Hadronyche macquariensis

Hadronyche macquariensis, the Port Macquarie funnel-web spider, is a venomous mygalomorph spider, one of a number of species of Australian funnel-web spiders] found in New South Wales.

Hadronyche macquariensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Mygalomorphae
Family: Atracidae
Genus: Hadronyche
Species:
H. macquariensis
Binomial name
Hadronyche macquariensis
Gray, 2010
Synonyms

Hadronyche sp. 14

Taxonomy

Commonly known as the Port Macquarie funnel-web spider,[1] Hadronyche macquariensis was described by Mike Gray in 2010, the holotype male having been collected from Taree, New South Wales in January 1978.[2] Within the genus, it is a member of the infensa group, which contains several described and undescribed species in central New South Wales and southern Queensland.[2] Before its description, it was known as Hadronyche sp. 14.[3]

Description

Like many Australian funnel-web spider species, both sexes of the Port Macquarie funnel-web spider have a shiny black carapace and dark brown to black legs, chelicerae and abdomen. The carapace is slightly longer than it is wide; in the male averages around 0.97 cm long and 0.91 cm wide, and around 1.1 cm long and 0.93 cm wide in the female. The legs of the male are around 3 cm (1.2 in) long each, and the female around 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long. The abdomen is around 1.1 cm long in the male and 1.4 cm long in the female.[2]

Distribution and habitat

The Port Macquarie funnel-web spider is found along the northern coast of New South Wales in eastern Australia, where specimens have been collected from the vicinity of Forster north through Taree, Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour and Bellingen.[2]

Toxicity

The Port Macquarie funnel-web spider has been responsible for at least one case of serious envenomation out of six bites that can be attributed to it.[3] A six-year-old boy was bitten on the foot in sand dunes near Forster and required hospitalisation and intubation.[1]

References
  1. Sutherland, Struan K.; Tibballs, James (2001) [1983]. Australian Animal Toxins (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. pp. 453–57. ISBN 0-19-550643-X.
  2. Gray, Michael R. (24 November 2010). "A revision of the Australian funnel-web spiders (Hexathelidae: Atracinae)" (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum. 62 (3): 285–392. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.62.2010.1556. ISSN 0067-1975.
  3. Isbister G, Gray M, Balit C, Raven R, Stokes B, Porges K, Tankel A, Turner E, White J, Fisher M (2005). "Funnel-web spider bite: a systematic review of recorded clinical cases". Medical Journal of Australia. 182 (#8): 407–11. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06760.x. hdl:2440/17349. PMID 15850438.
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