A female redback can live for 2-3 years and produce up to 10 egg sacs during her lifetime, each holding around 250 eggs – so they can quickly get out of control! Redback spiders prefer to live around people, because the insects they feed on are drawn to lights and waste.
Since the female redback spider rarely leaves her web, it’s unlikely she will bite unless we put a body part (such as our hand) directly into the web.
To avoid this scenario – look out for the web which is different to the classic spiderweb. The redback’s home consists of a tangled, funnel-like upper and vertical, sticky threads attached to the ground. It’s all a bit messy and often has leaves and debris attached (look upon it as the redback version of a teenager’s bedroom!).
Sometimes an egg sac can be spotted in the web; this looks a bit like a small cotton wool ball.
Locations
Redback spiders have preferred locations – they don’t weave their webs in any old place!
They generally go for dark, dry sheltered spots to build their webs, such as:
- In sheds & around patios
- Inside your mailbox
- In outside toilets
- Outside near window frames
- Underneath outdoor furniture
- Around piles or branches, wood, or leaves
- Around your BBQ if it hasn’t been used all winter
- Underneath fence capping
- Inside tubular fencing
- Around junk piles
- In the roof void, especially near down lights
If you suspect you have redback spiders on your property, leave them alone and call your local pest control expert to deal with them.
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