TEXT A – from “Unreliable Memoirs” by Clive James [1980]

Two of the worst Australian spiders are the funnel-web and the trap-door. One is even
more lethal than the other but I can’t remember which. It doesn’t matter, because either
can put a child in peril of its life. The funnel-web is a ping-pong ball in a fox-fur. It
inhabits a miniature missile-silo in the ground, from which it emerges in a savage arc,
ready to sink its mandibles into anything that breathes. The trap-door is really a funnel-
web plus cunning, since it conceals the mouth of its silo with a tiny coal-hole door. Both
kinds of spider can leap an incredible distance. A wood-pile might contain hundreds of
each kind. If you even suspected the presence of either species in your garden you were
supposed to report immediately to the responsible authorities.
But the real horror among spiders was more likely to be encountered in the
lavatory. This was the red-back. The red-back is mainly black, with a scarlet stripe down
where its spine would be if it were a vertebrate. Looking like a neatly rigged and painted
single-seater that might once have been flown by von Richthofen, the red-back had
enough poison in it to immobilise a horse. It had the awkward habit, in unsewered areas
like ours, of lurking under the lavatory seat. If a red-back bit you on the behind you were
left with the problem of where to put the tourniquet and not long to think about it. Nor
could you ask anyone to suck out the poison, unless you knew them very well indeed.

TEXT B - from COURIER MAIL - Wednesday, 11 July, 2001:

An Alice Springs man who was bitten on the bottom more than 20 times by a Redback
spider needed 16 doses of antivenene to survive.

Darren Meehan, 25, believes he may have caught the spider in his jeans during a visit
to an outside toilet. It had then crawled into his bed.

Mr Meehan now holds the record for the most antivenene ever injected into a person
in Australia. He was attacked by the Red back spider as he lay sleeping in his bed in
Alice Springs last month., but he was still getting shots of antivenene on Monday as he
has been unable to shake off the effects of the huge amount of poison in his system.
The head of Alice Springs Hospital's emergency department said it was the worst Red
back bite ever recorded in Australia. Emergency physician, Dr
Elizabeth Mowatt said, "This is the biggest bite I know if on record." The most serious
Red back bite previously recorded only required eight doses of antivenene.

Mr Meehan said he slept through the attack and it was not until the next morning that
he found more than 20 angry red bite marks on his right buttock. 48 hours later, he
was doubled over in extreme pain.
Mr Meehan is now recovering from his ordeal and the bites.
TEXT C

Australian Funnel-web Spiders:

At present 35 species of these highly aggressive spiders have been characterised and are grouped
into two genera, Atrax and Hadronyche. The Atrax genus consists of only three species, including
the infamous Sydney Funnel-web (Atrax robustus). The genus Hadronyche contains the remaining
32 species divided into the six species groups; adelaidensis, modesta, illawarra, cerberea, infensa,
and lamington (Gray 1987). The distribution of Funnel-webs in Australia is more widespread than
commonly thought. Species range along the East Coast of the continent from Tasmania to mid
Queensland,with an isolated pocket near Adelaide.
The venom of these spiders consists of a large number of acute neurotoxins, mostly peptidic in
nature. Very little work has been performed on the venom of any Australian Funnel-web at the
molecular level, with most work concentrating on the pharmacology of the venom from Atrax
robustus (Sydney Funnel-web) and Hadronyche versuta (Blue Mountains Funnel-web). The primary
toxic components of the venoms of these two spiders have been isolated and characterised. The two
toxins are the 42 amino acid peptide components Robustoxin (Sheumack, Claassens et al. 1985)
and Versutoxin (Brown, Scheumack et al. 1988) respectively.
These components slow the inactivation of primate sodium channels (Nicholson, Little et al. 1996)
causing envenomation symptoms involving pain at the bite site, salivation, lachrymation, piloerection,
generalised skeletal muscle fasciculation, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, pulmonary odema,
dyspnoea followed by respiratory failure, tachycardia, and hypertension followed by hypotension and
circulatory failure (Nicholson, Willow et al. 1994) . Curiously enough, Robustoxin is only present in
the venom of the male Atrax robustus, however Versutoxin is present in the venom of both male and
female Hadronyche versuta.
A polyvalent antivenom was discovered in 1980 (Sutherland 1980) and has been reported for
successful treatment of envenomation from Hadronyche formidabilis (Northern Tree Dwelling Funnel-
web) (Knight and Sutton 1982) , Hadronyche versuta (Blue Mountains Funnel-web), Hadronyche
cerberea (Southern Tree Dwelling Funnel-web), Hadronyche infensa (Toowoomba Funnel-web) and
Atrax robustus (Sydney Funnel-web).
All Funnel-webs should be considered as potentially lethal and treated with the appropriate respect
and care. Any bites by Funnel-webs, or spiders thought to be Funnel-webs (intact capture of the
spider for identification is of valuable assistance) should receive medical attention. The suggested
first aid procedures for a Funnel-web bite is the application of a constriction bandage to the bitten
limb followed by medical attention. Often dry bites (a bite without actual envenomation) occur,
however first aid procedures should be followed for ANY bite. For more information regarding funnel
web spiders, contact David Wilson at the University of Queensland

Latrodectus hasselti (Red-back and Widows)

The venom of the Latrodectus genus is contains some of the most potent biologic toxins found.
These produce their effects through destabilization of cell membranes and degranulation of nerve
terminals resulting in the release of neurotransmitters. Typical envenomations, of varying degrees
with mactans (Black widow) and hasselti (Red-backed spider) being the two most toxic members of
the genus, produce painful abdominal cramping and rigidity accompanied by severe hypotension. As
is true will all poisonings, the very young or elderly are at the greatest risk as are those with
preexisting cardiovascular disease.
L. hasselti (Red backed spider) is a very toxic specie with clinical effects are virtually identical to that
of the Black widow. No toxins have been specifically reported for this specie, but due to the extreme
simillarity of symptoms it is logical to conclude that specific venom proteins found in mactans (black
widow) or close analogues of these proteins are present in the venom of hasselti.
TEXT D
Jim White on the Olympic trail
A flaming row with spiders and sharks
Guardian Saturday August 12, 2000
'Arachnophobia' yelled the headline on the back page of London's Evening Standard one day this
week. "Olympic doctors warn our stars of deadly spider threat" continued the piece, suggesting
that the oarsman Steve Redgrave was in particular danger.
Apparently a British canoeist called Rob Turner was treated for an infection caused by a spider bite
while training on the very stretch of water where Redgrave will be attempting his record-breaking
assault on a fifth gold medal next month.
Meanwhile reports in other papers have warned that a 12-foot shark has been pulled out of Sydney
harbour, no more than 100 yards from the course the triathletes will be obliged to swim in their
Olympic event. So alarmed are the authorities by the sighting, claim the reports, that divers
equipped with spearguns will guard the route.
All this makes one wonder: do our athletes know what they are letting themselves in for, journeying
to a land as wild and dangerous as Australia? What with spiders and sharks (and no doubt it will
not be long before someone points to the very real possibility of a crocodile lurking in the water
jump of the steeplechase), it is surely about time to consider a boycott, staging our own safe
games in Manchester, where the only danger is half the marathon field being mugged as they
make their way through Cheetham Hill.
Sadly a couple of pieces of information buried towards the end of the Standard report, as always,
spoil the story. Though Turner claims it was spider-induced, it transpires his infection was
reckoned by his doctor to be the result of friction burns from the fibre-glass hull of his canoe. As for
the shark, Sydney locals are wondering how the beast made its way into the harbour in the first
place, past the protective ring of sewage, diesel spills and cigarette ends that generally keeps out
any hint of sea life.
"It's not exactly Borneo," says the British Olympic Association spokesman Mark Howell of the
spider threat, before pointing out that Australia has produced one or two reasonable sportsmen
and women over the years, despite the best efforts of the wildlife.

TEXT E
694 Rochedale Road
Rochedale, QLD 4123
TEXT F
24 July, 2001
from ‘THE REDBACK ON
Dear Jo,
THE TOILET SEAT’
Since your Arachnophobia is becoming worse I have decided to
by Slim Newton
write you this short letter expressing how and why you should
overcome your fear. Here are some tips. There was a redback on the toilet seat
The first thing you should know about spiders is that they are When I was there last night.
shy, little critter that thinks you are a giant not a human and I didn't see him in the dark,
they won’t chase after you! Have you ever been chased by a But boy I felt his bite.
spider? No? I jumped high up into the air
Spiders would only be defensive not offensive and are more And when I hit the ground,
afraid of you than you are of them. That crafty redback spider
Wasn't nowhere to be found.
Not all spiders are deadly actually I think I read somewhere that
I rushed into the missus,
only 25% of all known spiders are venomous but still don’t go Told her just where I'd been bit.
and touch or picking up any. She grabbed a cut-throat razor-blade
Finally, the other reason is that spiders are extremely helpful And I nearly took a fit.
because they eat the pests that eat all the stuff in your house in I said, "Just forget what's on your mind
fact if there were no spiders we’d be up to our rooves with And call a doctor please,
insects. I think that’s it, yep. So, that’s it. 'Cause I got a feeling that your cure
Yours sincerely, Is worse than the disease."
Travis.
TEXT G

Please note: The Pressure Immobilisation method is recommended only for Funnel Web Spider
bites and specifically recommended against for Red Back Spiders. Please see the treatment for
Red Back bite below.
The old methods of treating bite and stings are now discouraged by the medical profession as
often they only increase and spread pain. The pressure/immobilisation method is now widely
used as a simple and effective way of slowing the spread of poison throughout the body. This
method involves placing a firm but not tight, bandage along the entire limb that has been bitten or
stung. This compresses the tissues, thus reducing the flow of venom along the limbs. Quite often
the venom will be trapped exactly where it enters the body.
The patient should be kept calm and rested; all undue movement should be avoided. The
pressure/immobilisation bandage should be applied. If the bite is on a limb, the bandage should
start at the bite site, work down to the fingers or toes, then back to the armpit or groin.
If it is necessary to improvise for the bandages, strips of clothing or pantyhose could be used. A
splint should then be applied to immobilise the limb. This is run along the affected limb, and
bandaged to it, after the pressure bandages have been applied. Medical aid should then be
sought and it is better to send for an ambulance rather than attempt to transport the victim.

FUNNEL-WEB SPIDER
The Funnel-web Spider is the cause of much anxiety along the east coast of new South Wales.
Many people still believe that a bite from this creature means death within minutes. This is quite
wrong. Many people also believe that the larger female of the species is more deadly; in fact it is
the male that is more dangerous. But as long as the pressure/immobilisation method is applied, in
the same manner as for snake bite, the chances of death are very slight. Unlike snake bites, the
casualty usually feels great pain at the site of the bite. Nausea and abdominal pain follow. The
casualty will also experience difficulty in breathing and a general weakness or numbness of
the muscles. The body also secretes heavily in several areas. Profuse sweating is usually
obvious, along with excessive saliva production. Heavy coughing, producing secretions is
common.
Now that all major hospitals in 'funnel-web country' carry an effective antivenom, there is little risk
of death resulting from a bite. Once pressure/immobilisation method has been applied, medical
aid should be sought immediately. A few days in hospital is the usual outcome with no lasting
damage.

RED-BACK SPIDER
As the venom of the Red Back Spider moves very slowly, any attempt to restrict its progress
would only serve to increase the associated pain. No restrictive bandage should be applied. The
fangs of this spider are quite small and its bite may often go unnoticed, but often a sharp pinprick
may
be felt. This is followed by pain at the site of the bite, leading to more general pain. Other
symptoms include nausea, dizziness and partial loss of muscle control.
Sweating occurs in varying degrees, and is sometimes apparent around the site of the bite.
Swelling of the affected area is common, as is a quickening of the heartbeat.
As with other bites, the victim should be kept calm and reassured. The only first aid
recommended is to apply a cold compress to the wound, this may take the form of iced water in a
plastic bag. The wound should under no circumstances be frozen. Where possible, take the
spider to hospital for identification. Medical aid should be sought immediately. Most hospitals carry
an effective antivenom for the Red Back Spider.
TEXT H
As you can imagine, I was particularly attracted to all those things that might hurt me, which in an
Australian context is practically everything. It really is the most extraordinarily lethal country.
Naturally, they play down the fact that every time you set your feet on the floor something is likely
to jump out and seize an ankle. Thus my guidebook blandly observed that ‘only’ fourteen species
of Australian snakes are seriously lethal, among them the western brown, desert death adder, tiger
snake, taipan and yellow-bellied sea snake. The taipan is the one to watch out for. It is the most
poisonous snake on earth, with a lunge so swift and a venom so potent that your last mortal
utterance is likely to be: ‘I say, is that a sn—’
Even from across the room you could see at once which was the display case containing the
stuffed taipan, for it had around it a clutch of small boys held in rapt silence by the frozen gaze of
its beady, lazily hateful eyes. You can kill it and stuff it and put it in a case, but you can’t take away
the menace. According to the label, the taipan carries a venom fifty times more deadly than that of
the cobra, its nearest challenger. Amazingly, just one fatal attack is on record, at Mildura in 1989.
But we knew the real story, my attentive little friends and I — that once you leave this building the
taipans aren’t stuffed and behind glass.
At least the taipan is five feet long and thick as a man’s wrist, which gives you a reasonable
chance of spotting it. What I found far more appalling was the existence of lethal small snakes, like
the little desert death adder. Just eight inches long, it lies lightly buried in soft sand so that you
have no hope of seeing it before setting your weary butt on its head. Even more worrying was the
Point Darwin sea snake, which is not much larger than an earthworm but packs venom enough if
not to kill you at least to make you very late for dinner.
But all of these are as nothing compared with the delicate and diaphanous box jellyfish, the most
poisonous creature on earth. We will hear more of the unspeakable horrors of this little bag of
lethality when we get to the tropics, but let me offer here just one small story. In 1992, a young
man in Cairns, ignoring all the warning signs, went swimming in the Pacific waters at a place called
Holloways Beach. He swam and dived, taunting his friends on the beach for their prudent
cowardice, and then began to scream with an inhuman sound. It is said that there is no pain to
compare with it. The young man staggered from the water, covered in livid whip-like stripes
wherever the jellyfish’s tentacles had brushed across him, and collapsed in quivering shock. Soon
afterwards emergency crews arrived, inflated him with morphine, and took him away for treatment.
And here’s the thing. Even unconscious and sedated he was still screaming.
Sydney has no box jellyfish, I was pleased to learn, The famous local danger is the funnel-web
spider, the most poisonous insect in the world with a venom that Is ‘highly toxic and fast-acting’. A
single nip, if not promptly treated, will leave you bouncing around in the grip of seizures of an
incomparable liveliness; then you turn blue; then you die. Thirteen deaths are on record, though
none since 1981 when an antidote was devised, Also poisonous are white-tailed spiders, mouse
spiders, wolf spiders, our old friend the redback (‘hundreds of bites are reported each year about a
dozen known deaths’) and a reclusive but fractious type called the fiddleback. I couldn’t say for
sure whether I had seen any of these in the gardens I had passed earlier in the day, hut then I
couldn’t say I hadn’t since they all looked essentially the same. No one knows, incidentally, why
Australia’s spiders are so extravagantly toxic: capturing small insects and injecting them with
enough poison to drop a horse would appear to be the most literal case of overkill. Still, it does
mean that everyone gives them lots of space.
I studied with particular alertness the funnel-web since this was the creature that I was most likely
to encounter in the next few days. It was about 1.5 inches long, plump, hairy and ugly. According
to the label, you can identify a funnel-web by the mating organ on the male palp, deeply curved
fovea, shiny carapace and lower labium studded with short blunt spines
Alternatively, of course, you can just let it sting you. I carefully copied all this down before it
occurred to me that if I were to awake to find any large, furry creature advancing crablike across
the sheets I was unlikely to note any of its anatomical features, however singular and telling. So I
put away my notebook and went off to look at minerals, which aren’t so exciting but do have the
compensating virtue that almost never will they attack you.
- Bill Bryson, Down Under [2000]
TEXT I
Spiders Of South Australia
WHAT IS A SPIDER?
Spiders belong to a large group of animals (Phylum Arthropoda) which do not possess an internal skeleton but
rather an external hard covering called an exoskeleton. Animals which also belong in this group include insects,
crustaceans, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, mites and ticks.
A spider must have eight legs, a fused head and thorax (cephalothorax), a narrow waist, fangs and silk spinning
organs (spinnerets). Unlike insects, spiders possess lungs, the openings of which can be seen on the underside
of the abdomen. Most spiders possess only one pair of lungs, but in some, a second pair exists. Spiders must
moult and lose their exoskeleton to allow growth before a new exoskeleton forms and hardens. Most Australian
spiders have eight eyes. There are some which have 6, others with only 2 and a few with no eyes at all. Some of
these eyes may be used specifically for night vision and others for day vision.
The male spider can be recognised by a pair of bulbous palps which transfer the male sperm cells to the
female. The male draws sperm cells from the testes on the abdomen into these palps before mating. The palps
are often mistaken for an extra pair of legs. Female palps tend to be shorter and less conspicuous. Females are
often more robust than males in general body form.

GENERAL SPIDER BEHAVIOUR

Most spiders are active at night (nocturnal), hunting or trapping insects, small animals and sometimes other
spiders. Some spiders, such as the huntsman and white-tailed spiders, actively hunt their food while others,
such as the orb-weaving spiders snare their prey in silk webs. Trapdoor and burrowing spiders tend to ambush
their prey.
Spiders are equipped with a pair of strong pincer-like jaws or fangs (chelicerae) which usually contain a poison
sac for injecting venom. They kill or paralyse their prey and then suck the juices from the body. Nearly all
spiders contain venom except for the family Uloboridae. Fortunately, most spider venom has little effect on
people.
Spiders use silk for many purposes. All spiders use it to encase their eggs in a sac. Some use it for capturing
food in the form of webs, trip-lines or nets which they can cast, while others use it to wrap up their prey. Some
spiderlings transport themselves to new habitats on a silk line in the wind. Many burrowing spiders use silk to
build a lid to enclose the burrow entrance or to line their burrows to give the walls more support. Some spiders
may produce 4 or 5 different types of silk depending on its use (i.e. silk for an egg case would be different from
that used for a web).

GENERAL SPIDER CONTROL

Spiders are probably a house's most valuable predator. They eat a range of pests including silverfish, young
cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes. Black house spiders actually eat red-back spiders. If you can bear it, leave
them alone. If not, then spiders can be controlled in houses, in most cases without resorting to chemicals.
Chemical control companies will readily spray a house for spiders. Unfortunately, spiders are not readily affected
by residual chemicals and they need direct contact with insecticide to be controlled. Consequently, over a period
of time, the spider population will again increase. Yards which are untidy or which have bark-chips close to the
building encourage spiders to enter. Wood used in fire-places should either be burnt immediately or stored in a
sealed woodbox. Screen doors should be self-shutting with no gaps and windows should be fitted with screens.
Use a seal gun to close cracks in floor boards, skirtings and the like. Brush down spider webs in houses and
physically remove visible spiders.

SPIDERBITE AND FIRST AID TREATMENT

Although most spiders are capable of biting they seldom do, unless in defence when they are handled or caught
in clothing. Most spider bites that occur in South Australia are of a trivial nature. The only spider in this state
which is capable of killing a person is the red-back spider, Latrodectus hasseltii. However, since the
development of antivenom for this spider in 1956, death following their bites has become unknown.
Indeed, many red-back spider bites are trivial, and do not require any antivenom treatment.
Another plus, is that the venom from the red-back spider does not cause an immediate life threatening illness,
and so there is always time to reach medical treatment. Besides the red-back and the Sydney funnel-web (which
does NOT occur in South Australia) all other Australian spiders are generally poorly documented and
understood regarding their venoms and their effects on people.
It should be emphasised that most spider bites are trivial, and some reactions following a bite
may be due to infection introduced on the spider's fangs, rather than spider venom. Any bite resulting in either a
general illness or a severe local reaction should be assessed by a doctor.