There are several genera of funnel web spiders, but the most common ones in Australia are Atrax, Hadronyche, and Illawarra. They vary in size and color, usually black or brown, with shiny carapaces. The males are generally smaller and less robust than the females.

An international team of scientists has revised the classification of Australia's most famous spider. With a bite more deadly to humans than that of any other spider, the iconic Sydney funnel-web has long been considered a single species,

Let's talk about the funnel web spider, one of the most notorious arachnids in the world. Known for their fast-acting venom, funnel web spiders are both fascinating and intimidating.

“The Newcastle funnel-web, Atrax christenseni – ‘Big Boy’ – is a totally new species. The ‘true’ Sydney funnel-web, Atrax robustus, centres on the North Shore of Sydney and the Central Coast while the Southern Sydney funnel-web is a resurrected species name from 1914,” Dr Loria said.

The new funnel-web species has earned the nickname "Big Boy" and was first discovered in the early 2000s near Newcastle, 105 miles north of Sydney, by Kane Christensen, a spider enthusiast and former head of spiders at the Australian Reptile Park.

"If you are bitten by a funnel-web spider, call an ambulance and go straight to hospital," researcher Geoff Isbister said.

Scientists in Australia have discovered a larger, more venomous species of one of the world's deadliest spiders, the Sydney funnel-web spider.

Australia's reputation for venomous spiders comes partly from the deadly Sydney funnel-web. It turns out there is not just one species, there are three.