WEBVTT - What's the Deadliest Spider in the World?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, lorn bogabam here. What's the world's deadliest spider?

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<v Speaker 1>Despite their reputation for being kind of creepy, of the

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<v Speaker 1>nearly forty thousand known species of spiders, only a tiny

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<v Speaker 1>fraction of them can inflict any significant pain or other

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<v Speaker 1>harm in humans. In fact, there's no wholly accepted consensus

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<v Speaker 1>on what the world's deadliest spider is, because by and large,

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<v Speaker 1>spiders aren't that much of a threat to our well being.

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<v Speaker 1>That said, there are a handful of arachnids around the

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<v Speaker 1>world that it would be in our best interests to avoid.

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<v Speaker 1>The overall morbidity rate of venomous spiders remains below ten,

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<v Speaker 1>but some of their poisons can induce tissue degeneration, cell death, nausea,

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<v Speaker 1>and other unpleasant side effects. Venomous spiders are equipped with

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<v Speaker 1>a poison gland that harbors the day jerous compounds. Those

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<v Speaker 1>glands are connected to a set of fangs that spiders

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<v Speaker 1>use to deliver the venom into their victims. The fangs

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<v Speaker 1>usually remain tucked inside the spider's jaws until it feels threatened.

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<v Speaker 1>When that happens, it releases those fangs, digging them into

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<v Speaker 1>the victim's body and secreting the venom. And not all

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<v Speaker 1>spider bites are potentially wounding, though many spiders will give

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<v Speaker 1>dry bites without venom as a warning. In the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>people worry most about the fangs of the brown recluse

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<v Speaker 1>and black widow spiders. A bite from a brown recluse

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<v Speaker 1>can leave you with significant scarring from tissue necrosis if

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<v Speaker 1>left untreated, but odds are strongly in your favor of survival.

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<v Speaker 1>You can identify brown recluses by the violin shaped marking

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<v Speaker 1>on their abdomens. Statistically, black widows, with their red hourglass

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<v Speaker 1>calling card, pose more of a threat to humans. Before

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<v Speaker 1>doctors discovered anti venom for the widow family of spiders,

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<v Speaker 1>the mortality rate for by victims was around five percent.

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<v Speaker 1>Though there isn't a definitive answer to what the world's

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<v Speaker 1>deadliest spider is, experts often place the Sydney funnel web

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<v Speaker 1>spider at the top of the list. This arachnant species

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<v Speaker 1>bears responsibility for the highest number of bites and human

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<v Speaker 1>fatalities among all spiders with fangs strong enough to penetrate

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<v Speaker 1>finger and toenails in extreme cases, a funnel web bite

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<v Speaker 1>can kill a person in fifteen minutes. As you may

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<v Speaker 1>guess from its name, the Sydney funnel web spider is

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<v Speaker 1>native to the area around Sydney, Australia. Humans encounter the

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<v Speaker 1>dark colored funnel web spiders mostly during mating season in

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<v Speaker 1>summer in fall, when the males leave their burrows in

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<v Speaker 1>search of females. However, since the discovery of a funnel

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<v Speaker 1>web anti venom in no one has died from its bite. Behaviorally,

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<v Speaker 1>funnel web spiders are more dangerous than either black widows

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<v Speaker 1>or brown reclusives because they kin of aggressive when threatened,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that if you've tried to shoe one away, it

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<v Speaker 1>would be less likely to skittterr off. The adult male

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<v Speaker 1>funnel webs are potentially more harmful than females and juvenile spiders,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're the most likely to attack. The active ingredient

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<v Speaker 1>in funnel web venom is a type of neurotoxin that

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<v Speaker 1>causes our nerve cells to continually fire once it enters

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<v Speaker 1>the bloodstream. That rapid firing sparks intense pain at the

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<v Speaker 1>bite site that will start within twenty eight minutes of

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<v Speaker 1>the actual bite. In general, spider venom affects humans by

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<v Speaker 1>interacting with ion receptors in our cells. When that happens,

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<v Speaker 1>it unnaturally excites the cell, which can lead to pain

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<v Speaker 1>and cell dysfunction. On the other side of the world,

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<v Speaker 1>the Brazilian wandering spider often ranks near the top of

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<v Speaker 1>the list two. It's capable of injecting one to two

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<v Speaker 1>milligrams of venom in its victims. You can spot these

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<v Speaker 1>spiders by the red hairs on their necks. Like the

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<v Speaker 1>funnel of The Brazilian wandering spider has aggressive tendencies and

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<v Speaker 1>is known as a hunting spider. It's venom effects sodium

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<v Speaker 1>ion receptors, particularly in muscle and sensory cells. Bites from

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<v Speaker 1>these spiders account for around half of spider related hospitalizations

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<v Speaker 1>in South America. Getting bitten by any of these spiders

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<v Speaker 1>would probably be an unpleasant experience, but today even the

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<v Speaker 1>most venomous spiders with the largest sharpest fangs don't pose

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<v Speaker 1>much of a health threat to humans thanks to anti

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<v Speaker 1>venin's and just be careful when you're working in a

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<v Speaker 1>dark corner of your basement or storage shed. Spiders often

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to attack, but they will defend their territory

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<v Speaker 1>when they think it's necessary. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the article what's the World's Deadliest spider on house toffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com written by Kristen Conger. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of by Heart Radio in partnership with housetuffworks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Client four more podcasts my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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