Also in America you can find a relative of the redback... the Black Widow.
I once read an article on a guy who imported a car form the states and got one of these as a bonus... No one dared to even touch the car, so driving it was pretty impossible... It ended with him saying that they were going to try and freeze tha car down, since black widdows don't like cold (as you said, Seth).
Übereil
If you study spiders you'll note that a death by a Black Widow bite is very rare.
Only those who are allergic to them have severe reactions.
Usually all one experiences is very bad muscle cramps in their back.
The Black Widow is nothing close, not even by a fraction, to the deadliness of a RedBack.
Tsel
The deadlines of the Australian Redback aren't so high eighter.
Redback bites occur frequently, particularly over the summer months. More than 250 cases receive antivenom each year, with several milder envenomations probably going unreported. Only the female bite is dangerous. They can cause serious illness and have caused deaths. However, since Redback spiders rarely leave their webs, humans are not likely to be bitten unless a body part such as a hand is put directly into the web, and because of their small jaws many bites are ineffective. The venom acts directly on the nerves, resulting in release and subsequent depletion of neurotransmitters.
Common early symptoms are pain (which can become severe), sweating (always including local sweating at bite site), muscular weakness, nausea and vomiting. Antivenom is available. No deaths have occurred since its introduction.
Just like with the Black widow, stories about redbacks are often more fantasy than reality.
