Spiders are arthropods belonging to the vast family of insects found all over the world.Their ability to walk with eight legs makes them unique as well as scary to human beings. As if that was not enough reason to be afraid of spiders, most of the spider species are also known to be venomous.Spiders exist in every corner of the world except Antarctica. There are 47,600 different species of spiders present on earth making them the seventh-largest diversified group of organisms. Out of all these spider species, almost all types of spiders contain some amount of venom, except the spiders of the small family group called Uloboridae. Although most of the species, ranging from the common ones that are seen in households up to the tarantulas found in the forests of Australia contain venom, only a few of them are said to be harmful to humans. The rest are harmless. Painful bites from these dangerous species can cause severe reactions and lesions on the skin if the bites are left untreated. The bites of only 30 spider species out of 47,600 have been responsible for deaths in victims. On the bright side, the spider bite is a very rare cause of death as treatment is available for most of the symptoms.A well-known misconception about spiders is that many consider spiders to be poisonous. However, this is not true. A spider cannot be considered to be poisonous as they do not contain poison, rather it injects venom in its prey with fangs by a single bite. Something is said to be poisonous when the poison reaches the victim by inhaling, ingesting, or by absorbing through the skin. Spiders inject their venom with bites. Therefore spiders are venomous in nature. If they were actually poisonous, then humans would have fallen sick as soon as they came near a spider or ate one, and believe it or not, fried spiders are a very tasty titbit on the menu in many countries, such as Thailand.If you enjoyed this article, why not also read about are bay leaves edible and are beans a vegetable here on Kidadl?Comparison between Venomous and Non-Venomous SpidersThe most obvious difference between a venom-containing and venom-less spider is their techniques of hunting. With the highest population of venomous spiders in Australia. The former ones are found worldwide. The venom-less species are only confined to Australia.Almost all spiders contain some amount of venom that they use for catching their prey. Like all venomous snakes, they also have fangs that help in injecting the venom. Although the venom of most spiders is not dangerous to humans, they are toxic enough to kill their prey. The primary reason why their venom fails to cause harm to humans is because of the size differences between a person and a spider. Death caused by a spider bite is an extremely rare case so technically there are very few reasons for human beings to be scared of a spider. The venom has been chemically designed only for working on small animals that act as the spider’s prey. However, there are certain aggressive species capable of inflicting painful bites in humans and their bites cause serious skin allergies and reactions. Getting immediate medical treatment on getting bitten by dangerous spiders is important.Most of the venomous spiders are found in Australia in comparison to other parts of the world. There’s one rare and distinct family of spiders found in Australia that does not possess any venom. This species lack venom glands which makes them the only truly non-venomous spider species in the whole world. Unlike the venomous spiders that inject venom to kill their prey, they cover their prey in silk and digestive enzymes and eat by converting the prey’s body into a liquid state.Types Of Venomous SpidersThere are very few spiders that do not contain venom, almost all spiders are venomous, however, the venom of most of the spiders is not dangerous to humans. The toxicity of the spider venom depends on its type, some dangerous spiders are harmful to humans causing skin allergies and reactions when venom is injected while some spider bites have no effect on humans.Sometimes the terms poisonous and venomous are used interchangeably while describing a spider. The hypothesis that spiders are poisonous is actually a widespread misconception that indicates that the spider causes poisoning in the body after coming into contact with the victims instead of injecting venom into the body with bites. A spider only releases venom only after they are handled in an aggressive nature. Scientists need the toxins on a daily basis to feed on small animals, replenishing the spent venom takes some time. There are various species of spiders that are venomous in nature, however, only a few of them are capable of causing serious pain. Some dangerous spiders can cause painful bites which should get immediate medical treatment.Some commonly known venom-containing spider is black widow spider, brown recluse spiders, funnel-web spider, tarantulas, and armadeiras. The native spider of Australia, the black widow spider, is found largely in North America. Black widows have an hourglass-shaped mark near their abdomen. The black widows have painful bites, much more painful than pinpricks. After a small span of being bitten by black widows, the pain spreads throughout the body. The bites of black widows rarely result in death but bites from these dangerous spiders can result in respiratory failure, vomiting, and spasms.The funnel-web spider is found in the Australian forests contains the highest amount of venom. The funnel-web male is more toxic than the female funnel-web. The funnel webs also have powerful venom than the black widow of North America. Injecting the funnel-web venom in human beings might lead to death between 15 minutes to three days after being bitten. However, since the invention of antivenoms of these spiders, people rarely die from the bites of funnel-webs.The brown recluse spider is another spider native to North America like black widow. The brown recluse spider is distinguished from a black widow by its violin-shaped marking on the back unlike the hourglass mark on the abdomen of the black widow spider. The brown recluse spiders have a painless spider bite at the beginning but the pain is felt by humans within a short span and bumps develop within no time. The brown recluse spiders are dangerous to humans as they can destroy all tissues of human beings on being bitten however medical intervention has led to the antivenom of his dangerous spider.Tarantulas are also venomous spiders but their venom is actually harmless for human beings. Their venom is said to be harmless as it only causes reactions and allergies on the skin of humans when bitten. They are also less aggressive than the black widow and brown recluse spiders found in North America. Unlike the brown recluse, the armadeiras belong to South America. They have armor on the back which makes them look scarier than others. The symptoms of an armadeiras bite include dizziness, respiratory failure, problems in vision, and death in extreme cases. Antivenom is not frequently used for an armadeiras bite rather the symptoms are treated by pain management.Identifying A Venomous SpiderIdentification of a venomous or a non-venomous spider can be tricky, even the experts fail in identifying them properly all the time. Mostly all spiders vary between black, brown, and gray colors. Therefore the differences in color are not a reliable source of separation.There are no reliable methods of differentiating between venomous and non-venomous spiders, almost all spiders are similar in color with little to no variation. A brown spider that looks like a harmless species could turn out to be the dangerous brown recluse. It is impossible for any common man to determine whether a spider contains venom or not just by looking at it. Experts who have knowledge regarding the tiny details of a spider’s appearance could only identify the species correctly. The spiders that are found commonly in the house also have venomous fangs. Therefore next time you locate one in your house, you can easily identify them as a venomous one.Things To Do If You Get Bitten By A Venomous SpiderSpiders are elusive in nature, they do not bite humans unless there’s a valid reason. They mostly bite when they feel afraid or threatened. Therefore avoiding a spider bite by taking some precautions is the optimal choice.There are some precautions that could help you to control spider bites as much as possible. Some of them include checking your clothes and belongings before using them or removing everything that might attract the attention of spiders like egg sacs. However, even after taking the necessary precautions, if you still get bitten by a spider there are some home remedies that might help you before going to the hospital. A bite from venomous spiders may result in breathing problems, serious muscle cramps, high blood pressure, and a high heart rate. Before the paramedics appear, you can take some home remedial steps to control the venom from spreading.The bite area should be at first cleaned with warm water and soap and a cold water pack should be applied later to control the muscle cramps. Before applying any kind of medicine elevate the bite area and medical attention should be sought immediately. Treatments for spider bites depend on the seriousness of the symptoms. Some common medicines that are provided after venomous spiders bite humans are sedatives, pain killers, and muscle relaxers along with cleaning the bite area thrice a day.Types Of Non-Venomous SpidersNonvenomous spiders are extremely rare. They are found in Australia and belong to the only group of nonvenomous spiders called the Uloboridae family.Although there exist many species under this group it is still considered to be rare in comparison to the large diversified group of venomous spiders. The Uloboridae species lack the venom glands making them venom-less, unlike the others. Apart from the non-venomous ones, there are 4,000 species of harmless spiders present on Earth. However, they still contain a very small amount of venom in them which does not pose any threat to humans.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for are all spiders venomous then why not take a look at are birds warm-blooded, or are black diamonds real.
Spiders are arthropods belonging to the vast family of insects found all over the world.
