My mom was bitten by a brown widow when she was 7 months pregnant with me. I'm still waiting for the super powers to kick in...

Antarctica has the most venomous spider on the planet. It's so venomous that anyone who has seen it has died. That's why there's no reports of it.

A few years back, a bloke in england was bitten and hospitalised by a wandering spider. He was a supermarket employee, unpacking a crate of bananas when he felt a sting in his hand. He thought he'd scratched himself on a nail, until a bloody big wandering spider revealed itself. He made a full recovery but still probably breaks into a cold sweat every time he sees a bowl of fruit.

As soon as I heard priapism i was scared

I'll always give kudos to the fact you live handled a Brazilian Wandering Spider a while back. Really drove home the point that it wasn't the big nasty killer it was made out to be.

Very knowledgeable biologist.  Love your well-researched, nuanced content.  Always look forward to your frequent posts.  Please, more on venomous snakes!  Thanks Spencer.

14:09 in addition to the tarantula genus Poecilotheria, there are actually quite a few tarantulas in Asia that produce pretty nasty bites. There’s even rumors of Lampropelma species killing people in Singapore, but those are unconfirmed. Cyriopagopus might actually have some of the worst bites in the tarantula family after the genus Haplopelma was added to Cyriopagopus. They are also not shy about giving those bites. I’ve had them as pets and they’re notoriously violent, especially the infamous Cyriopagopus lividum - Cobalt Blue Tarantula. In Africa there are also some supposedly deadly tarantulas from the genus Stromatopelma, but again, these are rumors from locals and not confirmed. What is confirmed is that Stromatopelma bites suuuuuuck, at least from what I’ve read in bite reports. Stromatopelma had a bad reputation that’s been largely been discovered as false so perhaps their venom isn’t as bad as people say either.

I got bit by a black widow here in California and it was a very unpleasant few days.

11:26 man... gotta love those full body tingly feelings while laying in bed watching a video about spiders at 3am 😂

This week, I was able to pick up over 20 spiders. This is my first time being able to make myself intentionally pick them up after 3 decades of fighting arachnophobia while also being a biologist working with invertebrates casually for 2 of those decades. Keep up the good fight of setting people free of that obnoxious condition. Life is so much better when they don't bother you at all.

Yes, yes I will keep picking them up now that I can, the sky is the limit, Though I'll still try not to pick up the ones I can recognize as potentially dangerous😂 (like desert recluse) they can stay where they are or go in the jar. Everyone else is getting picked up.

bro i have arachnophobia and it's 3 AM why am i watching this.


(oh right because i'm german so luckily cellar spiders are nearing the worst you can get, my condolences to south americans and australians with arachnophobia)

Finally someone that’s put the northern tree funnel web above the Sydney funnel web 🎉. I’ve been saying this for years!

Awesome stuff. Good shout on the Gigathele and the Sand Spiders.

My friend was bitten by the Mediterranean Recluse, and it let to a necrotic condition on her ankle. Horrible.

i was hesitant to click on this video thinking it would be an ai voiceover. thank you for using your real voice on this

Free handling most, if not all, spiders is done by NOT pressing on their bodies.

Here in Germany the worst spider bite is comparable to a wasp sting.
That doesn't mean there aren't any cool spiders here, but sometimes I almost feel like I'm missing out on something

Edit: I should've probably phrased it a little differently. Of course it's a privilege to never have to worry about those kinds of danger. there's just not a lot of wildlife and biodiversity here

Hadronyche formidabilis mentioned = instant like

I have been debilitatingly arachnophobic ever since I can remember. For 10 years I’ve been trying to overcome my fear of them and watching your channel is the only thing I have ever been able to do involving spiders that doesn’t immediately send me into a panic attack. I haven’t figured out what it is about your channel that keeps me at ease, but I want to thank you for it.

Hi Spencer great video mate really enjoyed it .sometimes I’m glad that here in the boring uk 🇬🇧 we don’t really have to worry about all the nasty critters that are everywhere around the world. Makes you appreciate what people in different countries have to live with daily.

I am obsessed with spiders and this showed me how much I don’t know. 😂 thank you. Awesome content.