Atrax
genus of mygalomorph spiders
Atrax is a genus of venomous Australian funnel web spiders that was first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1877 from the type species Atrax robustus. It contains five species. Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980, then to the Australian funnel-web spiders in 2018.
Description
They are medium to large spiders for their family, ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 cm. As most in the Mygalomorphae infraorder, they have robust bodies, with a glossy dark colouration in their carapace and legs, and a grey opisthosoma. They also have the same long life, ranging from 4 to 20 years. They are usually found in burrows with little silk lining, under rocks or logs, with their aptly named funnel-like webs. They are found in the coasts and highlands of southeastern Australia.Also, they often spend most of their time in their burrows.
Identification
They can be identified from others of the same family by the large coniform apophysis on the male tibia, and from the Hadronyche by the lower caput height, caput being the front part of the cephalothorax.
Species
As of January 2025, the World Spider Catalog accepted five species:
A. christenseni Dupérré & Smith, 2025 - Australia (Newcastle) - 'Newcastle funnel-web spider' or 'Newcastle big boy'
A. montanus Rainbow, 1914 - Australia (New South Wales) - 'Southern Sydney funnel-web spider'
A. robustus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 – Australia (New South Wales) - 'Sydney funnel-web spider'
A. sutherlandi Gray, 2010 – Australia (New South Wales, Victoria)
A. yorkmainorum Gray, 2010 – Australia (New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory)
Venom
This genus includes some of the most dangerous spiders, namely the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus).
The public source identifies “Atrax” as genus of mygalomorph spiders. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Atrax, genus and mygalomorph.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Atrax”, the useful work is to connect “genus of mygalomorph spiders” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15978607. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1877, 1980, 2018 and 2025.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atrax” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.