Editing Redback spider (section)

==Description==
{{Further|Spider anatomy}}
[[File:RedbackPottingMix.JPG|thumb|right|A juvenile female, showing typical white banding]]
The adult female redback has a body around {{convert|1|cm|sigfig=1}} long, with slender legs, the first pair of which are longer than the rest.{{sfn|Sutherland|Tibballs|2001|p=385}} The round [[abdomen]] is a deep black (occasionally brownish), with a red (sometimes orange) longitudinal stripe on the upper surface and an hourglass-shaped [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] streak on the underside.<ref name="Amo-Redback"/> Females with incomplete markings or all-black abdomens occasionally occur.{{sfn|Brunet|1997|p=148}} The [[cephalothorax]] is much smaller than the abdomen, and is black.{{sfn|Sutherland|Tibballs|2001|p=385}} Redback spiderlings are grey with dark spots,<ref name=SMH1907/> and become darker with each [[Moulting|moult]].<ref name="rauber83">{{cite journal|last=Rauber|first=Albert|year=1983|title=Black Widow Spider Bites|journal=Clinical Toxicology|type=Review|volume=21|issue=4–5|pages=473–85|doi=10.3109/15563658308990435|pmid=6381753}}</ref> Juvenile females have additional white markings on the abdomen.<ref name="Amo-Redback"/> The bright [[Scarlet (color)|scarlet]] red colours may serve as a warning to potential predators.<ref name=Forster1989/> Each spider has a pair of venom glands, one attached to each of its [[chelicerae]]<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wiener|first=Saul|title=The Australian Red Back Spider (Latrodectus Hasseltii): I. Preparation of Antiserum by the Use of Venom Adsorbed on Aluminium Phosphate|journal=The Medical Journal of Australia|date=5 May 1956|volume=43|pages=739–42|pmid=13321231|issue=15|doi=10.5694/j.1326-5377.1956.tb35749.x}}</ref> with very small fangs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Delaney|first=Anne|title=Redback Spiders – on Toilet Seats and Water Troughs|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/01/10/2135593.htm|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=18 October 2013|date=10 January 2008|archive-date=28 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028235529/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/01/10/2135593.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Small compared to the female,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/spiders-found-in-victoria/red-back-spider/|title=Red-back Spider ''Latrodectus hasseltii''|author=Discovery Centre|work=Spider of Victoria series|publisher=Museum Victoria|access-date=18 October 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019044548/http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/spiders-found-in-victoria/red-back-spider/|archive-date=19 October 2013}}</ref> the male redback is {{convert|3|–|4|mm|in|abbr=on}} long and is light brown, with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen and a pale hourglass marking on the underside.<ref name="Amo-Redback">{{cite web | author=Australian Museum | title=Animal Species: Redback Spider, ''Latrodectus hasselti'' | url=https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/redback-spider/ | access-date=5 September 2013 | archive-date=6 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706143955/https://australian.museum/learn/animals/spiders/redback-spider/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Another species in Australia with a similar physique, ''[[Steatoda capensis]]'', has been termed the "false redback spider", but it is uniformly black (or plum), and does not display the red stripe.<ref name=Warden1989>{{cite news |first=Ian |last=Warden |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118118613 |title=Red-back Spider that is Not. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=12 February 1987 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia |access-date=4 September 2013 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019062747/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/118118613 |url-status=live }}</ref>