Northern Tree-Dwelling Funnel-web Spider

[Deleted]

Who knows about the Northern Tree-Dwelling Funnel-web spider (Hadronyche formidabilis)?



People always use the Sydney Funnel-web as the example of the most baddass funnel web and use it to rate against the Brazilian Wandering spider for worst envenomation. However the Northern TD FW appears to be categorically worse than the Sydney.

Because its bigger than the Sydney it very likely has a higher venom yield, while still retaining drop-for-drop venom potency equal to the Sydney. So overall an envenomation from the Northern should be worse than the Sydney.

Because of its habitat it doesn't come into contact with near as many humans as the Sydney, thus why not nearly as well-known. But when strictly talking about what's the baddest funnel-web to be envenomated by, the Northern DW FW appears to be in a class above the Sydney.

[Hardcastle]

I wasn't aware of it specifically, I was aware there were other species of funnel web though. I grew up with the darling downs funnel web, or Hadronyche Infensa. I just think of it when I'm talking about the Sydney Funnel Web. I'd always heard of the Sydney and then personally knew the darling downs (actually encountered them regularly as a kid, house backed onto a park on the range which seemed to be a hotspot for them), then I just knew there were more but didn't look into it.

The venom being so lethal to humans is only part of what made them scary. Now when talking about them fighting other things I'm not even thinking of the venom (which as far as I understand isn't even especially lethal to other things, just humans, does nothing to dogs for example), its the other stuff. The fact they could run and jump and if you hit them with a shoe they might be fine (just angry) and they could puncture straight through the shoe you are wearing with their bite, and you could hold them under water with the pool net for hour and then they're just angry again etc etc etc.
They're just beasts and I think they will outmaneuver and out-think and outlast and over power and physically destroy any other spider.

This goes for all of them, I don't know which funnel web is the best, that one seems like a good contender. The Darling downs funnel web was bad enough for me.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2023 21:49:22 GMT Hardcastle said:

I wasn't aware of it specifically, I was aware there were other species of funnel web though. I grew up with the darling downs funnel web, or Hadronyche Infensa. I just think of it when I'm talking about the Sydney Funnel Web. I'd always heard of the Sydney and then personally knew the darling downs (actually encountered them regularly as a kid, house backed onto a park on the range which seemed to be a hotspot for them), then I just knew there were more but didn't look into it.

The venom being so lethal to humans is only part of what made them scary. Now when talking about them fighting other things I'm not even thinking of the venom (which as far as I understand isn't even especially lethal to other things, just humans, does nothing to dogs for example), its the other stuff. The fact they could run and jump and if you hit them with a shoe they might be fine (just angry) and they could puncture straight through the shoe you are wearing with their bite, and you could hold them under water with the pool net for hour and then they're just angry again etc etc etc.
They're just beasts and I think they will outmaneuver and out-think and outlast and over power and physically destroy any other spider.

This goes for all of them, I don't know which funnel web is the best, that one seems like a good contender. The Darling downs funnel web was bad enough for me.

That's right funnel web venom affects humans but not a magpie. Don't think funnel webs can jump, but they're robust and would take a really heavy shoe to outright take one out.

To actually puncture things like shoes or toenails they need to be able to back into something to get the downward force with the fangs. I think they say they can puncture this or that due to their fang size more than it being a regular ability. At times they even struggle to puncture tough skin good if they aren't backed up into something. Which is why putting a shoe on with the spider in there is a bad deal.

Spider vs spider yeah forget it, funnel webs are just beasts, the bulldogs of the spider world. Although there are tricks more gracile spiders often use against more robust spider, like a daddy long leg can beat like a red back or something by running around and spinning it up with web.

[Hardcastle]

No I have actually seen them jump and seen them puncture incredible things. I mentioned a man I know being bitten through the toe nail, that was real, it was hanging from his toe by its fang. He was rushed to the hospital but somehow wasn't envenomated. The spider had bitten his dog just before and the doctors said that may be why it had no venom left, or else just didn't inject. My dad used to tease them with objects that they would bite through. Ice cream container lids and etc.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2023 22:21:43 GMT Hardcastle said:

No I have actually seen them jump and seen them puncture incredible things. I mentioned a man I know being bitten through the toe nail, that was real, it was hanging from his toe by its fang. He was rushed to the hospital but somehow wasn't envenomated. The spider had bitten his dog just before and the doctors said that may be why it had no venom left, or else just didn't inject. My dad used to tease them with objects that they would bite through. Ice cream container lids and etc.

Holy shit. Yeah I watched a vid once by a Sydney funnel web owner and he was saying they need to back into things to puncture thick hard stuff.

Funny thing with spiders and snakes is they don't generally have the conversion rate on making us sick with bites and envenomations we think they do. Most bites by the Sydney aren't even medically signficant, although one should always treat it such just in case.

Same with snakes, for example most of the time an eastern brown bite is dry, and when wet usually too small a yield to be dangerous. Eastern browns tend to start out with dry bites but if they keep tagging like 3 or 4 times then it's getting wet. And the higher on the leg the more likely they're wet bites. But 15% untreated mortality rate for the eastern brown.

On the other hand you get a rare few like black mamba and coastal taipan that have 100% wet bites, every bite is wet. And every bite/envenomation will 100% kill you without medical attention. Only two snakes in the world like that. There are rare examples of survival untreated, but it's virtually 100% untreated mortality rate with those two, as well as 100% wet bites.

That's why when people say the eastern brown is number two most dangerous I'm like nah that's just drop-for-drop venom potency, not actually how dangerous their bites/envenomations are to humans.