Red-and-black spider

Fact Box Species: Nicodamid species (JS, RM) (see notes below) Previous species name: Nicodamus bicolor Family: Nicodamidae Body length: female: 7 mm male: 5 mm Habitat: On or close to the ground with little webbing present Toxicity: Uncertain; handle with caution

The male Preserved

The mostly red colour of the cephalothorax and legs and the brown to blue-black abdomen of the members of this family are distinctive.

Note that in the revision of the nicodamid family published by Dr Mark Harvey of the Western Australian Museum in 1995 the original single species was expanded to 7 genera containing 23 species, almost none of which can be identified with certainty without a close examination of the male and female genital structures. It appears that any nicodamid specimen collected in South-east Queensland is most likely to be one of the following species: Oncodamus decipiens, Ambicodamus audax, Nicodamus perigrinus or Dimidamus dimidiatus.

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: None.