Australian Red-back Spider Latrodectus hasseltii Thorell, 1870
Fauna Portal species: 339
Latrodectus hasseltii female, dorsal (HBI N15803-1; Barrow Island, Western Australia)
Image: V.W. Framenau (2024)
Fauna Portal Image No. 9166Diagnosis
Latrodectus hasseltii is the only native Australian species of Latrodectus. It has been introduced to New Zealand and the following diagnosis can be used to distinguish it from L. katipo in that country (after Vink et al. 2008): Latrodectus katipo differs from its sister-species, L. hasseltii, by the following characters: the abdomen of the female is covered in short fine setae (L. hasseltii has both long fine setae and stouter short setae); the female patella–tibial index (the total length of the patella and tibia of leg I divided by the carapace length from the clypeal apex to the posterior notch) is 1.58 (it is 1.86 in L. hasseltii); in the male pedipalp, the edge of the theridioid tegular apophysis (TTA) is curled ventrally so that the knob-like projections on the dorsal surface of the TTA are visible at the anterior and ectal edges of the TTA when viewed ventrally (the knob-like projections are not visible in the ventral view of L. hasseltii); a triangular-shaped sclerotised area at the base of the embolus (can be present or absent in L. hasseltii); in the female genitalia, the rounded anterior end of the spermatheca is approximately one-third of the total length of the spermatheca (approximately one-half the total length of the spermatheca in L. hasseltii); there is a posteriorly directed hump at the centre of the anterior edge of the depression of the external genitalia (the posteriorly directed hump can be present, reduced or absent in L. hasseltii).
Males differ from those of the similar introduced L. geometricus by the abdomen colouration, which lacks the lateral row of black spots.
Status
- native
Linnean Type
Juvenile female and male syntypes, New Holland (= Australia), Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm (Levi 1959)
Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
- Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- New South Wales
- Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
Neighbouring Countries
- Indonesia
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
Fauna Portal Records
The map shows all records that have been verified as part of the Fauna Portal project and may not represent the true distribution of a species. Specifically, for described species, check the link to the Atlas of Living Australia on this page for potential wider distributions. Fauna Portal Reference specimens and Linnean types are shown in red. If you identified a specimen that exceeds the distribution of an undescribed species as illustrated here, please contact the Fauna Portal team who can assist with the lodgement of the specimen in a public institution and display on the map.
Publications
(1959): The spider genus Latrodectus (Araneae, Theridiidae). Transactions of the American Microscopical Society. 78: 7 - 43DOI
(2008): Species status and conservation issues of New Zealand's endemic Latrodectus spider species (Araneae: Theridiidae). Invertebrate Systematics. 22: 589 - 604DOI