By Shreya Dasgupta The Sydney funnel-web spider, a highly venomous arachnid found crawling in and around Australia’s most populous city, was long thought to be a single species. But it’s actually three different species,

“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.

A new species of funnel-web spider has been discovered in Newcastle, Australia - even larger and more venomous than common Sydney funnel-web spiders.

A new, in-depth study of the spider has discovered that what we thought was one species is actually three. That means there are two new species of the world's most venomous spider, but the discovery is actually good news: it will allow scientists to better characterize and understand the venom each species produces.

A new species of Funnel Web Spider named Atrax christenseni and nicknamed 'Big Boy' is next to the Sydney Funnel Web Spider in a container at the Australian Museum in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday. () SYDNEY — Australian scientists have discovered a bigger,