Spiders can be terrifying, there's no doubt about that. It's one of the last things you want crawling on you in the dark and getting bitten by them can be painful and very itchy. To know which ones are truly dangerous, though, you should look at the list below.

To know which ones are truly dangerous, though, you should look at the list below.

10. Hobo Spider (Tegenaria agrestis)
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 which may take many weeks to heal.
9. Camel Spider (Solifugae)
The camel spider really is the stuff of nightmares. 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. 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.
8. Yellow Sac Spider (Cheiracanthium)
The venom of the yellow sac spider is a cytotoxin, which means it breaks down cells, possibly causing necrosis. Bites are characterized by an initial stinging pain followed by redness and swelling which can develop into a blister or sore. The bite is often compared to that of the brown recluse, although it is less severe and any resulting wound is likely to heal much faster.
7. Fringed Ornamental Tarantula (Poecilotheria)
The Poecilotheria genus of spiders are renown for having a particularly nasty bite, none more so than Poecilotheria ornata – the fringed ornamental tarantula. The bite from one of these is reported to have caused excruciating pain, and extreme muscle cramping in some cases. One bite victim ended up in the emergency room after experiencing severe spasm and chest pains.
6. Mouse Spider (Missulena)
At this point we encounter our first Australian spider and the bites become that bit more medically significant. There are around 12 species of mouse spider in Australia which are armed with huge fangs and a venom that is similar to that of the deadly Sydney funnel-web spider.
5. Six-eyed Sand Spider (Sicarius hahni)
The scientific name for this spider’s family is Sicarius which means ‘murderer’ and the spider is certainly an assassin. It hunts by burying itself in the sand and waiting for its unsuspecting victim to wander by at which point it pounces. In trials it was shown that the venom from a bite was fatal to rabbits in as little as 5 hours.
But how dangerous is this spider to humans? Well we aren’t quite sure; there have only ever been two suspected cases of bites to humans and neither were conclusively attributed to the six-eye.
4. Redback / Black Widow Spider (Latrodectus)
The effects of this lethal toxin range from burning pain to a systemic condition known as latrodectism. Symptoms include general pain and swelling spreading from the affected area, abdominal cramps, nausea and sweating to name a few. This condition occurs in around half of bites and was often fatal in the very old and young before antivenin became available.
3. Brown Recluse / Chilean Recluse (Loxosceles)
Recluse spiders have garnered quite a reputation for themselves over recent years and the internet is awash with some pretty ugly photos of the effects of their bite. The venom of this group of spiders is known to be necrotic, i.e. flesh-eating and whilst usually mild, can result in a condition known as Loxoscelism. In these severe cases the area around the bite begins to die and a deep open sore is formed. There is no effective treatment for these bite wounds and they may take months to heal, sometimes requiring skin grafts.
2. Sydney funnel web (Atrax robustus)
The Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) is a veritable bruiser amongst the spider world. Whilst most spiders seek to avoid confrontation with humans the funnel-web will charge in delivering a volley of bites whilst clinging to its victim. Within minutes of being bitten the victim may suffer extreme symptoms such as muscle spasms, palpitations, vomiting, confusion and swelling of the brain. In some cases death has followed in as little as 15 minutes after the bite occurred.
1. Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria)
When a spider’s scientific name is derived from the Greek for murderess (Phoneutria) you can guess it’s going to be trouble and this is certainly the case for the wandering spiders. It is capable of injecting a powerful neurotoxin which is nearly 20 times more deadly than that of the Black Widow spider if it gets into the blood stream. The symptoms of envenomation include a loss of muscle control leading to breathing problems which can result in complete respiratory paralysis and eventually asphyxiation.

One important thing to note with the most dangerous spider: it has made its way into supermarkets on occasion, hitchhiking on bunches of bananas. While giving you a permanent fear of buying bananas certainly wasn't the intention, it should make you happy to know that most spiders aren't at all dangerous to people; even the ones that are rarely succeed in killing anybody. Personally, this list makes me very happy to live in the USA, where venomous spiders are few and far between. God bless America.

Personally, this list makes me very happy to live in the USA, where venomous spiders are few and far between. God bless America.

To read the rest of this article, and to learn more information, check out Planet Deadly.