The Arachnid Academy

Happy New Year from The Arachnid Academy 🕷️✨

Wishing you a safe, calm, and adventure-filled start to 2026! I’m back to posting again, and I’m genuinely excited to share more spider learning, field finds, and little moments of wonder with you all.

As we roll into a fresh year, here’s a gentle reminder: please don’t kill spiders. Most spiders aren’t interested in people, and they’re out there doing important work, helping keep insect numbers in check and playing a vital role in our ecosystems. If a spider turns up somewhere you don’t want it, the kind option is simple: cup, card, and relocate (or just give it space).

Here’s to a year of curiosity over fear, and respect over reflex. Thanks for being here, let’s make 2026 a big one. 🕸️💛

Photo: Venator species of wolf spider taken by .wildlife

Hi all!

I’ve stepped back from posting for a short break to think about how to make Arachnid Academy even better. I want to create content that’s more useful, accurate, and genuinely interesting for you.
What would you like to see more of? Drop suggestions in the comments: quick IDs, myth-busting, behaviour clips, morphology explainers, night-walk highlights, gear/BTS, species spotlights, or Q&A?
Thanks for sticking around, your ideas will shape what comes next. 🕷️

Nope, spiders don’t want anything to do with a snoring, moving, warm-air volcano. They avoid us and hunt prey more in similar to size to them, not human mouths. Accidents are extremely rare.
Share this to debunk the myth and give spiders a break. 🕷️💚

Ever wondered if that black spider in a funnel shaped web outside your window is a funnel web spider or something else?

Here’s a quick, friendly guide to distinguish the two culprits which are actually very different spiders:

🕸️ Badumna species (Black House Spider) Part of the family Desidae which are modern spiders (Araneomorphae)

• Web/retreat: messy, lace-like sheet with one or more funnel-shaped entrances tucked into crevices (window frames, brickwork, rough bark). It’s a tangled corner web, not a burrow.

• Look: dark, velvety/hairy rather than shiny. Bites are uncommon and usually mild.

🕳️ Funnel-webs (Atracidae) which are primitive spiders (Mygalomorphae)

• Web/retreat: Most characteristic sign is a silk-lined burrow with distinct radiating trip lines from the entrance; found in moist ground, rockeries, logs, or tree holes. Not the messy house-corner webs.

• Look: robust spider with a glossy front body (carapace) and strong, downward-pointing fangs which distinguishes araneomorphs from mygalomorphs.

✅ If unsure: snap a clear photo and ask for an ID.
🚑 Suspected funnel-web bite: apply pressure-immobilisation and call 000 immediately.

Photos taken by Ramon Mascord, .wildlife and Reiner Ritcher

What are Australia’s biggest spiders?

“20 cm huntsman?! This adult male golden huntsman (Beregama aurea) is a whopper.
Biggest in Australia? It depends: huntsmen can have the widest legspan, but the heaviest are our Aussie tarantulas (aka whistling/barking spiders).
Seen a giant? Share a photo with a ruler in the same plane, plus date and general location. Quick pic, gentle release.

Photos taken by Matthew Connors

Hey! My apologies for not posting for a couple of days, I’ve been sidetracked with my heavy metal band (yes I’m the guitarist of a metal band haha) as we’ve been recording our first ever song! Anyways, back to posting!

Wolf spider or huntsman? Here’s the fast way to tell.
• Legs: Huntsmen’s legs angle sideways (laterigrade). Wolves’ legs point forward.
• Eyes: Wolves have two big, forward-facing eyes (“headlights”). Huntsmen have eight similar-sized eyes in two rows.
• Posture & movement: Huntsmen look flat/crab-like and often scuttle sideways on walls. Wolves sit taller in front and sprint on the ground.
• Egg sac: Wolves carry a round sac on their spinnerets. Huntsmen carry/guard a flat sac under the body.
• Habitat tip: Check walls/under bark for huntsmen; scan leaf litter for wolves.

Save for your next backyard ID.

Event heads up! Two Parks, Two Nights

🕷️ TBC (to be confirmed): 24 Oct — Currawong Bush, Doncaster (VIC 3108) (City of Manningham)
🕷️ Confirmed: 25 Oct — Nettleton Park, Glen Iris | 7–9pm (City of Boroondara)

Bring your curiosity and a torch, and meet some gentle giants under the stars as I will be giving spider wild walk and talks there for and potentially

📩 DM to get involved:
Send “DONCASTER” to join the waitlist
Send “GLEN IRIS” to RSVP now