Black House Spider - Badumna insignis

Black House Spider

Badumna insignis

New NEW There's an alternative version of this page at the new website www.ark.au/black-house-spider.html

Other Names: Common black spider, Window Spider. Note that "Window" has an "n" in it; these are not the same as the Black Widow Spider from America, which is closely related to the Redback Spider. The Grey House Spider (Badumna longinquus) is similar but less black / more grey and a bit smaller.

Family: Desidae (Intertidal spiders, originally named after marine species which live between high and low tide, but also now includes land dwelling spiders such as Badumna species).

Size: Female body up to 18 mm with a 30 mm legspan

Distribution: Widely distributed throughout Australia (especially Southern and Eastern Australia) and New Zealand. They are very common in the Blue Mountains of NSW, and many other places.

Habitat: They live in rough barked trees, and around many buildings (like houses) where they make webs around the edges of windows, and other places. Their webs sometimes have a funnel shape in them, but the funnels are smaller than funnel web spiders, and they don't have obvious "trip wires", and their webs are usually high up rather than low down near or on the ground like those of funnel web spiders.

References: Wikipedia.

About the Black House Spider

They are much more black than the picture I took at the Australian Museum. Most of the dead spiders have faded in colour, but this one especially so.

Note that dead spiders usually fade in colour, so nearly all the spiders will look blacker or darker in colour in real life than they do in the photos of dead spiders from the museum.

Black House Spider - Badumna insignis
Photo taken at Australian Museum, Sydney. High Resolution 3516 x 2476.

Black House Spider - Badumna insignis
Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos. High Resolution 1574 x 1002.

Black House Spider - Badumna insignis
Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos. High Resolution 1600 x 1067.

Black House Spider - Badumna insignis
Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos.

Recommended Reading

Spiders: A Wild Australia Guide, by Patrick Honan - Black House Spider - Badumna insignis Spiders: A Wild Australia Guide, by Patrick Honan.

96 pages. This is a smaller spider guide showing the most well known spiders and then a few more.

From the publisher, "Australia is home to more than 2000 known species of spiders - and it is estimated that four times that number actually exist in this country waiting to be discovered! Within the ranks of Australian spiders we find some of the most uniquely interesting and skilled creatures of the animal world, along with a few potentially-deadly species and even more harmless individuals with fearsome reputations. Love them or loathe them, spiders are a part of everyday life, and this Steve Parish WILD AUSTRALIA GUIDE provides an insight into the lives of some of these often-reclusive visitors to our gardens, homes and wild places. From how to identify them and where they live, to their unique skills and behaviours, this guide lets you get up close to some of the most common Australian spiders. Who knows? You may even find some of these fascinating creatures living right under your nose."

See Also

Australian Mammals
Australian Birds
Australian Reptiles
Australian Frogs
Australian Fish
Australian Wild Plant Foods

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