Many people have some sort of fear of 8-legged, air-breathing arthropods referred to as spiders. You don’t have to be arachnophobic though to realize that some of these creatures deserve a part in the worst types of horror movies.
While it’s true that spiders look terrifying and they can inject deadly venom, of the 43,000 different types of spiders, very few are dangerous. Less than 30 have been responsible for human deaths.
In this post, we have compiled a list of the scariest spiders in the world, and rest assured, even though not all of them can inflict lethal damage, you wouldn’t want to come across one of these any time soon!
1. Redback Spider
The Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) is also referred to as the Australian Black Widow and as the name suggests, it’s native to Australia. More particularly in the southern part of Australia and the deserts in the western part of the country.
This type of spider is easily recognized because it has a large red hourglass-typemarking on its back. It’s also one of the most venomous spiders in Australia but antivenom has been readily available since the 1950s. These are relatively small spiders and females have a total size of 10 millimeters (0.4 inches). Male redback spiders are even smaller with a size of just 3 to 4 millimeters (0.12 to 0.16 inches).
The Japanese spider crab is one of the scariest animals in the ocean and is the largest arthropod in the world based on leg span. Their leg span can grow up to a length of 3.7 meters (12.1 feet) with their body size just being 40 centimeters (16 inches).
These monsters are also quite heavy as they can weigh up to 19 kilos (42 lbs). They live along the coasts of Japan and more particularly, the main island of Honshu near Tokyo Bay. You can consider yourself lucky because you won’t come across these creatures any time soon. They prefer to live at a depth of 50 to 600 meters (160 and 1,970 feet), crawling into holes in the deep ocean.
Japanese spider crab / Wiki Commons
3. Sydney Funnel-Web Spider
The Sydney Funnel-Web Spider, also referred to as Atracidae or Atracids, is a family of spiders native to Australia. There are 3 distinct genera and 35 different types of species in this spider family.
Most of these spiders are medium in size with a length ranging between 1 and 5 centimeters (0.4 and 2.0 inches). About 6 different species are extremely venomous and dangerous for humans as well and bites are potentially deadly when left untreated.
Sydney funnel-web spider / CSIRO / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
4. Goliath Birdeater
The Goliath Birdeater is a spider that belongs to one of the most famous spider families in the world, the Tarantulas. It’s the largest spider in the world by both body length and weight. Their body can grow to a length of up to 13 centimeters (5.1 inches) and they can weigh up to 175 grams (6.2 oz).
Even though it’s referred to as a bird-eating spider, it rarely eats cute birds though. Its name is derived from an engraving dating back to the 18th century in which it’s depicted eating a hummingbird. They can be found in the rainforests of multiple countries in South America.
Goliath Birdeater / Fernando Flores / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
5. Giant Huntsman Spider
The Giant Huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima) is the biggest in the world based on leg span, which can reach a length of up to 30 centimeters (1 foot). The fact that their body is just 4.6 centimeters (1.8 inches) long makes them one of the scariest spiders in the world as well.
These spiders can only be found in Laos, a country in Southeast Asia, and were first discovered in a cave in the country. They are also considered to be cave dwellers that rarely come out of their holes. It’s one of the many species of spiders in which the male gets eaten by the female after mating.
Giant Huntsman Spider / Petra & Wilfried / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
6. Brazilian Wandering Spider
Brazilian Wandering Spiders (Phoneutria) aren’t particularly spiders you want to see wandering around near your home. There are 8 different types of species of this type of spider and they belong to the family Ctenidae. They are also sometimes referred to as “armed spiders” or “banana spiders.”
These spiders can become huge with a leg span of between 13 and 18 centimeters (5.1 and 7.1 inches). They are mostly found in countries in South America, even though some are native to Central America as well. You won’t see them wandering about during the day because they are known to wander the floor of the jungle at night.
The Brazilian Salmon Pink (Lasiodora parahybana) is also sometimes referred to as the Brazilian salmon pink bird-eating tarantula and is the third-largest type of tarantula in the world. It’s native to the northeastern part of Brazil, specifically the Brazilian state of Paraíba.
Even though these can be considered some of the scariest spiders in the world, they are some of the most popular pets for people who enjoy keeping a giant spider in their house. They breed easily and are considered to be obedient to their owners, even though the hair on their abdomen can cause blindness if they touch the eye.
Brazilian salmon pink / Wiki Commons
8. Black-Footed Yellow Sac Spider
The Black-Footed Yellow Sac Spider is also referred to as the American yellow sac spider and that’s to distinguish it from a very similar-looking spider that lives in Europe and Central Asia. These spiders were originally considered to be true sac spiders but this has changed and they are currently considered to be part of the Cheiracanthiidae family.
You can easily recognize these spiders because of their yellowish color and dark markings on the edge of their legs and jaws. They are relatively small but are fearsome predators that actively hunt insects and other spiders at night. They are native to the Americas and are usually found in the foliage of forests or gardens. During the winter, these spiders tend to move inside houses as well.
Cheiracanthium inclusum / Austin Campbell / Wiki Commons
9. Zebra Spider
The zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) is also known as the zebra jumping spider. This is a reference to both the distinctive black and white stripes on their bodies and the fact that they are ambush predators that jump toward their prey. They feast on a wide variety of small creatures that happens to cross their paths.
These spiders are very common in just about every part of the Northern Hemisphere. They can be found in North America, Europe, and North Asia. One of the most fascinating features of these spiders which they share with all other jumping spiders is that they have 4 pairs of eyes. This provides them with an excellent binocular vision for hunting.
Zebra jumping spider / Wiki Commons
10. Mouse Spiders
Mouse spiders are small to medium-sized spiders that are generally dark brown or black in color and have a glossy carapace and abdomen area in males. The appearance of these spiders can vary greatly among individuals.
They can be found in Australia and South America and although they are not generally dangerous to humans, they do produce toxic venom. These hairy spiders are carnivorous creatures that ambush their prey from holes they dig into the ground.
