EVERY Spider in Your Backyard... in AUSTRALIA

There are over 10,000 species of spider in all of Australia. Some can kill you, some of them are bigger than your hand, and many of them are lurking right alongside people, even in their houses. Today we're gonna be looking at the spiders you might come across in Australia, and let me tell you, some of them get weird. We can't talk about the spiders that turn up in your yard if we don't first look indoors at the spiders in your house. And the most obvious one that people run into is also one of the biggest, the huntsman spider. Found throughout the country, these are huge, fast spiders with some of the longest leg spans of any arachnid. What's crazy is despite their large size, they seem to vanish into thin air during the day. The reason for this is their flat body plans actually allow them to slip into tight cracks and fold up into crevices to wait for nightfall. In their natural environment, they're arboreal. They hunt in the trees, climbing out from under the bark to sit and wait for insect prey. You'll notice they're covered in fine hairs. When I sent photos of huntsman spiders to my girlfriend, she said their leg hair made her skin crawl. But it's actually one of their most important features. They use this hair to sense vibrations. When an insect crawls past them, the disturbance is picked up by those settings, and the huntsman can pounce in the blink of an eye, securing a tasty meal. They may be fast, and they may be huge, but the best part about huntsman spiders is their absolute sweethearts. Some of So most people don't even mind having them around. The only real danger is if they turn up in your car while you're driving on the highway. That can be a bit perilous. You might notice in tucked away crevices in your house that there are these odd funnel-shaped webs that pop up from time to time. Now don't worry, these aren't deadly funnel web spiders. They're actually something really cool. This is the black house spider. Their name really isn't all that creative. They're all black, and they wind up in people's houses. For the most part, they're usually just eating various pest insects and things, but the family they come from actually has some really interesting biology. The family Desidae are actually called the intertidal spiders, because many species are actually marine. In the intertidal zone, they build their webs inside the shells of barnacles, sealing them off during high tide, and hunting small marine invertebrates during low tide. Pretty crazy. Even in the ocean, you can't escape spiders. Our next spider is one recognized all over the world. Cellar spiders aren't native to Australia, but have become a staple in human dwellings for centuries. We think they originated in caves, but they've found people's homes to be much more comfortable. We call this synanthropy, when an animal evolves to be reliant on human presence to survive. These spindly spiders take up residence in forgotten corners of your home, earning their keep by eating many of the more dangerous spiders that might find their way in, as well as many less friendly insects. Some parts of the world have gotten the idea that cellar spiders are among the most venomous arachnids on earth, but in reality, they're completely harmless to people. They just want to exist in out-of-the-way spaces and eat little bugs. But cellar spiders aren't the only ones moving into your house. You might notice these tangled mats of webs, crisscrossing equipment in your shed, or a less trafficked closet. If you take a closer look, you'll notice some orb-shaped geometry scattered throughout, and you might notice that the little pieces of debris that seem to be caught in the webs actually move. This is not only one of the coolest spiders in Australia, it's among one of the most unique in the world. This is the social house spider. They live in groups of dozens, up to even hundreds at a time, and actually lack venom entirely. Normally, we think of venomous spiders being the species that are dangerous to people, but most spiders actually are venomous, and they're using it to subdue their prey. It's just that most of them aren't harmful to humans, so we use non-venomous to simplify it. But spiders like the social house spider in the family Uluboridae actually lack venom glands entirely. It's pretty weird stuff. This next spider has some real drama circling it. Seems like you can never really escape myths and misinformation when it comes to the spiders that turn up in your house. I've seen dozens, if not hundreds, of comments saying that the white-tailed spider is one of Australia's most dangerous. It's said that the bite of this spider can cause horrible necrotic lesions, and some people even consider them life-threatening. Here's the deal. Studies of their have failed to reveal any necrotic compounds, and as far as we can tell, only spiders from the family Sicariidae actually have phospholipase. Indeed, that's that super necrotic venom that the brown recluse has. Mediterranean recluse spiders have been shown to turn up in Australia from time to time, but they're few and far between, and they don't look anything like white-tail spiders. We've actually done studies on the bite of the white-tail as well, and none of the confirmed bites have ever shown any necrotic effects. In fact, none of the bites showed any symptoms outside of the typical itchy welt that you'd get from any small spider bite. These guys are quick, and they do turn up in the bathroom a lot, so they might get to jump on you in the shower, which is startling. But rest assured, these aren't actually a dangerous group, despite all the swirling rumors. There is one spider that winds up in people's houses that actually is quite dangerous. Hiding behind toilets, inside cupboards, and in tucked away spaces behind appliances, you can find a small black spider with a bright red stripe running down its back. The red-backed spider is among one of the most iconic spiders in Australia, and was one that I heard about from a very young age, even though I'm not even from Australia. Armed with a powerful neurotoxic venom, these spiders are among the most potent of all the widow spiders in the world. The initial bite of this spider is a faint sting, but within 30 minutes, you'll know something's up. Aches spread from the affected limb, and it's possible to have systemic effects like nausea, headache, and fatigue. That venom does a real number on your system. But while I always hear that the red-back is deadly, I haven't actually been able to confirm any death to the spider. The best I can find is hearsay, reports of reports of deaths, but no primary sources of actual bite cases that led to fatalities from the red-backed spider. And if we don't have primary sources, we can't actually confirm the bite is lethal. The nice thing is they're not very inclined to use it. I've free-handled these spiders without any issue, and while I'd never recommend that you replicate that at home, rest assured that as long as you don't actively squish them with your fingers, you're probably never gonna get bit. Shake out your clothes before you put them on, never stick your fingers anywhere you can't see, and there is zero chance you'll get taken by surprise by a red-back. That's about the scariest spider that would ever turn up in your house, but there are definitely some really interesting ones that wander around your yard. The first one of the garden variety spiders is another one that I see a lot of confusion about online. Australian wolf spiders can get big, but they're nothing compared to the huntsman spiders, and generally don't even compare to the largest wolf spiders that are found on other continents. Australia might be the land of big spiders, but the wolf spiders didn't really get the memo. Wolf spiders are still super cool though. They're active hunters, running down their prey with incredible speed, and your backyard has a whole host of other interesting active hunters as well. Swift spiders have amazing color patterns and get their name from the fact that they almost never sit still, making them tough to evade if you're on their menu. Lynx spiders use camouflage to sneak around on plants and get the jump on unwitting insects, but probably most interesting of these active hunters are the fishing spiders. The giant water spiders of the genus Megadolomedes can actually sit on the surface of the water, feeling for vibrations below, and will actively eat fish and frogs. They sort of look like wolf spiders, so maybe that's where people get the idea that Australian wolf spiders are huge. On the other end of the size spectrum, might be among my favorite Australian spiders ever, the jumping spiders, and Australia has some really special ones too. Even in just your standard Sydney backyard, spiders in the genus Maratus sometimes show up, and what makes these guys so special is not just their bright colors, but the iconic adaptation that has positioned them as one of the internet's favorite spiders of all time. Jumping spiders are already cute with their big ol' eyes, stubby appearance, and curious cat-like nature, but the peacock spiders bring them to a whole new level. Male peacock spiders have a brilliant dance that they do when they see a female they find interesting. He can expand his abdomen like a fan, showing off a colorful display that he shakes back and forth to try and win her favor. Getting to see that in the wild is a surreal experience, but the jumping spiders of Australia don't stop there. In the tropical north, hiding in the leaves of the rainforests is another jumping spider that at first glance looks kind of like a piece of plant debris, but this might be one of the most fascinating arthropods in the world. This is the Portia jumping spider, and they've been crowned as the world's most intelligent spider. Able to problem solve across the complex habitats they hunt in, you can see from just one look in their eyes that there's something different, something deeper, something more complex about them. In your flower garden, or sometimes even stretched across your porch, you'll find the orb weavers. This actually refers to a few different families that are close related. The classic orb weavers of the and the giant orb weavers of the nephilidae. Those giant orb weavers are a classic of Australia, home to some of the largest orb weavers on earth, with among the strongest silk of any spider. These orb weavers get their name from the circular webs they build. Despite orb weavers coming in many different shapes and sizes, their web has become somewhat of an iconic symbol for spiders across the world. Halloween decorations, the patterning on Spider-Man's suit, even emojis use that orb-shaped web in their designs. And this web is more than just aesthetics. In general, with web-building spiders, their web is more than just a home or a trap for prey. It's an extension of their mind. The tension in every strand is perfectly tuned to pick up vibrations, so that the spider knows not just that prey has arrived, but how big it is and exactly where it is. But orb weavers are even crazier than that. They use their web to hear. Spiders don't have ears the same way that we do. They experience their world through vibrations. But it's possible that the orb weaver's web might be the most sensitive ear in the entire animal kingdom. These things can pick up just about every vibration in their environment. So, just a heads up, the orb weavers in your yard are almost certainly eavesdropping on every single thing you do. I'm not sure if this next one is creepy or cute. The ogre-faced spiders are certainly among the strangest in the world. And it's not just because their face looks weird. These spiders have an adaptation that makes them one of the most unique animals on the planet. Every morning, the sun melts their eyes, literally. The light-sensitive layer in their eyes disintegrates in the daylight, and they regenerate it after dark every single day. Where things like the wolf spider have a special membrane that reflects and amplifies light to give them good night vision, the ogre-faced spider has perhaps one of the most sensitive eyes of any animal. It's possible they have the best night vision of any animal, even better than owls. They use this vision to scan for prey, which they literally fish for with a net made of their own silk. The family they come from are called the net-casting spiders for this very reason. During the day, they fold up and take shelter in the vegetation. And good luck finding them. Their stick-like appearance helps them to disappear into the background. But after dark, they sneak out once their vision returns to snag insects out of the air in your very own garden. Probably the most fearsome spider that'll turn up in your yard from time to time is the funnel-web. Most famous is the Sydney funnel-web, which is a dangerously venomous arachnid with the most confirmed human kills of any spider. This has led to some confusion, though. I hear a lot that the Sydney funnel-web is the most venomous spider in the world, but by any of the methods we'd use to measure that metric, this isn't true. In general, the funnel-web has a lot of myths surrounding it. People say they're extremely aggressive, especially the wandering males. And while they can certainly be skittish, the terrifying threat pose they do is because they've been startled and are hoping that you'll back off, not because they're angry and want to bite you. It is true that the males are more venomous by weight than the females, at least in the Sydney funnel-web spider. And funnel-webs are proportionally more toxic to primates like humans than they are to other vertebrates. But the Sydney funnel-web isn't even the most venomous spider in Australia. And I don't mean the recently described Newcastle big boy, either. Those guys were split off of Atrax robustus, the Sydney funnel-web, and are so closely related that I wouldn't expect their venom to be remarkably more toxic. Many of the tree funnel-webs in the genus Hadronychae are much more toxic by weight, and being larger spiders have a higher yield of this much more toxic venom. The few studies that do exist on it suggest that the northern tree funnel-web, Hadronychae formidabilis, is the most toxic of the funnel-web spiders, and it's also the largest. That is a very dangerous arachnid indeed. Craziest thing is, I can find exactly zero footage of it on the internet, and very few confirmed photos, either. And you know that I cannot resist investigating poorly understood venomous spiders. So, if you want to see me try and track down a northern tree funnel-web, consider subscribing to the channel, because we're gonna make it happen. Funnel-webs almost look like tarantulas, because they're in a group of spiders called megalomorphs that includes tarantulas. These are more primitive spiders, and as we get deeper into the weeds, we're gonna see far more megalomorphs than just funnel-webs. But in Australia, they don't really use the phrase in the weeds. So next, we're gonna look at the spiders you'll find hiding out in the bush. Australia is home to hundreds of megalomorphs, including tarantulas. Australia's tarantulas are actually quite rare, though. In some states, they're among the only invertebrates to receive legal protection in the wild. Most of these spiders lurk underground in silk-lined burrows. After a heavy rain, trapdoor spiders will sometimes cover outback roads, with males wandering to find new shelter. Mouse spiders turn up for brief periods in wooded bushlands, where the These passionately defensive spiders are also quite toxic. They're in the same lineage as the funnel-webs, sometimes referred to as the venom clade. For some reason, the spiders in this group have a venom that is proportionally more toxic to primates like humans. We don't think they're life-threatening, or at least no deaths have ever been recorded to the mouse spider. But we can basically assume that their bright colors are a stark warning of their potentially dangerous venom. Curtain webs and wishbone spiders also lurk in the shadows of secluded bushlands. Weird, secretive megalomorphs that are rarely ever seen by people. Pretty much any non-funnel-web megalomorph you come across in Australia is a pretty cool find. If you're out flipping rocks, you might come across an odd flat spider that almost looks prehistoric. These are the scorpion spiders. Sounds pretty terrifying. Morphologically, I have to assume they're probably somewhat related to huntsmen. And like the other speedy giants, these guys are really creepy-looking, but pretty much harmless. They get their name from their gnarled appearance, not because they're dangerous in any way. They like to stick to tight crevices during the day, only emerging after dark to wait in ambush for prey. Though, if you're not a fan of spiders, I will admit they're among the most terrible-looking ones in Australia. But certainly not the weirdest. That title would have to go to the pelican spiders. These are far and away the weirdest-looking spiders on Earth. They seem to be restricted to Queensland, but at least that's the only place I can find records of them. They tend to like tropical habitat, where they use those crazy long jaws to hit their prey with ranged attacks. They're sometimes called the assassin spiders. There isn't a lot known about their biology as of yet, but the most interesting thing about them is actually how we discover them. The first records of pelican spiders actually came from fossils, which is where they got their family name, Archaidae. Living specimens were eventually found in Madagascar, so sort of like the coelacanth, they're actually considered to be living fossils. As far as we know, they're only found in parts of Australia, Madagascar, and South Africa. But it wouldn't surprise me if some were eventually found in Southeast Asia. Definitely a really odd spider that I want to see for myself in the wild, but as of right now, there isn't much to know about them. Australia is home to tons of obscure spider families because of how large and diverse the country actually is. If I covered absolutely every family in depth, we'd be here for hours. But one of the lesser-studied families that people do come across quite a bit are the red and black spiders. Their name isn't all that creative, they're red and black spiders, but these things look crazy cool. At first glance, I'd expect them to be super dangerous too, given their resemblance to the widows. With their jet black abdomens and cherry red legs, they look extremely aposematic. But as far as we can tell, they're not dangerously venomous and are only very, very distantly related to widow spiders. Virtually nothing is known about their biology, which I find incredible considering how striking they are and the fact that they're not entirely rare either. I guess no one's been bitten, so we haven't had a real reason to find out what their venom can do. People find these spiders because the males actually wander around, presumably looking for females, and they stick right out in the environment. I mean, look at this thing. You're not missing that. They remind me a lot of the red widows we get back home in the U.S., but those actually are somewhat dangerous. If you've ever taken the time to look closer at the eight-legged creatures that turn up in your home or backyard throughout parts of Australia, odds are it probably belongs to one of these incredible families of arachnids. But Australia doesn't have a monopoly on weird spiders. Throughout my travels, I've come across some very weird ones, from a spider the size of an ant to an orb weaver that literally flattens itself out and folds over tree branches. If you want to learn about some of the most unusual spiders in the world, check out this video right here. Hope to see you there, but until next time, don't forget to get outside and find your own adventure.