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Redback Spider — printable fact sheet
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Redback Spider
Latrodectus hasselti
Latrodectus hasselti is Australia's black widow, and its males do something almost unique: during mating, the male somersaults his abdomen directly onto the female's fangs, presenting himself to be eaten while continuing to transfer sperm. This is not accident or predation on an…
Did you know?
- Female Redback Spiders sometimes practice sexual cannibalism, often consuming the male during or after mating.
- The redback's web is not a neat orb but a messy tangle with sticky gumfoot lines running down to the ground, which snag walking insects and haul them upward as the line snaps free — the spider is trapping crawling prey, not fliers. Redbacks have been recorded killing and eating small snakes and lizards caught in these ground lines. The species has been accidentally exported to New Zealand and Japan, where it is now established in Osaka and elsewhere.
What I learned
Draw the redback spider
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