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(#8) Brown Widow Spider
Size: 0.5" (16 mm) in length.
Location: Brown Widow Spiders were thought to originate in South America, but have since spread across most of the world with populations in South Africa, the United States, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
Distinguishing Features: Most examples of the species possess a dark brown body with light brown legs.
Why You Should Be Scared: Brown Widow Spiders possess a deadly venom, but do not often have enough venom within their bites to result in the death of a human. Their bites result in painful and itchy lesions. They present a greater threat to children and the elderly, but don't often require medical treatment following a bite except for extreme cases.
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(#6) Yellow sac spider
- Cheiracanthium inclusum
Size: Very small, only 5 to 10 mm in total length.
Location: Northern Europe to Japan, from Southern Africa to India and Australia.
Distinguishing Features: The Yellow Sac Spider's most distinctive feature is its bright yellow color
Why You Should Be Scared: The venom of a Yellow Sac Spider is necrotic and causes lesions in humans at the site of a bite. Bites cause a great deal of pain and are considered a threat of transmitting a MRSA infection, which is a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. These are difficult to treat due to the resistant nature of the Staphylococcus.
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(#7) Redback Spider
Size: Relatively small only reaching a length of around 0.16" (4 mm)
Location: It is believed to have originated in the south Australian and Western deserts, but now exists across the entire continent, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand.
Distinguishing Features: Most possess a red band along their abdomen. The females are typically black while the males can be a light brown.
Why You Should Be Scared: Given all the deadly animals in Australia, the Redback Spider holds the distinction of being the animal historically responsible for requiring antivenom treatment more than any other animal on the continent. There are between 2,000 and 10,000 bites occurring annually and the venom causes intense pain in humans and represents a greater threat to small children and the elderly.
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(#1) Brown recluse spider
- Loxosceles reclusa
Size: 0.24 to 0.79 inches (6 to 20 mm).
Location: Southern and Central North America.
Distinguishing Features: Most examples are a light brown, but some can be dark-brown in color almost looking black.
Why You Should Be Scared: The Brown Recluse Spider is one of the most feared of all spiders due to their highly necrotic venom. If a person is bitten, they generally don't need to worry about death, but rather about receiving a mutilating scar thanks to the dead tissue resulting from the bite. If left untreated, the necrosis can spread over a wider area requiring surgery and even amputation in severe cases.
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(#5) Black widow spider
- Latrodectus hesperus
Size: 0.5" (13 mm) in length.
Location: Black Widow Spiders are distributed worldwide and contain 31 recognized species.
Distinguishing Features: Black Widow Spiders are typically black across their entire body and legs with a large, red hourglass shape on the underside of their thorax.
Why You Should Be Scared: A Black Widow Spider's venom contains a deadly latrotoxin, which can result in severe muscle pain, abdominal cramps, tachycardia, and muscle spasms. Bites are not typically considered life-threatening, but are incredibly painful. Death can occur in rare cases, but those deaths are often attributed to the Mediterranean Black Widow subspecies. The spiders are unusually aggressive and will deliver a full dose of venom on most strikes.
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(#4) Brazilian wandering spider
- Phoneutria
Size: They can reach a length of up to 1.89" (48 mm).
Location: Tropical regions of South America with a single subspecies found in Central America.
Distinguishing Features: Many examples possess a dark linear stripe on their dorsal pedipalps with a single black line running along the dorsal carapace. They also have disturbingly large fangs comparable to their body size.
Why You Should Be Scared: Their venom contains a potent neurotoxin, which can become deadly by causing a loss of muscle control and breathing problems resulting in paralysis and asphyxiation. The venom also causes intense pain and inflammation following the bite. These spiders should be avoided at all costs due to the pain they cause, but some subspecies will bite without delivering venom in what is called a "dry" bite. It is believe they do this to conserve venom, but this also means that they tend to have a full supply at most times.
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About This Tool
There are about 40,000 different spider species living on the earth. Whether they are crawling on the web with eight legs or rushing out of their nests, which are signals that they are ready to pounce and kill prey. Many terrifying spiders are nightmares. Although many spiders are harmless, there are some particularly large and poisonous species that can kill humans.
Like most animals, spiders are afraid of humans, and some spider species are beautiful but deadly. The random tool introduced 10 of the scariest spiders on the planet and they are all vital to keep the ecological balance.
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