How can you tell a male Redback Spider?

The mark is typically thick and shaped a bit like an arrow pointing towards the spider’s head. Female redbacks also have an hourglass-shaped orange- or red-colored marking on the underside of their abdomen. Males are light brown with white markings and a paler hourglass mark on their belly.

Do male and female redback spiders look the same?

Males often have white markings on the upper side of the abdomen. They further differ in appearance from females in size, measuring about 3 to 4 mm (0.12 to 0.16 inch) in body length, compared with 1 cm (0.4 inch) in females. Males also are shorter-lived, surviving several months to the females’ two or three years.

Are male redback spiders poisonous?

Redbacks are responsible for the vast majority of serious spider bites in Australia. However, they are not considered dangerous. Only the bite of a female Redback Spider is toxic (the males are too small to bite anyway).

Are there spiders that look like red backs?

The female Cupboard Spider could easily be mistaken for a Redback Spider, but lacks the distinctive red stripe on the back. Both spiders are from the same family, Theridiidae (also known as comb-footed spiders), so they are closely related.

How to tell if a redback spider is a male or female?

The male redback is many times smaller than the female. The body is a light brown colour with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen and a pale hour-glass marking on the underside. The red marking are often not as obvious as those on the female. Males do not build webs and will go searching for a female to mate.

What does a redback spider bite look like?

The mark is often a stripe, but may look more like a ‘splodge’. On some female redbacks, the marking can be quite low and not instantly obvious. There may also be a spot on the underbelly. A female redback can sometimes be all black. The distinctive shape of the female redback is the most reliable clue. She tends to be found in or near a web.

How is a redback spider different from a Black Widow Spider?

Males are light brown with white markings and a paler hourglass mark on their belly. The redback spider is related to the black widow and looks similar, but is set apart by the dorsal red stripe on its back. Differentiate between male and female to determine if the spider is dangerous.

What kind of spider has a red stripe on its back?

Males are light brown with white markings and a paler hourglass mark on their belly. The redback spider is related to the black widow and looks similar, but is set apart by the dorsal red stripe on its back.