Aussie anti-theft device
 

Tony Smith pointed this out to me when we were visiting the Transport Museum at Bandiana - their Mk1 ACCO lives outside in an open shelter so to stop any light-fingered collectors they have installed this ingenious anti-theft device...

Keith, and what is the name of this wee beast? He certainly doesn't look too friendly.

Huntsman
 

Hi Chris

It's a Huntsman spider, and that's a shed skin, not a live one, fortunately.

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheet...s/huntsman.jpg

Source This link gives a full description for you.

These spiders often live under the loose bark of trees and also like to come inside cars. Many Aussies (including myself) have had the unpleasant experience of one or more large spider legs appearing from around the sun visor of their car as they drive. I fixed this with a smart punch to the visor which caused yellow goop to run down the windscreen (how can spiders function with only yellow cream inside them is beyond me). They have a way of grabbing your attention in a car and many accidents have resulted.
Belinda once was sitting outside a pub when a Range Rover's windscreen suddenly popped out onto the road as a result of a Huntsman on the inside being despatched with excessive force.

Sometimes they venture inside the home, and have been known to drink the spittle of sleeping people, but the piece de resistance is to find one above one's head when in the bath or shower. The trick here is not to think they'll drop onto you for sure as eggs they will if you're scared enough.

More identification
 

I think it's possibly a Neosparassus diana, or a Badge Huntsman.



http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/spiders...ge/mn16973.jpg

Habitat and Biology
The badge huntsman is nocturnally active and occasionally comes into houses, but less frequently than other huntsman spiders. Outside it can be found hunting for prey on the trunks of trees or in foliage. During the day it will retreat beneath the bark of a tree. A silken retreat is built in a similar situation for moulting and egg laying. Some species of Neosparassus build a silken retreat in foliage by gluing several leaves together, whilst others construct shallow burrows. The egg sac, which is a flattish silken capsule, is guarded by the female. During this period she can be quite aggressive and will rear up in a defensive display if provoked. Young Neosparassus are often green in colour.


Colour
Male: Similar to female.
Female: Fawn to orange or pinkish brown. Black shield shaped marking with two white spots on underside of abdomen.


Form
Body flattened, though less so than other huntsman groups. First two pairs of legs distinctly longer than hind two pairs.


Body Length
Male: 16mm
Female: 20mm


Web type
Does not build a web.


Bite
No serious symptoms have been recorded from the bite of N. diana, but bites from other species of Neosparassus are known to cause general symptoms including local severe pain and swelling, sweating, nausea and vomiting.

Source

Keefy, that's absolutely enough out of you! STOP IT. Yer scarin' the shite out of old Jifferoo here. I ain't never comin' down that way if this is your form of local entertainment... :eek:

You forgot other symtoms Keefy!
 

A ferocious desire for reams of vegemite thinly spread on toast for starters.
ANYONE ELSE HAVE SYMTOM IDEAS??

Seriously,The biggest spider here in The Great White(And visible minorities)North is the daddy long legs,but they're harmless.

Re: You forgot other symtoms Keefy!
 

Garry, one day I'll introduce you to Ontaro dock spiders... bloody great black furry sob's which we used to hunt with .22s when we were kids! Dunno what genus they are, but I remember my dad hitting one with .22 birdshot once... it turned inside out, and the insides ended up all over his face. He chucked himself into the lake screaming, poste-haste, rifle and all. After that, I hunted them with .22 shorts.

Oh yes, and they'd chase you if you pissed them off.... :eek:

I HATE SPIDERS.

Oh, Jiff...
 

http://people.hws.edu/mitchell/cards01/SS-129.jpg

Source

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/image...566redback.gif

Of course there's the redback too, which is related to the black widow.

Source

Crikey,...makes me appreciate the cold Canadian winter even more so!:p


...although similar beasties will manifest themselves once I start playing around with getting the CMP fired up and ready to go!:)

Oh Keefy...
 

I HATE YOU!!!!!!!

Stop this nonsense, right away. Or I shall have to paddle you.

I'm going to have nightmares for days now. EERRGGHH!!!

Hmmm...Sunray...I note that your avatar has changed.

No more Jifferoo?

No more PW?

:D

I'm never going to complain about the winter anymore. Least here in Canada there's very little that we have to worry about as far as creepy crawlies go.
I was watching that Aussie guy on Killer Instinct the other day, and, for fun he went to the Coral sea just to see if he could catch a seasnake underwater. What a nut. To top it off, he was over to Tasmania for an up close and personal encounter with the infamous Tazmanian devil. What nasty beasts they are.

Tassie Devil
 

http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.ns...ife_devil1.jpg

We have to have something to discourage all you Canadians from arriving here with your spanners and containers at the ready!
Source

http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylaci...wwilubcldficod

Then there's the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger which is widely believed to be extinct. This pic is from a film shot in the early 1930s of one of the last ones. There's a reward offered for finding one - there are regular reports of sightings, even on the mainland, but nothing conclusive.

This pic comes from a rather interesting site on the subject.

Piss off, PRONTO. The system farted. Too many Aussies on it, I suspect... :D

Damnstraight! I'll never bitch about winter again...

At least the worst we get is the common garden spider - totally harmless to humans but still enough to ensure that on occasions when they come indoors that I'm the only member of the family to enter a room and get rid of the darned thing!

Hmmm ... am I daft or what? I don't see any changes! Guess I missed something hey? Or are you in a trouble-makin' mood out of boredom and sour grapes that you can't go driving in your pride and joy yet? (soon ... 15 above next week Jon ... are you ready to take her for a spin? :) )

BTW ... our own Jifferoo was cringing in a little ball in the corner the couch, farthest from the monitor, teeth chattering, after seeing the spider pics. Keefy ... you really are a rotter, you are love. Shame on you, and after all the cheek and pics he has let you do. The NERVE of some peoples kids. It's a crying shame that some kids grow up but their minds remain ... cheeky :D:D:D :p

Well, and now for my own cheeky-nesssss ... I shall have to send you our Canadian Version of TIM TAMS I think :devil:

Oh, I'm such a :devil: tonite.

(I hate those spiders too... I'll probably have nightmares as well :rolleyes: )

Nickname
 

Heh heh heh... my school nickname was "Spider"... Some still call me that.

Here's one last one for when you wake up... a Funnel Web spider...

http://www.doaustralia.com/Fauna/Images/FunnelWeb.jpg

Source

Re: Nickname
 

Oh yeah? Now THAT one looks like a Rorschach.

You see a spider you say?
Hmmmm ... verrrrrrrrrry interes-ssss-teeeeeeenk. :p

Spyder..??
 

Heh heh heh... my school nickname was "Spider"... Some still call me that.

Beats the hell out of "Crotch Cricket".....

And you probably had to scrap with the dog for a scoff...


http://www.funnyclicks.com/pictures8/dogs_dinner.jpg

Geoff,

If you ever do venture down under, something worth remembering is to check under the toilet seat before using it :D

Here is the reason why :teach:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/michellej...gs.htm#Redback

Richard

Buggers, the lot of you! :eek:

Geez you Canucks are a wimpy lot. Look at this. My Ada captured this redback spider and it now lives in plastic on the gear shift on her Mini Moke.
Bob

Mini Moke
 

Hey Bob
That's a cool car.
I wonder whether Magnetic Island still has a fleet of them.

Re. Cool Car
 

Hi Keefy
Yes they are a great car, and here it is. There are still heaps of Mokes around. Some car hire places in Qld have nothing but.
Bob

This all reminds me of when I was visiting Pucka a couple of years ago. I wanted to take some pics of the Cromwell and Covenanter interiors and cheerfully stuck my camera through the hatch openings and snapped away. The spiders webs were a bit annoying....till it dawned on me that maybe this was not such a good idea! Then there was the hulking great Kangaroo laying on the grass by the entrance.....

'Roo
 

Was the Roo just asleep or had the Spider bitten it?:eek:

Re: 'Roo
 

He was just chillin' out! Looked harmless but Paul Handel advised giving him a wide berth....;)

Re: Tassie Devil
 

Hmm, Euan "Thylacine" McDonald has a good ring to it. Get 'em, Tiger!

Daddy Longlegs
 

Don't relax too much fellow Canucks... the 'harmless' Daddy Longlegs is one of the most venomous spiders in the world. Its poison will kill you deader 'n dead. Now the good news... each spider has so little in him/her as to be 'harmless' and... the fangs are too small to pierce human skin.

HMV collectors should watchout for the Brown Recluse which loves barns, garages and enclosed spaces like old trucks stored for the winter... its small but the bite itches like hell and can take weeks to heal.

Cheers! Mike

:eek: