# What is the largest spider that is dangerous to people? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197 "2017-07-26T21:25:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/1 "2017-07-26T21:25:54Z")
I’m pretty sure that I remember reading that the largest spiders (tarantulas and the like) do not have venom that is particularly harmful to humans. What would be the largest arachnid species which could inflict a dangerous bite upon a healthy adult human? (Don’t need answer fast…) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/2 "2017-07-26T21:35:14Z")
My guess is the [Sydney funnel-web spider.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_funnel-web_spider) Up to 2 inches body length. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/3 "2017-07-26T22:27:09Z")
Why, \*WHY \*do I click on the links that I \*KNOW \*are gonna be spiders? I think I must hate myself. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/4 "2017-07-27T13:14:45Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > My guess is the [Sydney funnel-web spider.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_funnel-web_spider) Up to 2 inches body length. Nifty! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/5 "2017-07-27T14:31:51Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > My guess is the [Sydney funnel-web spider.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_funnel-web_spider) Up to 2 inches body length. Is there _any_ animal in Australia that is not poisonous? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/6 "2017-07-27T14:56:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Is there _any_ animal in Australia that is not poisonous? There are only three kinds of animals in Australia. The ones that kill you to eat you, like crocodiles and sharks, the ones that are venomous and kill you for no reason, like the brown snakes and the funnel spiders, and those fucking koala bears. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/7 "2017-07-27T15:05:14Z")
Two key quotes from the Wiki: > [@](#): > > Funnel-web spider venom contains a compound known as atracotoxin, an ion channel inhibitor, which makes the venom highly toxic for humans and other primates. However, it does not affect the nervous system of other mammals. That’s interesting and I suppose just basically random that it has a venom that’s only really dangerous to primates given the lack of (native) primates to Australia. > [@](#): > > In September 2012, it was reported that stocks of antivenom were running low, and members of the public were asked to catch the spiders so that they could be milked for their venom. Who wants to catch spiders with deadly venom and which bite repeatedly when provoked? 😃 “Funny thing, since we started our campaign to have people catch these spiders for milking, our stocks of antivenom have actually gone _down!_” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/8 "2017-07-27T15:14:15Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Why, \*WHY \*do I click on the links that I \*KNOW \*are gonna be spiders? I think I must hate myself. Same here. Did you scroll down? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/9 "2017-07-27T16:33:41Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > There are only three kinds of animals in Australia. The ones that kill you to eat you, like crocodiles and sharks, the ones that are venomous and kill you for no reason, like the brown snakes and the funnel spiders, and those fucking koala bears. Koala bears are disease-ridden, foul-tempered, and have vicious claws and teeth. > **[Cuddly koala attacks South Australian woman](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2862089/Looks-deceiving-South-Australian-woman-finds-cuddly-koala-turn-nasty-annoy-enough.html)** > > A South Australian woman has found out that koalas aren't that cuddly after one brutally bit her leg and left her nursing a wound that required 12 stitches. > **[Koala chlamydia: The STD threatening an Australian icon](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22207442)** > > Koala numbers are plummeting, and one of the main reasons is the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia. > **[You can accidentally get an STD from a koala](https://gizmodo.com/you-can-accidentally-get-an-std-from-a-koala-5920738)** > > Yes. You can. Now try to sleep tonight. Apparently, the koala population is threatened by a terrible and widespread outbreak of chlamydia. And it can be spread to humans. No. Not that way. > **[Koala retrovirus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala_retrovirus)** > > Koala retrovirus (KoRV) is a retrovirus that is present in many populations of koalas. It has been implicated as the agent of koala immune deficiency syndrome (KIDS), an AIDS-like immunodeficiency that leaves infected koalas more susceptible to infectious disease and cancers. The virus is thought to be a recently introduced exogenous virus that is also integrating into the koala genome (becoming endogenous). Thus the virus can transmit both horizontally (from animal to animal in the classic s Ko... They are **not** an exception to the idea that everything in Australia wants to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/10 "2017-07-27T16:38:22Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > They are **not** an exception to the idea that everything in Australia wants to kill you. The [quokka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka) is the exception to the rule. An Australian animal that is cute and ridiculously friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/11 "2017-07-27T16:47:25Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > My guess is the [Sydney funnel-web spider.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_funnel-web_spider) Up to 2 inches body length. I’ll challenge that with the [Brazilian wandering spider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneutria). Up to two inches in length (with legs 6 inches). It’s genus, Phoneutria, means “murderous” in Greek. It is aggressive and considered one of the most venomous spiders in the world (in close running with the funnel web spider). Among other nasty things the bite does is it gives males long lasting, painful erections (priapism). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/12 "2017-07-27T16:59:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Is there _any_ animal in Australia that is not poisonous? Not only animals but plants too. > [@](#): > > One of the world’s most venomous plants, the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree can cause months of excruciating pain for unsuspecting humans. > > MARINA HURLEY’S DEDICATION to science was sorely tested during the three years she spent in Queensland’s Atherton Tableland studying stinging trees. The entomologist and ecologist’s first encounter with the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree produced a sneezing fit and left her eyes and nose running for hours. Even protective particle masks and welding gloves could not spare her several subsequent stings – one requiring hospitalisation – but that was nothing compared with the severe allergy she developed. > > “Being stung is the worst kind of pain you can imagine - like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time,” said Marina, who at the time was a postgraduate student at James Cook University investigating the herbivores that eat stinging trees. > > \ > > Ernie Rider will never forget the day in 1963 that he was slapped in the face, arms and chest by a stinging tree. “I remember it feeling like there were giant hands trying to squash my chest,” he said. “For two or three days the pain was almost unbearable; I couldn’t work or sleep, then it was pretty bad pain for another fortnight or so. The stinging persisted for two years and recurred every time I had a cold shower.” > > \ > > So swollen was Les Moore after being stung across the face several years ago that he said he resembled Mr Potato Head. > > “I think I went into anaphylactic shock and it took days for my sight to recover,” said Les, a scientific officer with the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology in Queensland, who was near Bartle Frere (North Peak) studying cassowaries when disaster struck. > > “Within minutes the initial stinging and burning intensified and the pain in my eyes was like someone had poured acid on them. My mouth and tongue swelled up so much that I had trouble breathing. It was debilitating and I had to blunder my way out of the bush.” > > SOURCE: [Gympie Gympie: Once stung, never forgotten - Australian Geographic](http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2009/06/gympie-gympie-once-stung,-never-forgotten/) Lots of anecdotes like those above. I recall one suggesting someone killed themself after using a leaf from the plant to wipe themself after going to the bathroom rather than suffer the horrifying pain in that part of their body. Probably apocryphal but believable given all accounts of an encounter with this plant. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/13 "2017-07-27T17:01:50Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The [quokka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka) is the exception to the rule. An Australian animal that is cute and ridiculously friendly. That is to lull one into a false sense of security-they probably chew human throats apart while the person sleeps. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/14 "2017-07-27T17:05:47Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That is to lull one into a false sense of security-they probably chew human throats apart while the person sleeps. Also if you look at the map of the range of the animal, it’s the tiniest sliver of the western-most corner of the continent. It’s like, “This little bit of Australia won’t kill you, don’t go anywhere else.” ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/15 "2017-07-27T17:11:06Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’ll challenge that with the [Brazilian wandering spider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneutria). > > Up to two inches in length (with legs 6 inches). It’s genus, Phoneutria, means “murderous” in Greek. It is aggressive and considered one of the most venomous spiders in the world (in close running with the funnel web spider). > > Among other nasty things the bite does is it gives males long lasting, painful erections (priapism). Nightmare material…Of the Brazilian _armadeira_ spider species, one in particular is an urban dweller, _[Phoneutria Nigriventer](http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/700103/spider-phoneutria-nigriventer/)_. And that is the spider that I encountered many years ago with my wife and her sister while they were cleaning out their late mom’s house in Rio de Janeiro–one of them opened a cabinet to get a pot and out it came. The thing was as big as my hand, and it skittered across the floor at lightning speed, down the hall, and into the bathroom. We all ran to the bathroom with brooms in hand, only to find an empty tiled room, bare except for a wicker laundry hamper against the wall. My sister-in-law carefully removed each article of clothing from the basket with a broom handle and shook it, until we got to the bottom. Then we upended the basket and… …wham…wham…wham… Brooms came down until the beast was destroyed. I didn’t know what kind of spider it was for decades, but even without knowing how deadly it was, we knew it had to be eliminated. That’s the kind of spider you cannot allow to escape alive within your home. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/16 "2017-07-27T17:33:48Z")
It resembles your basic [wolf spider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spider) of the US of A. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/17 "2017-07-27T17:37:02Z")
You can argue that its venom won’t kill people, but the size alone of the Goliath “Bird Eating” Spider arguably makes it dangerous. Its fangs are pretty impressive (in _the Eat-a-Bug Cookbook_\*, David George Gordon gives as the second step in preparation that you should take a pair of heavy cutting shears and cut off the fangs. even though the “bird eating” part of its name supposedly comes from an engraving showing it eating a hummingbird, I observe that the Wikipedia entry\*\* nevertgheless says “It only rarely preys on adult birds”. Rarely. I like that. That it preys on adult birds _at all_ is cause for alarm. I don’t care if it doesn’t make a habit of it.) This site\*\*\* observes: “Their two fangs have poison glands at their base. Although they are not very toxic to humans, they can cause severe pain, nausea and sweating. The venom works on the nervous system and paralyzes its smaller victims.” _severe pain, nausea, and sweating_ are deadly enough, in my book, especially if coupled with extreme size. also, like many tarantulas, it can scrape hairs from its body that cause severe irritation, even without poison. \*[https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Bug-Cookbook-Revised-Grasshoppers/dp/1607744368](https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Bug-Cookbook-Revised-Grasshoppers/dp/1607744368) \*\* [Goliath birdeater - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_birdeater) \*\*\* [Blue Planet Biomes - Goliath Bird Eating Spider](http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/goliath_bird_eating_spider.htm) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/18 "2017-07-27T18:10:06Z")
OK, I just spent four bucks to buy that sucker on Ebay. I blame\*\* _you_\*\*, Cal! The first selection on typing “Goliath” in Google search is “Bird eating spider”. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/19 "2017-07-28T02:43:15Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > There are only three kinds of animals in Australia. The ones that kill you to eat you, like crocodiles and sharks, the ones that are venomous and kill you for no reason, like the brown snakes and the funnel spiders, and those fucking koala bears. Don’t forget the box jellies. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197/20 "2017-07-29T19:07:53Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > There are only three kinds of animals in Australia. The ones that kill you to eat you, like crocodiles and sharks, the ones that are venomous and kill you for no reason, like the brown snakes and the funnel spiders, and those fucking koala bears. Well, later posts may nitpick, but this is my vote for the SD’s Quote of the Year so far. I can picture George Carlin saying this! Dennis [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-spider-that-is-dangerous-to-people/792197.md?page=2)