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This very old web has survived because it is at the back of my garage under the trees and people rarely go there. It is on a window ledge above the ground.

 

It is easy to see how the web is simply added to and rebuilt around any detritus that is blown into it.

 

The picture is also a good example of the tangled nature of the webs of this species and the funnel-like structure that often has them mistaken for funnel-web spider haunts.

For more information on this or any spider check the links on the Site Information page or use Google.

Also called the Window Spider, Black House Spiders spend much of tthe dark hours engaged in web maintainance. These webs are not sticky and rely upon being able to tangle the feet of their prey.

 

Webs can have a funnel like entrance and are often mistaken for those of Funnel Web Spiders. The spider to the right is a female and is busily repairing her web. A very common past-time during the night.

 

Females will not often leave their webs.

Black House Spider

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Badumna Insignis

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These spiders are very common and very timid. They are the most common spiders found around the eaves of houses and sheds.

 

 I have had had one of these spiders under the sleeve of a t-shirt I had just put on. It ran up and down my arm until I lifted the cloth to release it. Like most things these spiders would rather not bite you.

 

If they do bite they can cause a painful swelling. Nausea, giddiness, vomitting and sweating have been recorded.

 

We have come to recognize the importance of maintaining the natural order in our gardens and this spider is a particularly important part of that order. They are prey for hunting wasps, other spiders and many birds, frogs and lizards as well as keeping insect numbers down

Baby Black House Spiders issue forth from the power socket in an old exterior laundry. There is a tendency to get everything sprayed when you see this sort of thing but in an outside (roofed but open-air)facility it is not a problem. Most of these will be eaten and we noticed no over-all rise in spider populations after several such hatchings. Good gardens have life in them apart from flowers and birds after all!