<P> These spiders are medium to large in size, with body lengths ranging from 1 to 5 cm (0.4 to 2.0 in). They have a hairless carapace covering the front part of the body . Like the related diplurid spiders, some hexathelids have relatively long spinnerets; this is especially true of A. robustus . Males have a large mating spur projecting from the middle of their second pair of legs . Like other Mygalomorphae (also incorrectly called "Orthognatha")--an infraorder of spiders that includes the tropical tarantulas--these spiders have fangs which point straight down the body and do not point towards each other (cf Araneomorphae). They have ample venom glands that lie entirely within their chelicerae . Their fangs are large and powerful, capable of penetrating fingernails and soft shoes . </P> <P> Funnel - webs make their burrows in moist, cool, sheltered habitats--under rocks, in and under rotting logs, some in rough - barked trees (occasionally metres above ground). They are commonly found in suburban rockeries and shrubberies, rarely in lawns or other open terrain . A funnel - web's burrow characteristically has irregular silk trip - lines radiating from the entrance . Unlike some related trapdoor spiders, funnel - webs do not build lids to their burrows . </P> <P> The primary range of the Australian funnel - web spiders is the eastern coast of Australia, with specimens found in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland . The only Australian states or territories without funnel - webs are Western Australia and the Northern Territory . </P> <P> The first atracide spider, Hadronyche cerberea, was described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1873 . Octavius Pickard - Cambridge described another atracide species, A. robustus, four years later . For a considerable time, confusion existed as to the limits of the genera Hadronyche and Atrax, not helped by the destruction of type specimens of Hadronyche cerberea during World War II . In 1980, Robert J. Raven merged the two genera under Atrax . In 1988, Michael R. Gray separated them again, and in 2010 added a further genus, Illawarra . </P>

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