“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.

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,

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.

Now scientists in Australia have discovered a new funnel-web spider which is even bigger and more venomous. Kane Christensen is behind the discovery and says "its venom glands are a lot larger and its fangs are a lot longer". The new species has been named Atrax christenseni after the man that discovered it.

A larger, more venomous, longer-fanged species of one of the world’s deadliest spiders has been discovered by scientists in Australia. Nicknamed “Big Boy” and living just 100 miles north of Sydney, the Newcastle funnel-web has thrilled arachnologists – and struck fear into arachnophobes.

SYDNEY -- Australian scientists have discovered a bigger, more venomous species of the Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world's deadliest.

Scientists from Australia and Germany have classified a new, highly venomous species of spider, Atrax christenseni, known as Big Boy. It is very large and highly venomous, with bites that can be fatal.