Hadronyche formidabilis
Northern Tree Funnel-Web Identification: H. formidabilis
Australia’s largest known funnel-web: a medically important wet-forest tree specialist from the Hunter region north into south-eastern Queensland.
Medical emergency — call 000 for suspected biteThe northern tree funnel-web, Hadronyche formidabilis, is Australia’s largest known funnel-web spider, with adults reaching about 4–5 cm in body length. It is a wet-forest tree specialist rather than a spider found across all of eastern Australia: confirmed records extend from the Hunter and Watagans of New South Wales through the north-east of the state into south-eastern Queensland. Look for a large, robust dark funnel-web with a hard glossy carapace, tightly grouped eyes, powerful parallel-moving jaws and conspicuous rear spinnerets, together with a silk retreat inside a tree rot hole, trunk fracture or hollow deadwood pipe. Exact identification from a photograph is rarely possible because the decisive characters require expert examination. A suspected bite from this or any large black spider is a medical emergency; do not wait for species confirmation.
Quick identification
- Very large, robust dark mygalomorph with a glossy, mostly unpatterned carapace
- Small eyes grouped closely above powerful jaws and long, visible rear spinnerets
- Silk-lined retreat in a trunk fracture, branch rot hole, epiphyte or decayed heartwood pipe
- Wet-forest locality from the Hunter–Watagans north through north-eastern NSW to south-eastern Queensland
- Male is leggier with enlarged palps; female is broader and may have a dark maroon-brown abdomen
What to check next
From a safe distance, photograph the whole upper surface and rear spinnerets, then record body length, locality, date, tree species if known and whether the silk entrance was in a trunk, branch, epiphyte or rotten heartwood. Never open or probe the retreat.
When to seek medical help
Treat a suspected bite as a medical emergency. Call Triple Zero (000) and ask for an ambulance, lie the person down and keep them completely still. Apply an elasticated pressure-immobilisation bandage over the bite and then over the entire bitten limb, and splint the limb, if you can do so safely; mark the bite site, note the time and wait for the ambulance. Do not wash the bite, use a tourniquet or delay first aid to catch, photograph or identify the spider. Healthdirect applies this response to a funnel-web bite or a bite from any big black spider. A systematic review recorded severe envenoming in 5 of 8 eligible confirmed H. formidabilis bites, but that small historical sample and its wide uncertainty cannot predict an individual bite. It does establish that every suspected bite needs urgent care.
Where it is usually seen
Tall open forest and rainforest from the Hunter–Watagans north through north-eastern New South Wales into south-eastern Queensland, especially mature trees with trunk or branch fractures, rot holes, epiphytic growth and decayed heartwood pipes. The species may occur high above ground as well as in fallen timber.