''Hadronyche cerberea'', the southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider, is an extremely venomous

mygalomorph The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3,000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to t ...

spider found in central

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia.

Taxonomy and naming

German naturalist Ludwig Koch described the southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider from a female spider collected in Sydney, and erected the genus ''

Hadronyche ''Hadronyche'' is a genus of venomous Australian funnel-web spiders that was first described by L. Koch in 1873. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980, then to the Atracidae in 2018. Descrip ...

'' in 1873. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

specimen was housed at the

State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart The State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (), abbreviated SMNS, is one of the two state of Baden-Württemberg's natural history museums. Together with the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karls ...

and destroyed during bombing in World War II. A

neotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

was subsequently selected in 2010 and is housed at the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...

in Sydney.

Description

The southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider has a glossy black carapace, matte black or dark brown

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...

and legs, and a light maroon-brown to dark brown abdomen.

Distribution and habitat

The southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider is found in eastern Australia from the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

in central New South Wales to southern New South Wales. This and the northern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider (''

Hadronyche formidabilis ''Hadronyche formidabilis'', the northern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider, is a medically significant mygalomorph spider found in Queensland and New South Wales. It is also known as the Northern Rivers funnel-web spider or northern funnel-web sp ...

'') are the only two species of Australian funnel-web spiders that live predominantly in trees. It inhabits dry

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

forest. In

Tallaganda National Park Tallaganda is a national park in New South Wales, Australia. The national park gives its name to ''Phallocephale, Phallocephale tallagandensis'', a species of Onychophora, velvet worm that is known to occur there. Tallaganda offers many oppo ...

and its surrounds in southeastern New South Wales, the southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider co-occurs with the funnel-web species '' Atrax sutherlandi'', which burrows exclusively in the soil, in contrast with the former species' preference for logs. Genetic analysis shows that the southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider has recently rapidly spread through the area.

Toxicity

A high proportion of bites from the southern tree-dwelling funnel-web spider—three out of four recorded cases—result in severe symptoms of envenomation, a higher proportion of bites than even the Sydney funnel-web spider. The venom can be successfully treated with the antivenom for the related

Sydney funnel-web spider The Sydney funnel-web spider (''Atrax robustus'') is a species of venomous Mygalomorphae, mygalomorph spider native to eastern Australia, usually found within a radius of Sydney. It is a member of a group of spiders known as Australian funnel- ...

(''Atrax robustus''). The venom of ''Hadronyche cerberea'' contains the peptide Hc3a. Symptoms of

envenomation Envenomation is the process by which venom is injected by the bite or sting of a venomous animal. Many kinds of animals, including mammals (e.g., the northern short-tailed shrew, ''Blarina brevicauda''), reptiles (e.g., many snakes), spiders, i ...

can occur within 15–20 minutes. Applying pressure and a tourniquet can significantly delay the onset of symptoms and remains a critical part of the management of an Australian funnel-web spider bite. Despite the venom lacking the atraxotoxin or atraxin of ''A. robustus'', the symptoms are very similar to those from a Sydney funnel-web spider bite. Common symptoms include

diaphoresis Perspiration, also known as sweat, is the fluid secreted by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distributed over much of the ...

(profuse sweating),

hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...

(elevated blood pressure),

sinus tachycardia Sinus tachycardia is a sinus rhythm of the heart, with an increased rate of electrical discharge from the sinoatrial node, resulting in a tachycardia, a heart rate that is higher than the upper limit of normal (90–100 beats per minute for adu ...

(elevated heart rate), nausea, vomiting and local pain at the bite site.

Pulmonary oedema Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...

(fluid build-up in the lungs) often comes on early.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2547419 cerberea Spiders of Australia Spiders described in 1873 Taxa named by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch Arthropods of New South Wales