Venomous spiders - poisonous spiders

Introduction

Venomous Spiders (poisonous spiders) may not be such a big threat as many people believe. Antivenin against spider bite has become very effective and it's very seldom people actually dies from spider bites. In the United States an average of 4 people dies from venomous spider bites a year¹.

Even some institutions comes up with numbers about spider bites that are wrong. Bites may however cause severe dermatological lesions that need urgent medical treatment and care.

Poisonous Spiders - an inaccuracy.

Spiders use venom to kill their prey after they captured it in their web or captured by other means. A spider is only poisonous if one gets ill after eating it, so the term poisonous spiders is misleading and the correct word to use to describe these spiders is venomous.

The probability of dying or getting seriously injured from a bite is very small - especially in the US. This is not an insurance of nothing will happen to you if bitten by a spider. If the accident happens you should seek treatment.

Most spiders have evolved to capture small invertebrates and so spider venom is almost always harmless to humans. However, there spiders are exceptions to this rule:

Brown recluse spiders

The brown recluse spider is a misunderstood spider. Its indeed a very venomous and dangerous spider to people, but it is definitely not an aggressive spider and only bites if threatened. The brown recluse spiders are also known as Loxosceles.

The Black Widows "~ Latrodectus. abc"

The genus Latrodectus includes the widely known black widows, notorious because of the extreme potency of their neurotoxic venom.

The genus comprises thirty-two recognized species and its occurrence is attributed to human mediated movement. It is found worldwide and in places like Africa, the Middle East, Iberian Peninsula, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America, and Hawaii.

The recognition of taxa within Latrodectus has been considered problematic for a long time due to the difficulty associated with morphological features exhibiting geographic variation.

The jumping spiders "~ Phidippus. abc"

The Phidippus spiders are known as jumping spiders. They have a good sight which they use when capturing prey or finding mates.

Tarantulas "Poecilotheria. abc"

Children in some parts of South America keep tarantulas as pets. The South American tarantula is the world's largest spider and sometimes reaches more than 20 cm in length.

Tarantulas can be large enough to eat birds and a myth goes, that they even attack chickens in some cases.

Tarantulas in North America are significant smaller than tarantulas in South America.

The tarantula has a bad reputation, but it is not really as bad as it looks. A bite from a tarantula can be painful, but it definitely won't kill you.

Others Venomous (poisonous) spiders "~ X. abc"

Explanations are found in the text. Species belonging to other groups of spiders can be very venomous as well. These spiders are also described in this webpage. From time to time more venomous spiders will be included in the list. If you want a spider included please don't hesitate to contact me. Comments, suggestions, pictures and relevant links are also very welcome.

References

¹Emedicine!

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