Find-a-spider: Frequently-Asked Questions

What is the real purpose of this website?
For many years the University of Southern Queensland has identified spiders brought in by the general public. This is a free service but is not always convenient for those wishing to use it. This website was developed to assist people in South-east Queensland to perform spider identifications themselves as far as possible.

Are all Australian spider species listed here?
The primary object of this website is to provide information on spiders found in South-east Queensland but not all of the species featured are unique to Southern Queensland. Many of them actually occur widely across Australia. It is also worth mentioning that spiders that are very similar to, but not exactly the same as, those featured in this guide probably will belong to the same spider family and have similar functional characteristics.

How do I go about identifying a spider?
Check out out the Spider Identification Guide for more information on how to use this guide, then click on the Find-a-spider tab and choose from the options offered. Please note that all spider identifications are based on the visible features of the spider, where it was found and the appearance of its web or egg sacs. For many species this is a very difficult process and an accurate identification can only be made by an expert taxonomist. In addition, a large number of Australian species have yet to be formally described and for them no complete scientific name is available at the present time.

How can I examine a spider without getting bitten?
It is usually possible to catch a spider that is resting on a wall by placing a clear glass jar with a wide rim over the spider and then sliding a piece of stiff paper under the rim. If the spider is in a suspended web you will often be able to position your container on one side of the web and bring in the lid from the other side. Once the spider is in the jar and the lid is secured, you can give it a close-up inspection with no risk to yourself. Most spiders are not naturally aggressive towards humans anyway and prefer to drop to the ground and hide or play dead whenever a potential predator gets too close. It is important for you to understand that there are no dangerous spiders in Australia that can actually jump, although some can spring sideways as they fall to the ground and many are able to climb smooth surfaces.

Why can't I find my spider anywhere on this website?
Because this guide was developed to identify spiders found in South-east Queensland, the focus of the guide is on local species only. Another reason why this site may lack pictures of your spider is that the author has not yet managed to obtain photographs of that species or the spider is a species that is yet to be assigned a scientific name.

Why is it that in a number of cases different species have been given the same common name?
This may be true when several species have very similar appearance and behavioural characteristics and the common name given to them is based on those characteristics. For example, all trapdoor spider species live in a burrow with a door at the entrance.

I think I have just found a new species. What should I do now?
The University of Southern Queensland would be pleased to look at it and add photographs of it to this website if it really is a new species. The arachnologists at Queensland Museum will probably also be interested in examining it.

Does the University want me to collect spiders for them?
No. The main purpose of this website is to help you identify spiders you have found in and around your home, especially since a few of them are dangerous to humans, and to provide some useful information about the habitats and behavioural patterns of common local spiders. On the other hand, we would like to receive images of local spiders that are not on the website, especially if the people sending in these images are willing to allow them to be displayed on the site. Whenever this happens the photographer's name is always shown on the photo and copyright remains this the person who actually took the photo.

Email Ron Atkinson for more information. Last updated 24 May 2007.