While the land is known for having different species of arachnids, there have also been instances of spider rain in Australia. This sounds straight out of a nightmare, but it is very common in other parts of the world like Brazil and Texas.
Flooding can trigger thousands of sheet-web weaver or money spiders to balloon from the ground to the sky often resembling snow to locals. The spiders balloon silk from their spinneret glands on their abdomen, which allows these arachnids to flee an area where they would die from the flooding rain.
“Spider rain” is a rare occurrence in which thousands of spiders miraculously float through the air with their tiny strands of webbing floating just above them. The spiders can reach a height of up to 3 miles and can travel several hundred miles using this method.
In Australia they are only found in the southeastern part of the country, from South Australia to Queensland via Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. You won't find them in the dry and arid zones. On the other hand, huntsman and wolf-spiders are found all over the country.
An estimated 5 per cent of Australians have arachnophobia, but there are plenty of others happy to get close to the creepy crawlies.
You can be prepared without making it scary. There are all kinds of dangerous things in Australia. Spiders are only part of it: we have stingers, blue-ringed octopus, stonefish, sharks, snakes…but fear of wildlife isn't a reason not to move here. Just remember, your home country likely has dangerous creatures too.
Rain spiders
Their bites cause a mild pain similar to a bee sting and may be itchy for a while. It's not needed to visit a doctor.
One species of peacock spider – the rainbow peacock spider (Maratus robinsoni) – is particularly impressive, because it showcases an intense rainbow iridescent signal in males' courtship displays to females. This is the first known instance in nature of males using an entire rainbow of colors to entice females to mate.
What is the biggest spider in Australia? Australia's biggest spiders belong to the same family as the Goliath Spider. They are the whistling spiders. The northern species Selenocosmia crassipes can grow to 6 cm in body length with a leg span of 16 cm.
Like all animal species, spiders need water to survive. That's why they're drawn to your bathroom, especially during more arid times of the year, such as fall and winter. In an otherwise dry house, sometimes bathrooms are the only place to find moisture.
BOB SUTER: The features of spiders that let them walk on water are primarily that they can't get wet, and secondarily that they have hairs on them that also can't get wet. That is, the surface of both at the molecular level are hydrophobic, and that means that water is repelled by them.
Residents across NSW have been warned of a potential funnel-web spider plague due to warm weather following five days of torrential rain and floods around the state. The Australian Reptile Park has issued a warning urging people to watch out for the emerging threat, particularly as temperatures rise over coming days.
When those spiders that successfully complete the journey land, their webs drape over the landscape giving a 'snow' like effect. Millions of these spiders rain down in Australia after heavy rains, blanketing the countryside with their webs.
The Top End burrowing arachnid, known as the Maningrida diving tarantula , lives in huge numbers on a floodplain near the community, and was revealed to Western science 10 years ago by students from the college.
The Dolloff Cave Spider is endemic to California and is considered one of the rarest spiders in North America.
This Sylvana jumping spider may look curious and intrigued, but it's probably not feeling fear. No, spiders cannot feel emotions analogous to those felt by humans. At last, science hasn't confirmed that spiders feel what humans would recognize as emotions.
The Horrid ground-weaver (Nothophantes horridus) may be the rarest spider in the world. It has only ever been found in two limestone quarries near Plymouth, one of which has now been developed.
It has a body length of 15–36 mm and a leg span of up to 110mm. The species was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1875. Its preferred habitat is scrubland and savannah woodland. Spiders in the genus Palystes are commonly called rain spiders, or lizard-eating spiders.
Despite looking so scary, like most spiders they are more afraid of humans and these ones, if touched, roll themselves into a little ball.
These egg sacs are commonly seen from about November to April. The female constructs the sac over 3–5 hours, then aggressively guards it until the spiderlings, who hatch inside the protective sac, chew their way out about three weeks later. Females will construct about three of these egg sacs over their two-year lives.
Spiders don't like the smells of strong odours such as cinnamon, eucalyptus oil and citrus. Use cinnamon candles and spray eucalyptus and lemon/orange oil in areas where you often see webs.
Because spiders smell and taste with their legs, spritzing natural oil (in particular, peppermint oil) on surfaces around your home can help deter spiders from sticking around. To do this, add about 20 drops of peppermint oil to a spray bottle filled with water and spray it around your home's spider-affected areas.