What's the World's Deadliest Spider?

The jumping zebra spider can leap up to 20 times its body length and primarily feeds on insects like mosquitoes and flies. The Goliath bird-eating spider, Prime Boosts Supplement the largest spider in the world, rarely eats birds despite its name, preferring insects and small mammals. The black widow spider's venom is 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's, but bites are rarely fatal to humans, causing symptoms like muscle aches and difficulty breathing. But even if you missed that one on Netflix, there's a fair-to-middling chance that spiders make you at least a little apprehensive. One 2012 study estimated that 7 percent of the U.S. But it's kind of crazy to be afraid of spiders. While there are a few venomous species -- such as the black widow and brown recluse spiders -- most aren't dangerous to humans. And if you can get over your fear and take a good look, some spiders are even beautiful. Here are 10 of the most fascinating -- and Learn more OK, a little scary -- ones around.

If the notion of a spider leaping in your direction is worrisome, try imagining one that, relatively speaking, has way more "ups" than Michael Jordan in his Prime Boosts Supplement. And when it looks at you with those plaintive eight eyes, who could resist its charm? Special-effects people cast it whenever there's a script calling for a venomous spider to menace a hero or grow to enormous size and terrorize a town. But looks can be deceiving. While it is true that Lycosa tarantula is capable of biting a human, its venom has a very low toxicity, and less fearful individuals may actually keep them as pets. However, you can get a minor skin rash or eye-and-nose inflammation from handling one, so be sure to wash your face and hands afterward. Discovered in a forest preserve in Singapore in 1924, this spider lives in the foliage of small trees and has been observed only sporadically ever since.

It's one of the biggest types of crab spiders, at about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in length. But Heteropoda davidbowie, whose name comes from the bright orange hairs on its red-brown body and legs, fits the bill. Part of the tarantula family, Theraphosa blondi, found in Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazil, is the veritable Andre the Giant of spiders. The biggest spider in the world, the largest specimen ever captured, a female named Rosi, weighed a formidable 6.1 ounces (175 grams). Velvety black in appearance and equipped with fangs that are three-quarters of an inch (20 millimeters in length), the Goliath usually feeds on insects such as crickets and beetles. Despite its name, it rarely feeds on birds, but it's capable of killing and consuming bigger prey, like small mammals and frogs. S. quarter, is one of the weirdest-looking creatures you'll ever see -- that is, if you aren't fooled by its ingenious camouflage. The twig spider has a bright-green abdomen and lines up its tiny, thin legs in a straight line, so that it looks like the tendril of a climbing plant.

The only time its presence is obvious is when it moves. Little information is available in scientific texts about This product spider, although it was first discovered in the 1700s and lives in India, Borneo and China. These creatures have a body that's about 1.4 inches (35 millimeters) in length. But the spider, which looks a bit like a tiny black leather glove formed into a fist, possesses a fearsomeness that isn't all show. These spiders are extremely aggressive and venomous, and the males have very strong fangs. 75 inches (4.5 centimeters) across, is an ancient creature, part of a genus that may date back as far as 360 million years to the Carboniferous period. It has lasted that long by hiding in cave walls in Malaysia, where it camouflages its nest with a trapdoor fashioned from mud and dirt, attached to six to eight signal threads. The spider waits underneath with its legs touching the threads. If an unwary insect lands on that spot, an alarm is tripped and the spider rushes out and grabs the victim and drags it into its lair.

Latrodectus Hesperus, which is found in temperate regions throughout the world, has a bulbous body and a distinctive, hourglass-shaped mark on its abdomen. It is just 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) in length, but its size is deceptive. The spider's venom reportedly is 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake, and if the creature bites you, the result is achy muscles, nausea and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult. Fortunately, most people who are bitten by black widows don't suffer any serious or permanent injury, though the venom can be fatal to small children, the elderly or people in poor health. Black widows are most infamous for their violent macabre mating behavior, in which females sometimes kill and eat their mates after copulation. What unique hunting methods do some spiders use? Some spiders, like the trapdoor spider, use unique hunting methods such as building a camouflaged trapdoor over their burrows to ambush prey.