Even if you aren’t afraid of spiders, there’s one arachnid that ought to make your heart plummet into the Earth’s core. No other eight-legged creature can compare to this. Not the black widow. Not the brown recluse. Not even the Brazilian wandering spider, the most venomous spider in the world, can compare. No, this is the big leagues. This is the Sydney funnel-web spider.
Native to Australia (of course), the Sydney funnel-web can be found around the suburbs of Sydney, hence the name, as well as the Blue Mountains to the west. Within their range, they live inside burrows, lined with funnel-shaped silk.
Male funnel-webs are far more dangerous than the females. In fact, only male funnel-webs are responsible for all known funnel-web bites. There are two reasons for this.
First, the male funnel-web’s venom contains Robustoxin (d-Atracotoxin-Ar1), which severely and similarly affects the nervous systems of humans and other primates, but not of other mammals. The female funnel-web’s venom does not contain this chemical.
Second, while females tend to stay inside their burrows, during the warmer months, the males do not. In their search for new girlfriends, the male funnel-webs will wander into backyards, houses, and even swimming pools. They can even remain submerged at the bottom of a pool for up to 24 hours.
Watch what happens when one of these deadly spiders crosses path a wolf spider:
Finally, check out this video of famed masochist Coyote Peterson getting up close and personal with one of these amazing arachnids:
