"false redback spider", but it is uniformly black (or plum), and does not display the red stripe. Behaviour Web The redback is mainly nocturnal; the female remains concealed during the day, and spins her web during the night, usually remaining in the same location for most of her adult life. Classified as a gum-footed tangle web, the web is an irregular-looking tangle of fine but strong silk. Although the threads seem random, they are strategically placed for support and entrapment of prey. The rear portion of the web forms a funnel-like retreat area where the spider and egg sacs are found. This area has vertical, sticky catching threads that run to ground attachments. The vertical strands act as trip wires to initially alert the spider to the presence of prey or threats. They also snare and haul prey into the air when weaker horizontal strands that hold them down, known as guy lines, break when prey thrash around. These webs are usually placed between two flat surfaces, one beneath the other. The female spends more time in the funnel and less time moving around during cooler weather. The individual web filaments are quite strong, able to entangle and hold small reptiles. Prey Redbacks usually prey on insects, but can capture larger animals that become entangled in the web, including trapdoor spiders, small lizards, and even on rare occasion snakes. One web was recorded as containing a dead mouse. The woodlouse (Porcellio scaber) is a particularly common food item. Developing spiderlings need size-appropriate prey, and laboratory studies show that they are willing to consume common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor), muscoid flies and early nymphs of cockroaches. Food scraps and lighting attract insect prey to areas of human activity, which brings the redbacks. Once alerted to a creature becoming ensnared in a trap line, the redback advances to around a leg's length from its target, touching it and squirting a liquid glutinous silk over it to immobilise it. It then bites its victim repeatedly on the head, body and leg joints and wraps it in sticky and dry silk. Unlike other spiders, it does not rotate its prey while wrapping in silk, but like other spiders, it then injects a venom that liquefies its victim's innards. Once it has trussed the prey, the redback takes it to its retreat and begins sucking out the liquefied insides, generally 5