Wandella australiensis

Fact Box Species: Wandella australiensis (or a closely related species: see references by M. Gray and I. Magalhaus shown below) Family: Filistatidae Body length: female: 7 mm male: 5 mm Habitat: Wandella species are said to prefer dry eucalypt forests and semi-arid environments and while some may make small webs they mostly hide under logs and loose rocks Toxicity: Unknown but probably harmless

Front view Male from above Male underside

The genus Wandella is found widely across Australia and at least 14 species are recognized. The first Wandella species to be named (in 1873 by L Koch, who called it Filistata australiensis) was Wandella australiensis, which is a species found across most of North Queensland. However, the other named Wandella species were first described in the following research papers:

Gray M>R. (1994) Records of the Australian Museum 46 pages 39-61, and

Megalhaus I.L.F (2016) Journal of Natural History 50 pages 1815-1858.

The maps and images included in these papers show that the species in the the photos shwon above is most likely to be Wandella orana, although it must be noted that most of the other Australian Wandella species look very similar to W. orana. The most obvious characteristic of Wandella species is the presence on the abdomen of a pattern of shallow depressions and small patches of pale hairs. On a specimen that can be seen clearly this makes the identification of Wandella easy.

Known Range: Wandella australiensis is apparently restricted to north-eastern parts of Queensland.

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Other Wandella species.
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