Spiders are common creatures.and almost everything on earth 43,000 known spider species are poisonous (opens in new tab)Most people have probably encountered a poisonous spider at least once.
That’s bad news. But the good news is that only 25 of these species are known to have killed or seriously harmed humans. But which spider is the deadliest?
The deadliest spider, or at least the spider most often cited as causing death or serious injury to humans, is the funnel web spider (atlux), redback and black widow spiders (Latrodectus), bananas and wandering spiders (phonenutria) and the recluse spider (loxoceles).
But even these frightening spiders have powerful venom and fangs ready to pierce the skin and are not particularly dangerous to humans. Association of American Poison Control Centers (opens in new tab) (AAPCC) tracked just one spider bite death in the United States in 2021. Australia is home to the world’s most poisonous spiders, No deaths from spider bites have been reported since the 1980s (opens in new tab).
“It’s incredibly rare to come across a deadly spider,” he said. Rick Vetter (opens in new tab)was a former research fellow in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside, whose research focused on medically important spiders. “Considering all the bad things that can happen to you, if spiders are your number one concern, then you’re living a good life.”
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The funnel web spider tops the list of the most terrifying spiders, aside from just its famous venom. Native to Australia, these spiders have a powerful venom that kills within minutes of being bitten. “The most lethal is probably the funnel web spider and its relatives. The Sydney funnel web spider (Atrax Robustus) infants can die in about five minutes and five-year-olds in about two hours,” Vetter told Live Science. Infants receiving treatment for rapid recovery from funnel web bites.
phonenutria Spiders, the most common of which are often mentioned. Like a banana spider or a wandering spider, native to Brazil, has the most neurologically active venom of any spider. However, spider venom is relatively slow-acting and takes long enough to cure, which is why it ranks a little lower on the list of the world’s most dangerous spiders.and loxoceles Spiders, the most well-known of which are brown recluse (L. Reclusa) has been found in the United States and may be one of the most common causes of spider-related injuries, where stings cause body pain and fever that can take months to fully recover. there is. However, they are very rarely fatal.
As the most dangerous spiders of the arachnid family, the only genus that offers a real benefit to funnel webs is the LatrodectusAustralian redback moss (Latrodectus Hasselti) and more familiar black widow spider In the United States, these spiders have a slight advantage over funnel-web spiders, as they bite humans more frequently and have relatively stronger venom. “The most venomous species (Sydney funnel spider, Brazilian wandering spider) don’t kill or affect that many people.” Linda Layer (opens in new tab)A behavioral ecologist who studies spiders at Cornell University told Live Science by email. “The more widely distributed black widows are the protagonists of your story.”
It is important to note that AAPCC annual report (opens in new tab) Even with a statistic section on spider bites, it’s not easy to get a real sense of mortality or morbidity from spider bites.
“Many people die every year because of spiders.” Rod Crawford (opens in new tab)A curator of arachnids at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum in Seattle told Live Science in an email. “However, from a scientific perspective, these attributions are rarely evidence-based.”
According to Crawford, it is possible for a victim to find a spider on their skin, feel the bite, capture that same spider, and take the spider in question to a doctor (let alone an arachnid expert) for analysis. described as extremely rare. “Almost all the ‘spider bites’ you hear, including those reported to poison centers, stem from the assumption that if you can’t see the bite, it’s a spider,” Crawford said. said.
Mr. Layer echoed this sentiment. “I’ve spent an astonishing amount of time tracking human mortality from spiders, and it’s been negligible,” she said. “This hasn’t been reported with certainty, but it’s clear that spiders don’t kill too many people.”
Bearing in mind the flawed nature of spider bite statistics, Australian Museum (opens in new tab) claim that about 2,000 people are bitten by redback spiders each year, and that since 1980, about 100 patients have been given antivenom to treat funnel spider bites. AAPCC annual report tracked about 3,500 spider bites in the United States in 2021 and documented about 40 “significant” clinical outcomes. Nine of those serious consequences are attributed to black widows. Twenty-nine major outcomes and the only death that year were due to brown recluse.No deaths from spider bites AAPCC 2020 Report (opens in new tab)The study tracked seven ‘massive’ black widow spider bites and 23 ‘massive’ brown bear bites.
This means that the most deadly spiders are actually not all that deadly. “It’s very rare that a human spider actually bites a human, whether it’s dangerous or harmless,” Crawford said. “Take me as an example. Over the course of my long career, I’ve handled tens of thousands of live spiders with my bare hands. I’ve only been bitten three times, and all three were serious.” It didn’t have any nasty effects, so when people tell me that spiders are burrowing into my bed and I bite them in my sleep at night, I just roll my eyes.”
Vetter agreed. “Actually, spiders are pretty low on the list of things to worry about.”
