August 2020

First things first: Pet peeve. These spiders are venomous – not poisonous. If we ate them, they’d be poisonous. Seeing this annoys me so much so I had to get it off my chest at the start of the article.

Anyhow, spiders. Legs? They’ve got them. Eyes? Sorted. The ability to secrete a sticky web that eventually becomes their homes / personal abattoir? Got it in spades, mate. But if you’ve clicked here then you want to know the good stuff. The deadliest, aka most venomous (heh) spiders in the world. Let’s go.

Male Sydney Funnel Web

You don’t see this little blighter, you see his conical, funnel-shaped home. And you panic. Carrying a whopping 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of venom (trust me, that’s way more than it sounds like), this little murder machine will send you to a permanent nap in an average of 14-15 minutes. We asked experts at pest control in Dubbo, Australia who advise that in their homeland deadly spiders, snakes, crocodiles, jellyfish, drop bears and many other creatures are everywhere so be careful when traveling to the continent!

 

Redback Spider

The redback is known for its immediately noticeable and immediately fear-inducing thorax markings. Naturally nocturnal, the female remains concealed through the day and is not exactly aggressive, lucky for us human inhabitants. In fact, when challenged a redback will more than likely just play dead. But don’t play too long or you might be doing more than playing, as the redback’s fangs are more than a match for your puny human skin.

The Widows

Coming in at 3, 4, and 5 respectively are the Red, Brown and Black Widow spiders, known for their predisposition to eating their mates. You would think that having an Avenger named after you would get you a little higher on the list, but nope. These guys are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica, which may be one of the main reasons to move there if you’re not a scientist.

The black widow spider makes a venom that affects your nervous system. Some people are slightly affected by it, but others may have a severe response, including slight paralysis symptoms. In general, these guys won’t put you under like their Australian cousins, however.