Although its venom is the deadliest in the world, no one in Australia has died of a funnel-web bite since the introduction of an antivenom in 1981, despite the 30 to 40 recorded funnel-web bites every year. This is because the antivenom is an excellently effective treatment – but the new discovery could help tweak it.

“The Newcastle funnel-web, Atrax christenseni— dubbed 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, and the Southern Sydney Funnel-web, Atrax montanus, is a resurrected species name from 1914,” Loria explained.

Researchers say they used anatomical and DNA comparisons to study different populations of the Sydney funnel-web spider – one of the world’s deadliest spiders – and found there were three species, only two of which were previously known to science.

Scientists in Australia have discovered a ‘giant’ species of Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world’s deadliest. Nicknamed ‘Big Boy’, the species was originally found by Kane Christensen, a spider enthusiast and ex-head of spiders at the Australian Reptile Park. in the early 2000s near Newcastle, 170 km north of Sydney.

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,

By Shreya Dasgupta The Sydney funnel-web spider, a highly venomous arachnid found crawling in and around Australia’s most populous city, was long thought to be a single species. But it’s actually three different species,

A new species of Funnel Web Spider named Atrax christenseni and nicknamed 'Big Boy' is next to the Sydney Funnel Web Spider in a container at the Australian Museum in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday. () SYDNEY — Australian scientists have discovered a bigger,