Lampona gosford?

Fact Box Species: Lampona gosford? (Platnick) Family: Lamponidae Body length: female: 11.5 mm male: 8 mm Habitat: Found under loose bark or wandering on open surfaces in forest locations Toxicity: Unknown; probably harmless

The correct species name for this spider is somewhat uncertain because of the unavailability of any photos or drawings of Lampona gosford. However, in his January 2000 lamponid paper Norman Platnick has stated that on an adult Lampona gosford specimen the abdomen is quite dark but the median pair of white stripes are fused at the midline into a W-shaped figure and this can be seen on the spider in the above photo, although this may not perfectly match the adult because it is clearly immature and for this reason has a greater amount of pale surface on its abdomen than is present on the adult. Photos of other similar unnamed but clearly adult Lampona specimens can be found on the internet and these match Platnick's description of L gosford very well. The only other Lampona species that has a similar W-shaped abdominal mark is Lampona superbus but this is recorded only from the South-east corner of Queensland whereas Platnick has noted that L. gosford has a range from the mid-north region of NSW down to Victoria. Because it is believed that the spider on this page was actually photographed near Melbourne it is assumed to be L. gosford.

Known Range: Known to be present in the Greater Sydney area.

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Some other Australian lamponids.