what is the most venomous spider??

Venom

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,700
Hi,

i´m pretty tired about this, so just a quick one:

Potentially lethal spiders are included in the genera (no ranking):

1.) Atrax / Hadronyche
2.) Latrodectus
3.) Loxosceles
4.) Phoneutria
5.) Sicarius

Within the funnelwebs it´s NOT A. robustus with the most active toxin but one of the Hadronyche ssp.´s.

Within Phoneutria it´s P. nigriventer with the most active toxin.

By mere bite statistics, accidents with Latrodectus and Loxosceles are much more likely to happen than with any of the both first mentioned genera.

Due to the fact that there´s antivenom available to my very personal opinion most dangerous spiders are African Sicarius species.

With other genera like Lampona or Trechona and so on former reports about significant toxicity are doubtful to say the least.

It has to be stressed that even bites of one of the most toxic species that don´t get treated with antivenom usually don´t result in death in healthy adults.

Have a nice sunday.

Greetings,

Stefan

Thanks for posting Stefan :) I pretty much agree, though I'd add Missulena spp. to the list of potential killers. Sicarius is the overall worst in my opinion also. With the highly toxic neurokillers, you either die or recover more or less completely. With cytotoxic baddies like Sicarius, non fatal bites can still lose you a limb and damage internal organs. Their chance of causing death is high, but chance of causing non-lethal harm is VERY high, so even if you survive, you won't get off scot-free. Plus, little to no available treatment is a real bummer.

Moral of the story: don't mess about with ANY of them and you won't have to find out firsthand!
 

Crotalus

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
2,433
Remember its a different thing to compare venom potency and what the effects on humans really are.
And how willing the spider is to bite, venom yield, closeness to humans etc etc.
If you consider all these factors then Latrodectus, Loxoscelus and probably Sicarius wouldnt even be on the list. If only comparing venom drop for drop they would be on the list.
Imo its really a pointless discussion, its like debating what snake is the most venomous and only looking at the venom drop for drop without adding the other factors in.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
Thanks for posting Stefan :) I pretty much agree, though I'd add Missulena spp. to the list of potential killers. Sicarius is the overall worst in my opinion also. With the highly toxic neurokillers, you either die or recover more or less completely. With cytotoxic baddies like Sicarius, non fatal bites can still lose you a limb and damage internal organs. Their chance of causing death is high, but chance of causing non-lethal harm is VERY high, so even if you survive, you won't get off scot-free. Plus, little to no available treatment is a real bummer.

Moral of the story: don't mess about with ANY of them and you won't have to find out firsthand!
Missulena = whitetails? read they are pretty much candy asses as far as venom is concerned

Remember its a different thing to compare venom potency and what the effects on humans really are.
And how willing the spider is to bite, venom yield, closeness to humans etc etc.
If you consider all these factors then Latrodectus, Loxoscelus and probably Sicarius wouldnt even be on the list. If only comparing venom drop for drop they would be on the list.
Imo its really a pointless discussion, its like debating what snake is the most venomous and only looking at the venom drop for drop without adding the other factors in.
heaven forbid anyone do anything thinking not directly associated with, er building a bridge or something! idle speculation is the devil's work!
 

8+)

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
645
Missulena = whitetails? read they are pretty much candy asses as far as venom is concerned
Mouse Spiders, not sure they're on par with the others either. It seems the whitetail has been all but exonerated.
 

blacktara

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Messages
355
From everything I have been able to find on the net, it's certain Hadronyche species

Northern Tree Funnel Web and Frasier Island Funnel Web
 

Stefan2209

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 7, 2005
Messages
729
This site says it is the most venomious in the new world.
http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/P-fera.html

Its common name is also Banana spider.
Hi,

ahhh, you´re working with references, good.

So, my friend, if we are getting into this and you think you can proof to me / us that within the genus Phoneutria P. fera is more toxic than P. nigriventer would you please be so kind to show us scientifically valuable resources that back this up?

Like documented bite cases that can be clearly linked to this species?
Like chemical toxin analyses?

Like anything?

You are of course aware that all the documented bite cases that had severe systemic effects occured in areas where P. fera is not known to occur but P. nigriventer?
Next to that you are of course aware of the fact that the really severe bite cases didn´t even make up as much as 1% of all the analysed Bite cases, are you?

Greetings,

Stefan
 
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