1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,639 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, lorn bogabam here. What's the world's deadliest spider? 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: Despite their reputation for being kind of creepy, of the 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: nearly forty thousand known species of spiders, only a tiny 5 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: fraction of them can inflict any significant pain or other 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: harm in humans. In fact, there's no wholly accepted consensus 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: on what the world's deadliest spider is, because by and large, 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: spiders aren't that much of a threat to our well being. 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: That said, there are a handful of arachnids around the 10 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: world that it would be in our best interests to avoid. 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: The overall morbidity rate of venomous spiders remains below ten, 12 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: but some of their poisons can induce tissue degeneration, cell death, nausea, 13 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: and other unpleasant side effects. Venomous spiders are equipped with 14 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: a poison gland that harbors the day jerous compounds. Those 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: glands are connected to a set of fangs that spiders 16 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: use to deliver the venom into their victims. The fangs 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: usually remain tucked inside the spider's jaws until it feels threatened. 18 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: When that happens, it releases those fangs, digging them into 19 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: the victim's body and secreting the venom. And not all 20 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: spider bites are potentially wounding, though many spiders will give 21 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: dry bites without venom as a warning. In the United States, 22 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: people worry most about the fangs of the brown recluse 23 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: and black widow spiders. A bite from a brown recluse 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: can leave you with significant scarring from tissue necrosis if 25 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: left untreated, but odds are strongly in your favor of survival. 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: You can identify brown recluses by the violin shaped marking 27 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: on their abdomens. Statistically, black widows, with their red hourglass 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: calling card, pose more of a threat to humans. Before 29 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: doctors discovered anti venom for the widow family of spiders, 30 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: the mortality rate for by victims was around five percent. 31 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: Though there isn't a definitive answer to what the world's 32 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: deadliest spider is, experts often place the Sydney funnel web 33 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,679 Speaker 1: spider at the top of the list. This arachnant species 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: bears responsibility for the highest number of bites and human 35 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: fatalities among all spiders with fangs strong enough to penetrate 36 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: finger and toenails in extreme cases, a funnel web bite 37 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: can kill a person in fifteen minutes. As you may 38 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: guess from its name, the Sydney funnel web spider is 39 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: native to the area around Sydney, Australia. Humans encounter the 40 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: dark colored funnel web spiders mostly during mating season in 41 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: summer in fall, when the males leave their burrows in 42 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: search of females. However, since the discovery of a funnel 43 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: web anti venom in no one has died from its bite. Behaviorally, 44 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,639 Speaker 1: funnel web spiders are more dangerous than either black widows 45 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: or brown reclusives because they kin of aggressive when threatened, 46 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: meaning that if you've tried to shoe one away, it 47 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: would be less likely to skittterr off. The adult male 48 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: funnel webs are potentially more harmful than females and juvenile spiders, 49 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: and they're the most likely to attack. The active ingredient 50 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: in funnel web venom is a type of neurotoxin that 51 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: causes our nerve cells to continually fire once it enters 52 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: the bloodstream. That rapid firing sparks intense pain at the 53 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: bite site that will start within twenty eight minutes of 54 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: the actual bite. In general, spider venom affects humans by 55 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: interacting with ion receptors in our cells. When that happens, 56 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: it unnaturally excites the cell, which can lead to pain 57 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: and cell dysfunction. On the other side of the world, 58 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: the Brazilian wandering spider often ranks near the top of 59 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: the list two. It's capable of injecting one to two 60 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: milligrams of venom in its victims. You can spot these 61 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: spiders by the red hairs on their necks. Like the 62 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: funnel of The Brazilian wandering spider has aggressive tendencies and 63 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: is known as a hunting spider. It's venom effects sodium 64 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: ion receptors, particularly in muscle and sensory cells. Bites from 65 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: these spiders account for around half of spider related hospitalizations 66 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: in South America. Getting bitten by any of these spiders 67 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 1: would probably be an unpleasant experience, but today even the 68 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: most venomous spiders with the largest sharpest fangs don't pose 69 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: much of a health threat to humans thanks to anti 70 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: venin's and just be careful when you're working in a 71 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: dark corner of your basement or storage shed. Spiders often 72 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: don't want to attack, but they will defend their territory 73 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: when they think it's necessary. Today's episode is based on 74 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: the article what's the World's Deadliest spider on house toffworks 75 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: dot com written by Kristen Conger. Brain Stuff is production 76 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: of by Heart Radio in partnership with housetuffworks dot Com 77 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: and is produced by Tyler Client four more podcasts my 78 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 79 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.