If someone is bitten
Any big black spider bite counts as a medical emergency: ring 000 straight away. For other bites, the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 gives first aid advice at any hour. Redback and funnel-web first aid differ, so follow what you're told rather than guessing.
Spiders around Adelaide
Redbacks around the shed
Redbacks live right across Australia and do especially well around houses in built-up areas: sheds, the underside of steps, pool surrounds and junk piles. The Australian Museum says bites peak over summer, when people are out gardening and shifting things.
White-tails in summer and autumn
One white-tailed spider, Lampona cylindrata, is found across southern Australia including South Australia, and turns up indoors over summer and autumn. healthdirect says its bites aren't considered dangerous and current evidence suggests they don't cause skin ulcers.
House spiders on the windows
Black house spiders, widely spread through southern and eastern Australia, spin lacy webs with a funnel-shaped retreat around window frames and cracks in walls. They're shy, so bites are uncommon.
Funnel-webs in the Gulf region
The Australian Museum lists funnel-webs in the drier forests of South Australia's Gulf region. That's the reason for the big black spider rule above: don't try to identify it first.
How much a spider treatment achieves
The technician treats the spots spiders use for cover, like eaves, window frames, fences, sheds and the underside of decks, and that lowers numbers for a while. The Australian Museum is frank that long-term spider control is almost impossible, because spiderlings keep drifting in on silk threads carried by the wind.
Better Health Channel also warns that spraying insecticide outdoors can push spiders inside, so ask where the product will go, and why there.
Around the house
You can
- Draught strips on doors, and screens on windows and vents.
- Shrubs and branches trimmed back from doors and windows.
- Gloves on before shifting pots, timber or anything stacked outside.
- Shoes and clothes left outdoors shaken out before wearing.
Leave to a pest business
- Treating eaves, fences and sheds when redbacks keep returning.
- Spiders under decks or in roof spaces you can't safely reach.
- Advice if you're finding big black spiders around the house.
Before you book a spider treatment
- Which spiders are you treating for, and where?
- Which product will you use, and what's its full name?
- What should we expect to see in the weeks after?
- How long before kids and pets can use the outdoor area again?
Our take on spider control in Adelaide
We wouldn't pay to treat one huntsman indoors or a lone redback under the outdoor chairs. Redbacks near where children play, or spiders you keep finding inside after a tidy-up, are a different matter. That's when we'd tap Spiders or ants.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
