The Tasmanian Funnelweb spider isn't all that prevalent except in the North East forests. I had the pleasure of turning over a log and disturbing one. It was quite a large spider and the venom was dripping from it's fangs. I took it to the local museum for ID, then preserved it in alcohol. I have some slides somewhere of it. My guess would be that the spider is a wolf spider as they're fairly common here.
NOw that you mention it Phil, I went over some different pictures of the Wolf species and you can see a definite resemblance to the Wolf Spider, the Fangs and Venom sacks look pretty close but the striking feature I think was the front legs. The funnel webs seemed segmented more than the one shown where as the the Wolf dont seem to have these segments.
With bated breath, quivering in anticipation, I peered into this post, with spider boldly embedded in the title, salivating at the prospect of being educated on the pros and cons of 3 vane versus 4 vane spiders, a mathematical treatise on diffraction patterns caused by curved spiders, oversize spiders, secondary mirror holders, etc.......
Hello Yes it is a pet, i keep her inside in a container that emulates her natural environment. She is a Bird Eating Spider and is only a youngster. She should grow a bit yet. Actually very docile (has pretty formidable fangs!)
Yes interesting topic to begin with on an Astronomy forum but from what i read on here it seems that you guys are helpful, friendly and very knowledgeable.
spudrick, nice photo to make an entrance!
