglyph snipped... The legs span approximately 28 mm. The two species are not easily distinguished without microscopic examination. They are slender spiders with dark reddish to grey, cigar-shaped body and dark orange-brown banded legs. The grey abdomen has two pairs of faint white spots and—usually but not always—a distinct white spot at the tip just above the spinnerets.

The similarities have led people to think there is only one species of white-tailed spider. It is possible that not all white-tailed species have been identified. The descriptor, "white tail", is applied to a variety of species of spiders for which a distal white mark on their abdomen is a distinctive feature; other markings disappear with moultings but the white tail remains to adulthood.

"L. cylindrata" lay pinkish eggs which are enclosed in a flattened silk capsule and are guarded by the female until they hatch.

Distribution

Both species are native to Australia. "Lampona cylindrata" is present across south-east Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia while "Lampona murina" is found in eastern Australia from north-east Queensland to Victoria. The spiders have been introduced in New Zealand with "Lampona murina" residing in the North Island for over a hundred years while "Lampona cylindrata" has become widespread throughout the South Island since 1980.

Behavior

They live in gardens and inside houses, beneath bark and rocks, in leaf litter and are often found in the folds of clothes, towels and shoes. They do not build webs. Most active at night, they hunt for other spiders. Their favoured prey are the black house spider and the closely related brown house spider, both of which are, like the whitetail, native to Australia but have been inadvertently introduced to New Zealand.

Habitat

They live in gardens and inside houses, beneath bark and rocks, in leaf litter and are often found in the folds of clothes, towels and shoes. They do not build webs. Most active at night, they hunt for other spiders. Their favoured prey are the black house spider and the closely related brown house spider, both of which are, like the whitetail, native to Australia but have been inadvertently introduced to New Zealand.