'The Big Boy': New super-sized funnel web species discovered

Australia's great outdoors can be a dangerous place, and now there's another reason to be careful.

A new species of funnel web spider is lurking around NSW homes and in the bush, scientists have confirmed - and it's much bigger than normal funnel webs.

The super-sized funnel web was discovered in Newcastle by Australian Reptile Parks' spider expert, Kane Christensen.

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After coming across several extra large funnel webs, Christensen alerted the Australian Museum, which quickly confirmed he had discovered a new species.

The museum has named the species Atrax christenseni, in recognition of Christensen's love of funnel webs.

Its nickname is the Big Boy.

So far, the species has been confined to the Newcastle area and it's unlikely to venture south, according to scientists.

If you're unfortunate enough to get bitten by this new super-sized spider, the regular funnel web anti-venom will still be effective.