What spider is this?

Niki Comparti's blog | Created 1 decade ago

In late January 2013, a member of public photographed a spider near Mandurah and enquiried what type of spider it might be.

Postdoctorate fellow and Western Australian Museum research associate Dr Mike Rix identified the spider and gave the following advice:

This is a mygalomorph trapdoor spider in the family Nemesiidae, commonly known as a ‘Black Wishbone Spider’, genus Aname. It a wandering male (which you can tell from this image by the spur on the first leg), and they are particularly active at the moment throughout the south-west. Many folks mistake them for dangerous eastern Australian funnelwebs, as they look superficially similar, but there are no true funnelwebs in Western Australia, and these spiders are not dangerous (although due caution should always be maintained around any large spider). They will happily go about their business if placed outside or in a nearby bushland, and they only wander inside mistakenly or as a means of shelter.

Identification to species is not possible without seeing the specimen, but hopefully this information is helpful.