HOME       Family Pages     Computer Help     Story List     Making Pictures     All Pages

Where redbacks are found—albeit accidentally!

Previous | Next | Thumbnails

Redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti

Redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti

Webs are built in dry shaded places and usually fairly close to the ground. It's when tidying—restacking timber or flower pots, shifting bark or other debris—that one needs to keep the redback in mind. Kids' toys—bicycles and skateboards stored in sheds, for instance, sometimes make a handy refuge for a redback.

Redbacks are not aggressive—they don't rush out to bite you. Bites occur when they are accidentally touched, perhaps when trapped between a bundle of wood and the arm that is carrying it. A quick look at things before grabbing could cut down on the six hundered or so bites reported each year—two hundred and fifty of which need to be treated with antivenom. No doubt their are lots of unreported cases as well.