Atrax montanus
Southern Sydney Funnel-Web Spider (Atrax montanus) Identification
A medically urgent New South Wales funnel-web, Atrax montanus: glossy, dark and ground-burrowing, but not safely separable from the Sydney funnel-web by an ordinary photo.
Medical emergency potentialThe Southern Sydney funnel-web spider, Atrax montanus, is a New South Wales species revalidated in 2025 from the former broad Sydney funnel-web concept. Its common name describes where it is mainly encountered, not a quick visual diagnosis. It overlaps with the Sydney funnel-web, Atrax robustus, and the research that separated them used adult morphology together with DNA. A shiny, heavy-bodied Atrax in a moist sheltered burrow may be a possible match, but colour, a suburb and a phone photograph do not establish the species. Treat any plausible funnel-web bite as a medical emergency, regardless of the name eventually applied.
Quick identification
- A large, heavy-bodied mygalomorph with a shiny dark brown to black carapace and abdomen, commonly about 20–40 mm in body length
- Finger-like rear spinnerets and a robust ground-burrowing funnel-web form; use a safe zoom image, never a close rear inspection
- A silk-lined retreat beneath a rock or log in cool, shaded, moist ground or a rainforest-gully setting
- New South Wales locality, especially south or west of Sydney, as supporting context only because Atrax montanus overlaps with A. robustus
- Adult internal genitalia, male palps and molecular evidence rather than colour, a burrow or a suburb are needed for a reliable species identification
What to check next
Stay well clear and keep children and pets away. Photograph only from a safe distance, with the whole spider, its untouched retreat and a broad locality context. Do not handle it, test the fangs or spinnerets, lift logs, poke a hole, flood a burrow or try to make it rear. A plausible Atrax result is enough to use the urgent safety route; an expert can later compare adult structures and locality.
When to seek medical help
Treat a suspected bite from this spider, any plausible funnel-web, or any big dark spider that could be a funnel-web as an emergency. Call 000 immediately. Keep the person still and lying down, apply a firm pressure-immobilisation bandage over the bite and the whole limb, splint the limb if practical, and follow ambulance instructions. Do not wait for symptoms, wash the bite, cut or suck it, use ice or a tourniquet, or delay first aid to catch the spider. Hospital clinicians decide whether antivenom is needed.
Where it is usually seen
Cool, humid, sheltered New South Wales ground habitat, especially closed forest, bushy suburban edges, moist gullies and areas beneath rocks or tree logs. Atrax montanus uses silk-lined burrows where shade and moisture can be maintained. The setting is a useful safety and ecological clue, not proof of the species or an invitation to inspect a retreat.