Look what I found. It's a Redback,
Latrodectus hasselti, a spider which I'm seeing more and more since we've moved to the Zombie-Proof Compound.
Back in the day, I hardly ever saw them. I saw a couple when I lived in Woollahra, a juvenile of which I was able (maybe slightly recklessly) to carry out of the house bare-handed. I had one living next to my desk in St Peters (previously blogged
here). But here at Zombie-proof? Tons. I've got one Redback living in a waste paper bin just outside my back door (which Esther refers to as my " little pet"), a few out near the water tank and then there's this one. Of which more shortly. Then of course there are the trapdoors, the hundreds of aranaeomorph wheel-web makers in the yard, and the occasional white-tail. I've also spotted what may have been a bolas spider, though when I got back with a camera it'd buggered off. Oddly, I haven't seen any huntsmen yet.
Redbacks are moderately dangerous. Deaths have occurred, about 14 or so, depending on which source you consult, and none since development of an effective antivenom by the wonderful folks at Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. Bites are relatively common, since this species is now considered a species closely linked to human habitation.
Want to know where this one was?
Well, have a little look at another shot:
Those are my bike shoes on the left and top right. On the bottom right are my black "customer ready" black working shoes. They normally reside just outside my studio, about 5m
inside the house well away from the back door. Not great. Because having potentially dangerous spiders in the place is... well... not ideal.
So now I need to conduct a spider audit of the entire house, which I'm both looking forward to and dreading. Looking forward because I might find something interesting. Dreading because it will involve a lot of grovelling around under things getting covered in dust and spider silk and generally giving myself sore knees and a bad back. The prospect of being bitten does not worry me in the slightest. It's the grovelling I don't like. Luckily, I have beer.
So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get started.