The earth is home to more than 43,000 distinct species of spiders. Only a small portion of these are considered harmful, and fewer than 30, less than a tenth of one percent, have been linked to human fatalities. Why do people get harmed by so few spiders?
As per the Guinness World Records, the Sydney funnel-web spider, Atrax robustus, is the most deadly spider to humans worldwide. This deadly spider, native to Australia, prefers wet environments like gardens or the underside of logs. Females are more lethal than males and should be avoided.
The fact that people and spiders are of different sizes could be a significant factor. For example, spider venom is made to harm smaller animals, but some species’ venom can cause skin sores in humans or allergic reactions that can be fatal.
However, realizing that “death by spider bite” is extremely uncommon is crucial. Therefore, hospitals, poison control centers, and clinics frequently keep a variety of species-specific antivenin, the antitoxin, on hand to treat the bite.
What’s the most poisonous spider in the world?
According to the Guinness World Records, the Sydney funnel-web spider, Atrax robustus, holds the title of the most deadly spider to humans worldwide. This deadly spider, native to Australia, prefers wet environments like gardens or the underside of logs.
The Sydney funnel-web is a large, shiny, black spider with a venom potency of 0.2 mg/kg, which is fatal to humans. To avoid a confrontation, keep an eye out for the distinctive silk trip lines that extend from their burrows.
However, the Sydney funnel-female web’s counterpart is four to six times less potent than its male counterpart. So, let luck be a lady if you do come across one. Fortunately, anti-venom was created in 1981, so if you seek medical attention immediately, this bite won’t kill you.
Symptoms of spider bites
Spiders rarely bite unless they feel threatened. Therefore, bites are typically not harmful.
Redness, discomfort, and swelling from a spider bite can occur, or you may not even detect it.
Other skin lesions and insect bites also result in swelling, pain, and redness. It is difficult to be confident that a spider caused a wound unless you saw one bite you.
A spider bite typically looks like any other bug bite: a red, swollen, occasionally painful, itchy lump on your skin. In some instances, it may go unnoticed. Typically, harmless spider bites don’t cause any further symptoms.
However, some spider bites, such as those from widow and recluse spiders, can have significant effects.
Widow spider bites
Some warning signs and symptoms of a black widow spider bite are:
- Swelling, discomfort, and redness. Your abdomen, back, or chest may experience discomfort and swelling spreading from the bite area.
- Cramping. Severe abdominal cramping or rigidity may occur, commonly mistaken for appendicitis or an appendix rupture.
- Vomiting, tremors, sweating, or nausea. Sweating, trembling, nausea, and vomiting can occur singly or in combination.
Symptoms may linger for one to three days.
Bites from recluse spiders
Recluse spider bite symptoms and signs might include:
- Over the first eight hours, the agony will significantly increase after the bite.
- Body pains, chills, and a fever.
- A bite wound with a crimson ring around it and a pale center that eventually turns dark blue or purple.
- A bite wound that becomes an open lesion (ulcer) with deteriorating the skin around it.
Immediately seek medical attention if:
- A harmful spider, such as a widow or recluse, bites you.
- You’re wondering if a deadly spider is to blame for the bite.
- You experience excruciating agony, cramps in your abdomen, or a bite wound that is getting worse.
- You’re having trouble swallowing or breathing.
- Spreading redness or red streaks can be seen around the sore.
In conclusion, the poison that the spider injects causes spider bite symptoms. The species of spider, the quantity of venom injected, and how susceptible your body is to the poison determine the severity of the symptoms.
Which spiders are poisonous?
The poisonous spiders to watch out for include:
1. Brown Recluse Spiders
Arachnids like brown recluse spiders have the potential to be harmful. Their venom is necrotic/cytotoxic, which means that it kills living cells. Necrotic venom causes painful reactions like blisters or sores by damaging or destroying the tissue near the bite site.
The effects of brown recluse venom on the body happen gradually. Thus, symptoms won’t appear for several hours or even days after the bite. While other bites can result in severe reactions like fever, chills, nausea, scarring, and tissue death, some bites may merely leave a painful lesion.
2. Black Widow
Despite being uncommon, their bites are among the most dangerous and have the potential to be fatal. Black widow spider bites are difficult to identify because they aren’t even usually painful at first.
The toxins in black widow spider venom affect the nervous system, and the symptoms frequently mirror the flu. Severe discomfort, perspiration, tight muscles, and patchy paralysis are signs of more severe reactions.
Fortunately, black widows are cautious arachnids with distinctly distinctive characteristics that make them easy to recognize. They often have lustrous, jet-black bodies with a definite red pattern on the abdomen. Due to their stretched and full, enlarged black bodies, well-fed spiders can appear brown.
Widow spiders construct their webs around doors, close to vents, and other areas where it is likely that other insects will congregate. They typically nest outside in litter.
Which spiders are harmless?
Not all spiders are poisonous, despite what the public at large believes. However, almost all of them are poisonous. A spider must be medically harmful to consume to be classified as toxic.
Although different reactions can result from being bitten by spiders, most of their venom is only harmful enough to affect their prey’s little bodies.
1. Cellar Spiders
Due to their long, thin legs, cellar spiders are sometimes called “daddy longlegs.” These petite, lanky spiders have a single body and are difficult to identify due to their muted light brown, grey, or tan coloring. But basement spiders frequently leave behind signs of their presence.
Some or all of the haphazard, disorganized-appearing cobwebs found in our corners and windowsills can be attributed to these spiders.
They consume various insects and arthropods; some even classify them as helpful pests. Do not be alarmed if you encounter a cellar spider because they are not known to bite humans.
2. Hobo Spiders
Although they are not dangerous to people, these spiders were traditionally referred to as “aggressive spiders.” Although they have a fast, menacing appearance, their Latin name, agrestis, which means “of the field,” was misinterpreted. Hobo spiders are often found outside and frequently build their funnel-shaped webs underneath or inside items.
3. Jumping Spiders
These aptly named spiders can leap to incredible lengths to capture prey. They don’t usually weave webs and instead rely on their mobility and quick reactions to pounce on their prey. However, their bodies produce silk to wrap their egg sacs and hang from ceilings.
Jumping spiders have a wide variety of appearances. Some are brown or iridescent, while others are black with white, striped patterning. The two enormous eyes in the middle of their skulls, distinct jaws, and hairy bodies give them away the most.
Jumping spider bites are rare and, at most, just mildly uncomfortable.
4. Sac Spiders
These arachnids, called yellow sac spiders, can have a cream or beige tint. The ends of the legs of sac spiders are covered in tufts of brown or black fur that resemble little socks or shoes. Sac spiders spend the night searching for tiny insects and eggs to eat rather than creating webs to catch their meal.
Sac spider bites can be as painful as a bee sting or only somewhat uncomfortable. Their poison won’t likely do much more than give you a day or two of uncomfortable bug bite symptoms.
Conclusion
Seek medical care if you think a deadly spider may have bitten you, and if at all feasible, try to identify the spider. If a spider specimen is available, preserve it by placing it in a jar and covering it with 70% ethanol or rubbing alcohol. Only via accurate identification will the best course of therapy be determined.