The dark, hairy giant of the forest floor. A spider that lives in a tunnel. The black tunnelweb spider is a large, heavy-bodied spider with a glossy, blackish-brown carapace and legs. The females are much larger than the males, with a body length of up to three centimetres and a leg span of over ten centimetres. They look like a smaller, darker version of the Australian funnelweb, but they are not dangerous to humans. A spider that looks scary but is not. These spiders are the architects of the tunnel web. They build a dense, silk-lined tunnel in the soil, under a log or in a bank face, with a flared, funnel-shaped entrance. At night, they sit at the entrance, waiting for insects, beetles and other invertebrates to wander past. A spider that waits at its door. When something touches the web, the spider explodes out of the tunnel, grabs the prey and drags it back inside. The bite delivers venom that quickly immobilises the victim. The spider then retreats to the depths of its burrow to feed in safety. Females are long-lived, staying in the same tunnel for years, repairing and extending it as they grow. Males wander in search of mates during autumn, often turning up in garages or wandering across paths. They are the cousins of the more common tunnelweb spider, but darker, larger and living in slightly different habitats. To see a black tunnelweb spider is to see the dark giant. The forest floor is dark. The tunnel opens under a log. The spider sits at the entrance, glossy and black, waiting. A beetle walks past. The spider explodes out, grabs it, drags it in. The beetle does not see it coming. The spider does not know it is impressive. It just wants dinner.