I was talking to a friend down in Sydney Aus yesterday and I mentioned to him we were talking about their lovely collection of spiders and mentioned one I never heard of before, but its called something along the lines of the Funnel web spider or something like that. It is thought to be the deadliest spider in all of Aus.
Here is what I found out about it.
much more dangerous black funeral spider - AOL Video
Funnel web spider in man&squo;s pants | The Daily Telegraph
From Wiki....
These spiders are medium-to-large in size, with body lengths ranging from 1 cm to 5 cm (0.4" to 2"). They are darkly coloured, ranging from black to brown, with a glossy carapace covering the front part of the body. Some of these spiders greatly resemble
tarantulas. Like the related
diplurid spiders, the hexathelids generally have long
spinnerets; this is especially true of
A. robustus.
Like other
Mygalomorphae, (also called the
Orthognatha an
infraorder of
spiders that includes the so-called
tarantulas- (Mygalomorph tarantulas are more correctly termed "bird-eating spiders"- the true 'tarantula' is an araneomorph Lycosid from Europe
[1])) , these spiders have
fangs which point straight down and do not cross each other (cf
Araneomorphae). They have ample
venom glands that lie entirely within their
chelicerae. Their fangs are large and powerful. Although they are fairly small compared to the Mygalomorph
tarantulas, they should not be handled without taking substantial precautions, because their fangs have been known to penetrate fingernails and soft shoes, resulting in a dangerous bite.
[edit] Habitat

funnel-web spider burrow -
Mount Glorious, Queensland
The primary range of the Australasian funnel-web spiders is the eastern coast of
Australia, with specimens found in
New South Wales,
South Australia,
Victoria, and
Queensland. In addition, some specimens have been found in other islands in the south Pacific. The only Australian state that lacks a funnel-web population is Western Australia.
[2]
[edit] Medical significance
Funnel-webs are probably one of the three most dangerous spiders in the world and are regarded by some to be the most dangerous.
[3]
Examination of
bite records seems to indicate that wandering
males have caused a large majority of fatal bites to humans, however this has not been proven. Males, recognised by the modified terminal segment of the
palp, are aggressive and tend to wander during the warmer months of the year looking for receptive females of their kind for
mating.
[4] They are attracted to water and hence are often found in swimming pools where they have fallen while wandering. The spiders can survive such immersion for several hours and can deliver a bite when removed from the water, so this should not be done by hand.
[5]. They also show up in garages and yards in suburban
Sydney. Contrary to the commonly held belief, no funnel-web spider is able to jump, although they can run swiftly.
[6]
While some very venomous spiders may give dry bites, these spiders do so much less frequently. It appears that approximately 10% to 25% of bites will produce toxicity
[3] but the likelihood cannot be predicted and all should be treated as potentially life-threatening.
There have been 26 recorded deaths in Australia in the last 100 years from spider bites. Bites from funnel web spiders have caused 13 deaths (seven in children)
[3]. In all cases where the sex of the biting spider could be determined, it was found to be the male of the species.
[7] Most victims were young, ill or infirm. Members of the genus
Hadronyche may also cause fatal envenomations although none has been recorded. Assays of venom from several
Hadronyche species have shown it to be similar to
Atrax venom.
[edit] Toxins
There are a large number of different
toxins in the venom of
Atrax and
Hadronyche spiders. Collectively, the toxins are given the name
atracotoxins (ACTX), as all these spiders belong to the subfamily Atracinae. The first toxins isolated were the δ-ACTX toxins present in the venom of both
A. robustus (
δ-ACTX-Ar1, formerly known as
robustoxin) and
H. versuta (
δ-ACTX-Hv1a, formerly known as
versutoxin). Both these toxins produce the same funnel-web envenoming syndrome in monkeys as that seen in humans, suggesting that they are responsible for the physiological effects seen with crude venom.
[7]

Female Sydney funnel-web spider in warning posture
These toxins are thought to operate by opening
sodium channels. They are
presynaptic neurotoxins that (via sodium channels) induce spontaneous, repetitive firing of
action potentials in autonomic and motor neurons and inhibit neurally mediated transmitted release resulting in a surge of endogenous
acetylcholine,
noradrenaline and
adrenaline.
[8]
Although extremely toxic to primates, the venom appears to be fairly harmless to many other animals, including
dogs,
cats,
horses,
rabbits,
guinea-pigs,
chickens and even
cane toads. It has been suggested that these animals may be resistant to the venom's effects due to the presence of
IgG, and possibly cross-linked IgG and
IgM inactivating factors in their
blood plasma that bind to the toxins responsible and neutralise them, or it may involve a non-specific reaction due to the highly basic nature of the toxins.
[9]
The
female venom was thought to be only about a sixth as potent to humans as that of the male
[10] but recent research has proven that false. The bite of a female or juvenile may be serious; however, considerable variability occurs in venom toxicity between species.
[edit] Symptoms
The envenoming syndromes observed following bites by all these spiders are identical. The bite is initially very painful due to the
acidity of the venom and the size of the fangs penetrating the skin. Systemic envenoming may follow the local effects. Early symptoms of systemic envenoming include tingling around the mouth and tongue, facial muscle twitching, nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating, salivation, and
shortness of breath. Patients may rapidly develop
agitation,
confusion and
coma associated with
hypertension,
metabolic acidosis,
dilation of the pupils, generalised muscle twitching and
pulmonary oedema.
[3] Death results from progressive
hypotension or possibly raised
intracranial pressure resulting from
cerebral oedema.
[11]
The onset of severe envenoming is rapid; in one prospective study, the median time to onset of envenoming was 28 minutes, with only two cases having onset after 2 hours (both had pressure immobilization bandages applied).
[3] Deaths may occur within a period ranging from 15 minutes
[7] (this occurred when a small child was bitten) to three days.
[edit] Treatment
First aid for funnel-web bites consists of applying a pressure immobilization bandage. Pressure immobilization is the wrapping of the bitten limb with a crepe bandage and splint. It was originally developed for
snakebites but has been shown to be effective at slowing venom movement in funnel web bites and may also slowly inactivate the venom.
[12]
A. robustus
Further supportive care may be necessary, but the mainstay of treatment is
antivenom. Antivenom is raised against male
Atrax robustus venom but appears to be effective for all species of funnel web spiders.
[13] Funnel-web antivenom has also been shown to reverse the in vitro effects of Eastern
Mouse spider (
Missulena bradleyi) venom.
[14]
Prior to the introduction of
antivenom, envenoming resulted in significant morbidity and mortality.
[15] The purified rabbit
IgG antivenom was developed in 1981 through a team effort led by Dr
Struan Sutherland, head of immunology at the
Australian Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in
Melbourne.
[16] Fortunately, the antivenom is fast-acting and highly and globally effective.
[17] Antivenom therapy has shortened the course of envenoming: prior to antivenom availability, the average length of hospital treatment for severe bites was about 14 days. Today, antivenom-treated patients are commonly discharged from hospital within 1 to 3 days.
[7] There have been no deaths since it became available.
[3]