hat said, we are now going to look at those spiders that are considered dangerous to humans and have proven capable of inflicting significant injury. If you have seen our list of the deadliest Australian spiders you will be familiar with several of these already although the deadliest spider of them all is not from Australia at all.
10. Hobo Spider (Tegenaria agrestis)
Hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis)
Hobo spider (Tegenaria agrestis) Photo: © tup wanders / License
The actual danger the hobo spider presents to humans is somewhat debatable. It has been proven to deliver quite serious bites to lab animals and there are many alleged cases of bites from these spiders causing necrosis, similar, but less severe than that observed in brown recluse bites. These bites cause an open wound whihc may take many weeks to heal.
There are two reasons the hobo spider has made it onto this list; firstly it is aggressive and fairly common, which increases the chance of an actual bite occurring. In fact the hobo spider is sometimes referred to as the ‘aggressive house spider’, although this could stem from a misinterpretation of its Latin name T. agrestis.
The other reason I’ve included this spider on the list is just because it is quite interesting that this spider only recently arrived in North America. Previously it was common throughout Europe and went practically unnoticed. Where it differs is that in Europe the hobo spider is not found in houses – other bigger, meaner house spiders keep it out!
9. Camel Spider (Solifugae)
Camel spider
Camel spider (Solifugae) Photo: Silver1 / License
The camel spider really is the stuff of nightmares. The biggest is the Egyptian giant solpugid with a body reaching up to six inches (15cm) in length and powerful jaws making up about a quarter of that this would be one of the biggest, scariest looking spiders in the world, except for one thing – it isn’t a spider, or a camel for that matter. Camel spiders are in fact a type of arachnid known as solifuges, which literally translates as ‘flee from the sun’. Also known as wind scorpions and sun spiders, solifuges are found in deserts throughout the world.
So why is the camel spider in the list at all? Well basically just because they look so fierce and grow so big. They are also lightning fast and capable of running at speeds of up to 10 mph (16 kph). Solifuges can inflict a painful bite but they are not venomous. So those stories about them crawling under camels, disemboweling camels and eating the insides might just be a little bit of an exaggeration!
8. Yellow Sac Spider (Cheiracanthium)
Yellow Sac Spider
Yellow Sac Spider (Cheiracanthium) Photo: ©Micha L. Rieser / License
Small and innocuous in appearance but capable of delivering quite a nasty bite, the yellow sac spider is one to avoid. The spiders of the Cheiracanthium family are usually between 5 and 10mm (1/4 to 3/8 ins) long and are pale yellow or green in colour. They are fairly widespread occurring from Australi
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