THE WEEK - Spiders are some of the most diverse creatures on Earth. While they can be frightening, most of them are harmless and skittish. However, some spiders are dangerous — or deadly. Several species have venom that is toxic to humans and can have long-lasting, even fatal, consequences. Here are some of the scariest spiders to look out for and steer clear of.
Funnel-web spider
There are several funnel-web spiders, but the most well-known is the Atrax robustus. These arachnids, found in Australia, are "large, black aggressive spider[s] with large powerful fangs," said the University of Melbourne. They can be incredibly dangerous. "The Sydney funnel-web spider can kill a toddler in about five minutes and a 5-year-old in about two hours," Rick Vetter, a retired research associate with the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside, said to Live Science. The venom from this spider can cause "numbness around the mouth and spasms of the tongue, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, acute gastric dilatation, profuse sweating, salivation, lacrimation [and] piloerection," said the University of Melbourne.