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1.3 The Name FunnelWeb

The name "FunnelWeb" was chosen because it contains the name "WEB", which is the name of Knuth's system. It was also chosen because it has a distinctly Australian flavour.

Funnel-web spiders are found in Northern and Eastern Australia. They are about three to four centimetres long and are very poisonous. The Sydney Funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus ), common in Sydney, has caused the most trouble and has been responsible for several deaths. Funnel-web spiders love to crawl into temporarily discarded shoes where they later react in a hostile manner to an unsuspecting foot. They are known to hang on once they sink their fangs in. Funnel-web spiders derive their name from the shape of their webs which are horizontally-aligned narrowing tubes, open at one end[ANZE].

The Funnel-web spider, like the tiger snake and the white pointer shark, is secretly regarded by Australians as a kind of national treasure.

F is for Funnel-web
Our furry-legged foe.
He sleeps in your slipper
And breakfasts on toe.
--- One verse from A Megastar's Mantras: Things that Mean a Lot to Me ,
by Dame Edna Everage[Humphries91].

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