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THE WORLDS DEADLIEST
VENOMOUS SPIDERS
One of most venomous spiders in the world is currently understood to be the Brazilian Wandering Spider or Banana spider. This spider is very deadly perhaps the worlds deadliest and is even stated in the 'Guinness Book of Records' as being such. I will however state here at 'Vince's Worthwhile Website' that this is not exactly the case. I will however continue talking about the Brazilian Wandering Spider as possibly the 2nd Worlds most deadliest spider.
This spider is indigenous to the tropical and subtropical regions of most areas in South America. It is called a wandering spider as its a real 'nomad' in that it doesn't live in any certain area but moreover it likes to roam around and take refuge in any place that it finds suitable such as cardboard boxes, hollow tree trunks and logs, cars, houses, clothes, shoes and boots. The photo below shows one of these spiders on the arm of the photographer 'Teschuser'. This was a really risky thing to do and is not recommended for anyone to attempt, ever, at all. One bite from this creature can be fatal.
Photo credits to Techuser One of its most favored dwelling places is within bunches of bananas and consequently many of these deadly creatures have appeared around the world more notably in supermarkets. The spider is the classic stow-away and will secret itself in the center of a bunch of bananas only to emerge when the bananas are being sorted at their destination ie: the US, Canada, UK, Germany in fact any country that imports bananas. The Brazilian Wandering Spider is not just indigenous to South America as these creatures have also been found in Cameroon, Africa and other hot countries as well. It isn't called a wanderer for nothing !
The Brazilian Wandering Spider has an ostensible reputation as being a very nasty creature to come across due its nature of being extremely aggressive. It can run very fast and will attack anything that gets too close to it...including people. The spider is very nervous possibly paranoid and this agitated state tends to make the spider chose to fight rather than flight.
The image below of this spider sitting on the hand of photographer 'Techuser' was done at extreme risk and should not be attempted by anyone else and here at Vince's Worthwhile Website I do not promote this display of disregard to the creatures lethality...but its a great photo isn't it !
The toxin that this spider injects into its victims is amongst the most deadly known to man, the neurotoxin is potent, very potent in fact only 6 thousandth of a milligram is needed to kill a mouse. It carries this toxin in a small sack situated behind its fangs and there is enough there to kill thousands of mice. The Fangs usually remain retracted inside the spider jaw until needed. When 'needed' the fangs are then released to stab or bite the victim and inject the toxin. Not all of these spiders bites are potentially fatal as they can often give a 'dry bite' with out any toxin as a warning shot.
The spider is quite frightening and ugly to see, enough to make that instinct in you come alive and make you run off, away from it. The Brazilian Wandering Spider grows to about 5 inches in length with a body of about 1 inch long. They like to eat lizards, mice, large insects and even other spiders. The Brazilian Wandering Spider will usually rear up on four of is legs to give intention of imminent attack, just before it actually does attack !
Definitely not for the feint hearted ! |
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Amongst the list of deadliest, most venomous spiders in the World as seen below: from left to right: the Black Widow, the Brown Recluse and the Funnel Web, these also rank quite highly, in fact very highly.
There is one spider missing from that list though as it is not very well known and is perhaps the most deadliest, most venomous of all spiders, even more so than our friend the Brazilian Wanderer. THE MOST DEADLIEST SPIDER IN THE WORLD This spider then is the Sicarius Hahni ( Sicarius: Lat: Murderer ) or The Six Eyed Sand Spider, also known as The Six Eyed Crab Spider and is a member of the 'recluse' ~Loxosceles family of spiders.
It is a quiet and shy but fast moving spider that only lives in the South African desert. It is a light or reddish brown and sometimes yellowish colored spider with a body of about ½ an inch long and when measured to include its legs is about 2 inches in length. Its legs are cambered in slightly like that of a crab and looks similar to the American Wolf Spider or the North American Huntsman Spider. Depending on the actual species, the spiders abdomen can be greater or smaller. The closest relative of this spider would be the Chilean Recluse ' Loxosceles ' spider. When we talk about the lethal poison's that spiders such as the Chilean Brown Recluse have or the poison's that belong to the famously aggressive Sydney Funnel Web or indeed that of the Brazilian Wandering Spider then none come close to the absolute lethality of the poison known as a cryotoxin of the Sicarius Hahni.
The Venom of the Sicarius Hahni has what is described as the most potent cryotoxin that has ever been discovered in any living thing, even more potent than the neurotoxin carried by the Golden Poison Dart Frog. The venom of the Sicarius Hahni is a cryotoxin in that it totally devastates and destroys the composite structure of all living tissue and indeed their cells. How this toxin actually works in the total breakdown of cell tissue is not fully understood by science but it is believed that it behaves like an acid, almost like sulphuric acid. When animals have actually been bitten by this spider they all die with no exception. Animals that have died via this spiders bite have had an autopsy it was noted that the animals cell structure and internal organs were all broken down with massive trauma and internal hemorrhaging. The undisputed lethality of the cryotoxin of Sicarius Hahni means its the most deadliest spider to crawl the earth but statistics portray a picture of almost negligible accounts of death or injury sustained from it, in fact just two reported accounts, please read further down the page. This is because the spider is very shy and hides away from people, it has almost zero aggressive tendencies and hence getting bitten by this spider is an extremely rare occurrence. The image below is of Greta Binford of Lewis and Clark College, Oregon, USA. Apparently she is called " The Spider Woman " by friends and colleagues as she collects, breeds and extracts the venom from this most dangerous spider for research and better understanding of it. This is a job that I for one don't envy her for !
There is no known antidote whatsoever for the cryotoxin that the Sicarius Hanhi delivers, if you are bitten then you are in very serious trouble. There have been reports of two suspected casualties off a bite from this spider, it was death for the first victim due to massive internal bleeding and destruction of vital organs due to the acidic content of the toxin. Whilst amputation of the limb, in this case an arm, was the only cure for the other victim. Indeed it is advised that the only antidote to a bite from this spider is the immediate amputation of the infect limb ! Below is pictured a baby Sicarius Hanhi crawling over a Quarter Dollar for size comparison.
There are over 38, 000 known species of this spider but it is thought possible that over 100,000 or even 200,000 species may exist that have never been seen, this is due the spiders habit of concealing itself and hiding every time a person gets near to one. The spider has an ingenious way of hiding which is why they are never really seen, it flicks sand onto its body and legs and thus totally camouflages itself. Regardless of the different colors of sand for the different areas it will always be 100% camouflaged due to it using the sand of its habitat at the time, whether its buried or not, the spider will be impossible to see.
The Sicarius Hanhi will ambush its prey by simply lying in wait either on top or just a few millimeters under the surface of the sand. It will feel vibrations of any little creature passing by and then as the creature gets close the spider will pounce, as fast as lightning and bite the creature. The creature will start to die almost straight way. This spider is a true survivalist in that it will store up food energy in its body so much so that it can survive for months if not longer without eating or drinking. Science has yet to discover why the spider does not die by the inducement of its own toxin, maybe with research an antidote will one day be found, as a safeguard to be carried by intrepid travellers and those hardy, enduring indigenous peoples of the African Deserts.
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