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title: "What the sources say about the Sydney Funnel-Web Spider | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "58 claims from the Sydney Funnel-Web Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Sydney Funnel-Web Spider (*Atrax robustus*)

> 58 claims from the Sydney Funnel-Web Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Sydney Funnel-Web Spider](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/sydney-funnel-web-spider/)

## Sydney Funnel-web Spider, Atrax robustus. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/sydney-funnel-web-spider/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Shady gullies, forest, woodland and bushy suburbs across the Sydney basin, from the Central Coast south to the Georges River and west to Baulkham Hills | Bushy suburban areas, open and closed sclerophyll forests and woodlands, often on south or east-facing slopes or in shady gullies ... The main range of the Sydney Funnel-web is from the Central Coast south to the Georges River, extending as far west as Baulkham Hills near the southern end of its distribution (note: compact stats field; 'often' on slopes/gullies not carried into a list) |
| Beetles, cockroaches, millipedes, small lizards | potential prey, such as beetles, cockroaches, small lizards or millipedes |
| Two to Four Centimetres, Grown Up in Year Five | Size Range 2.0 cm – 4.0 cm (note: heading; year five is the duran-2022 maturity claim) |
| A Sydney funnel-web measures 2 to 4 centimetres, according to the Australian Museum | Size Range 2.0 cm – 4.0 cm |
| It's a shiny, dark brown to black spider with finger-like spinnerets, its silk-spinning organs, at the tip of the abdomen. | Sydney Funnel-webs are shiny, dark brown to black spiders with finger-like spinnerets (silk-spinning organs) at the end of their abdomen |
| Sydney funnel-webs live in silk-lined burrows under logs and rocks, where the air stays cool and humid, with silk trip-lines laid around the entrance. | Sydney Funnel-webs live in silk-lined burrows in sheltered sites under logs and rocks in areas where they can maintain a cool and humid climate ... silken trip-lines that the spider has placed around the outside of its burrow |
| The spider waits just inside, and when a beetle, cockroach, small lizard or millipede walks across a line, it rushes out to grab it, then carries the meal back into the burrow. | the spider waits inside the burrow entance ready to rush out when potential prey, such as beetles, cockroaches, small lizards or millipedes, walk across silken trip-lines that the spider has placed around the outside of its burrow. They then return to their burrow to eat their meal |
| Threatened, it rears up and displays its fangs. | If threatened, both species show aggressive behaviour, rearing and displaying their impressive fangs |
| The Sydney funnel-web lives in shady gullies, forest and bushy suburbs from the Central Coast south to the Georges River and west to Baulkham Hills, with some records from the Blue Mountains and Wollongong. | Bushy suburban areas, open and closed sclerophyll forests and woodlands, often on south or east-facing slopes or in shady gullies ... The main range of the Sydney Funnel-web is from the Central Coast south to the Georges River, extending as far west as Baulkham Hills near the southern end of its distribution. Some records are also known from the Blue Mountains and Wollongong |
| More recently its range has shrunk in the south. | More recently, the range is reduced in the south |
| The Australian Museum records no deaths since its introduction. | there have been no fatalities since the introduction of antivenom (note: species page updated 13/01/25) |
| if threatened, rears up and displays its fangs | If threatened, both species show aggressive behaviour, rearing and displaying their impressive fangs (note: vibe.reason (women artists, round 2)) |

## Australian Funnel-web Spiders. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/funnel-web-spiders-group/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| in male venom | male spider venom contains a unique component called Robustoxin (δ-Atracotoxin-Ar1) |
| but robustoxin severely affects the nervous systems of humans and monkeys. | male spider venom contains a unique component called Robustoxin (δ-Atracotoxin-Ar1) that severely and similarly affects the nervous systems of humans and monkeys, but not of other mammals |
| Robustoxin severely affects the nervous systems of humans and monkeys, but not those of other mammals. | male spider venom contains a unique component called Robustoxin (δ-Atracotoxin-Ar1) that severely and similarly affects the nervous systems of humans and monkeys, but not of other mammals |
| For a while. Funnel-webs that fall into backyard pools can stay alive for at least 30 hours underwater. | Wandering funnel-webs spiders often fall into backyard swimming pools and they can stay alive for at least 30 hours underwater (note: group scope, so the question and answer say funnel-webs, not this species) |
| They can't swim, but a small bubble of air trapped in the hairs around the abdomen helps them breathe and float. | They can't swim but they can trap a small bubble of air in hairs around the abdomen, which aids both breathing and floating |
| As they slowly get waterlogged they sink and eventually drown, but it takes a long time, and a motionless funnel-web at the bottom of a pool often recovers. | As they gradually get waterlogged, their buoyancy decreases and they sink. Eventually they drown but this is a slow process. It should not be assumed that a non-moving spider at the bottom of a pool is dead as they often recover |
| Male venom contains robustoxin, which severely affects the human nervous system. | male spider venom contains a unique component called Robustoxin (δ-Atracotoxin-Ar1) that severely and similarly affects the nervous systems of humans and monkeys |
| Its absence from female venom probably explains why bites from females have not caused any deaths, though the Australian Museum warns that no funnel-web bite should be assumed safe. | The absence of this chemical from female Sydney Funnel-web Spider venom probably explains why bites by these females have not caused any deaths. However, it should not be assumed that bites from females or any funnel-web bites are relatively 'safe' (note: page updated 13/01/25) |
| in the warmer months, November to April, they wander through gardens at night looking for mates, and sometimes end up trapped inside a house or garage. | During the warmer months of the year (November-April) male funnel-webs wander about at night looking for females in their burrows. Males wandering in suburban gardens may sometimes become trapped inside houses or garages |
| Not since 1981, when Dr Struan Sutherland's team at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories first developed an antivenom for clinical use. | An antivenom for the Sydney Funnel-web Spider was first developed for clinical use in 1981 by Dr Struan Sutherland and his team at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. No deaths have occurred since its introduction (note: page updated 13/01/25, after the 1981 event) |
| Funnel-web bites caused thirteen recorded deaths, and the male Sydney funnel-web, as the species was understood before its 2025 split, is probably responsible for most of them. | The male of Atrax robustus , the Sydney Funnel-web Spider , is probably responsible for most of the thirteen recorded deaths and many medically serious bites (note: the count predates the split, so it is scoped to the old sense of the name) |
| The antivenom has also worked against other dangerous funnel-web species. | This antivenom has also been effective against other dangerous funnel-web spider species |
| Male venom carries a nerve toxin | male spider venom contains a unique component called Robustoxin |
| dangerLevel: Deadly | This specimen of the notorious Sydney Funnel-web Spider was responsible for the first recorded human death by this species (note: task #686; Deadly is 'Capable of killing a human'. Recorded deaths make it a capability, whatever the severe-envenoming rate (Isbister 2005's 17%) or the post-1981 antivenom record. The deaths predate Loria 2025's split, but Loria keeps the name and the Sydney range for A. robustus s.s.. The same page: male A. robustus is 'probably responsible for most of the thirteen recorded deaths') |
| tags: venomous | male spider venom contains a unique component called Robustoxin (δ-Atracotoxin-Ar1) that severely and similarly affects the nervous systems of humans and monkeys (note: task #1283; tagMetadata 'venomous' is a biochemical cocktail delivered through fangs to disable nervous systems) |

## Australia's deadliest spider reclassified. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/about/organisation/media-centre/sydney-funnel-web-spider-reclassified/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| across the Sydney basin | the “classic” Sydney funnel-web ( Atrax robustus ), found from the Central Coast and throughout the Sydney Basin |
| It was long considered a single species. | the iconic Sydney funnel-web has long been considered a single species |
| the "true" Sydney funnel-web centred on Sydney's North Shore and the Central Coast | The 'true' Sydney Funnel-web, Atrax robustus centres on the North Shore of Sydney and the Central Coast |
| the Southern Sydney funnel-web (Atrax montanus), most common in the Blue Mountains | the Southern Sydney funnel-web ( Atrax montanus ), which is most common in the Blue Mountains south and west of Sydney |
| the Newcastle funnel-web (Atrax christenseni), the largest of the three | the Newcastle funnel-web, playfully dubbed “Big Boy” by spider lovers, the largest of the three |
| Researchers who compared DNA and fine anatomical detail across the Sydney region found differences showing that three species should be recognised. | The research team used a combination of anatomical and molecular (DNA) comparisons to study different populations of Sydney funnel-web spiders, documenting distinctions indicating that three species should be recognised |

## Atrax robustus. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Atrax_robustus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| land snails | The diet of Sydney funnel-web spiders consists of beetles, cockroaches, insect larvae, native land snails, millipedes and occasionally frogs and other small vertebrates |
| Animal Diversity Web gives males up to 25 millimetres and females up to 35 | Males grow to 25mm long while females grow to 35 mm long |
| Females tend to stay in one place unless flooding forces them out. | Females tend to stay in the same location except when forced out by flooding |

## Loria et al. (2025). The world's most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus). BMC Ecology and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02332-0

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Only male Sydney funnel-webs (Atrax robustus) are known to make venom molecules that cause serious effects in humans. | it is now known that only male spiders of A. robustus produce venom peptides that cause serious effects in humans |
| Males mature in summer and leave their burrows, usually after rain, to roam in search of mates. | male spiders mature in summer and abandon their burrows, usually after rainy periods, to roam in search of mates |
| A 2025 study, combining DNA with detailed anatomy, split it into three | In this study, we use a combination of molecular phylogenetics, divergence time analyses and morphology to establish the Sydney funnel-web spider as a complex of three species (note: 2025 is the reference year) |
| Decades of venom research on spiders then all called Atrax robustus now need re-examining in light of the split. | the rich body of literature on A. robustus venom needs to be re-examined in light of our revised taxonomic framework ... the iconic Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus sensu Gray, 2010 is a complex of three species (note: 'decades': the biomedical literature cited runs from Musgrave onward; 'then all called' = A. robustus sensu Gray 2010) |
| One Spider Becomes Three | establish the Sydney funnel-web spider as a complex of three species (note: heading) |
| What looked like one unusually variable species turned out to be three. | Morphological variability and venom diversity in this species appear to be unusually high, raising questions about species concepts and diversity in these spiders ... establish the Sydney funnel-web spider as a complex of three species (note: 'looked like' carries 'appear') |
| They also noted that the large body of venom research published under the name Atrax robustus has to be looked at again in light of the new classification. | the rich body of literature on A. robustus venom needs to be re-examined in light of our revised taxonomic framework |
| Males are also the ones people tend to meet | male spiders mature in summer and abandon their burrows, usually after rainy periods, to roam in search of mates, often bringing them into contact with humans |

## Duran, Wilson & Lee Rymer (2022). Behaviour of the Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus over different contexts, time, and stimuli. Toxicon: X.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxcx.2022.100093

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| It is long-lived for a spider: females can live for more than eight years, and both sexes generally mature only in their fifth year. | A. robustus has a long life span; females can live for more than eight years, and both males and females generally only reach maturity in the fifth year (note: 'for a spider' frames 'long life span') |
| In a 2022 lab study, juveniles tended to huddle when puffed with air, while adults lifted their front legs and moved their fangs. | We observed that juveniles tended to huddle rather than move their fangs, whereas adults tended to lift the first pair of legs and move the fangs in response to the puff of air (note: 2022 is the reference year; lab = climate-controlled room) |

## Nicholson et al. (1998). Characterisation of the effects of robustoxin, the lethal neurotoxin from the Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus, on sodium channel activation and inactivation. Pflügers Archiv European Journal of Physiology.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s004240050612

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| delta-atracotoxin-Ar1 | robustoxin should henceforth be known as delta-atracotoxin-Ar1 to reflect this main action on sodium channel inactivation |
| stops some sodium channels in nerve cells from switching off properly | The main action of robustoxin was a concentration-dependent slowing or removal of TTX-S sodium current inactivation (note: stats field; 'switching off' = inactivation) |
| In tests on rat nerve cells, it stopped some sodium channels, the pores that let a nerve fire, from shutting off properly: a trickle of sodium kept flowing, and the channels reset faster for the next signal. | the study assessed the actions of robustoxin on tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) and tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) sodium currents in rat dorsal root ganglion cells ... robustoxin had no effect on TTX-R sodium currents but exerted potent effects on TTX-S sodium currents ... robustoxin produced a significant increase in the repriming kinetics of the sodium channel ... allowing a fraction of the sodium current to remain at membrane potentials at which inactivation is normally complete (note: 'some' = TTX-S only; 'the pores that let a nerve fire' is a generic definition) |

## Pallaghy et al. (1997). Solution structure of robustoxin, the lethal neurotoxin from the funnel-web spider Atrax robustus. FEBS Letters.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0014-5793(97)01452-x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Robustoxin (delta-atracotoxin-Ar1), a 42-amino-acid peptide in male venom | Robustoxin is a polypeptide of 42 residues cross-linked by four disulphide bonds |
| The key one, robustoxin, also called delta-atracotoxin-Ar1, is a chain of 42 amino acids folded into a knot and held together by four sulfur-to-sulfur bridges. | Robustoxin is a polypeptide of 42 residues cross-linked by four disulphide bonds ... It also contains a cystine knot (note: 'key one': the 1998 title calls it 'the lethal neurotoxin'; 'sulfur-to-sulfur bridges' defines disulphide bonds) |

## Nicholson et al. (1996). Selective alteration of sodium channel gating by Australian funnel-web spider toxins. Toxicon.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0041-0101(96)00089-x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Those changes fit with funnel-web toxins making nerves fire over and over. | these modifications of sodium channel gating and kinetics are consistent with actions of the spider toxins to produce repetitive firing of action potentials |

## Herzig et al. (2020). Australian funnel-web spiders evolved human-lethal δ-hexatoxins for defense against vertebrate predators. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004516117

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Male venom carries a nerve toxin that likely evolved to deter bandicoots and birds, and is lethal to humans by unfortunate coincidence. | these toxins likely evolved to deter vertebrate predators commonly encountered by these spiders, such as bandicoots, birds, and lizards ... the lethal potency of δ-HXTXs against humans is an unfortunate evolutionary coincidence (note: tagline; the PNAS abstract names the lethal δ-HXTX isolated from Sydney funnel-web venom; the delta-atracotoxin-Ar1 name is the characterisation-1998 claim) |
| Its toxin family likely evolved to deter vertebrate predators such as bandicoots, birds and lizards | these toxins likely evolved to deter vertebrate predators commonly encountered by these spiders, such as bandicoots, birds, and lizards |
| An Evolutionary Coincidence | the lethal potency of δ-HXTXs against humans is an unfortunate evolutionary coincidence (note: blockquote lead-in) |
| A 2020 study found it causes pain in mice and concluded that this family of funnel-web toxins likely evolved to deter predators such as bandicoots, birds and lizards. | We isolated the lethal δ-HXTX from venom of the Sydney funnel-web spider and showed that it induces pain in mice, suggesting a role in predator deterrence ... these toxins likely evolved to deter vertebrate predators commonly encountered by these spiders, such as bandicoots, birds, and lizards (note: 2020 is the reference year; 'family' = the 22 δ-HXTXs from 10 funnel-web species) |
| Humans are not the target, which makes the toxin's lethal effect on us "an unfortunate evolutionary coincidence." | Although humans are not the target of δ-HXTXs ... Thus, the lethal potency of δ-HXTXs against humans is an unfortunate evolutionary coincidence |
| A Toxin Built for the Wrong Target | Although humans are not the target of δ-HXTXs (note: heading) |