The Forgotten Venomous Spiders of Arizona

Comments · 321

• MY

  @MyWildBackyard · 10 months ago · pinned

  Do we want to see obscure SNAKES you wouldn’t want to be bitten by next?

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• MA

  @MayorClassworm · 10 months ago (edited)

  I love how the world is suddenly like, "yeah remember when we told you about a spider that can necrotize your limbs? What if we told you if you plop all the spiders in the desert, they become killing machines."

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• BR

  @brianreddeman951 · 10 months ago

  For kids out there, molecules that end in "ase" break apart molecules that start with the same word: cellulose- cellulasd for example.

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• HE

  @Herbie11 · 10 months ago

  You make us all a little smarter every week, Spencer.<br>Thanks man!

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• GA

  @Gabriel.1985. · 10 months ago

  I honestly love how the desert spiders look. They&apos;re so different.

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• DA

  @David-zi8bk · 10 months ago

  My kids and I love watching these videos together.<br> My boys love finding and looking at spiders now and have no fear of them.

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• AI

  @aick · 10 months ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAnLs0W0GPU&amp;t=620">10:20</a> This is the moment you will remember when they finally do discover that this cool new spider is THE MOST DEADLY on the planet! I got nothing but mad respect for zoologists/entomologists: y&apos;all are my heroes. ♥

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• JA

  @jaimeortega4940 · 10 months ago

  Was bitten by two giant Western Brown Recluses. Did nothing except leave weird reddish/pink co centric circles around the bites that faded away. A small Eastern Recluse actually gave me a headache but that&apos;s it. I&apos;d be more concerned with Hantavirus and diseases from rodents. Or the Kissing Bug which carries Chagas disease.

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• JA

  @jaimeortega4940 · 10 months ago (edited)

  It&apos;s fascinating that convergent evolution is still taking place between Sicaridae of the Middle East and the Assassin Sand Spider of the Southwest. Fascinating that similar environment with similar prey and predators causes similar physical attributes of unrelated species. Sort of like Death Adders and Vipers. Two totally different species yet the Death Adder looks way more like a typical viper than Elapid. Even elliptical (cat eyes) pupils. Eyes most Elapids don&apos;t have.

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• MA

  @masonbutler3203 · 10 months ago

  I actually ran into what I believe was a Loxosceles Arizonica at a buddies house in Lake Havasu. He was hiding under some ping pong paddles outdoors in a house that doesnt have a permanent occupant. I decided due to scorpion activity I should exercise caution and move aside the paddles with a pool cue and immediately after moving one of the paddles a larger than expected spider scurried out. I was initially struck by how similar the appearance was to a normal brown recluse but hesitant to call it as such due to the prevalence of brown recluse &quot;sightings&quot; throughout the southwest. He was quite large, roughly times and a half the size of an american quarter. I was very thankful that I used caution and not my fingers as that was my first night out there and could have seriously messed up my vacation...

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• TI

  @timothyswag3594 · 10 months ago

  That&apos;s a beautiful Desert Sand Wandering Spider at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAnLs0W0GPU&amp;t=600">10:00</a>!

  4

• SE

  @Semiotichazey · 10 months ago

  I think one reason that deserts and rain forests have bred so many venomous animals is because the environments are so stable with minimal seasonal variation. Since it&apos;s easy to adapt to such an unchanging environment, your biggest evolutionary pressures will come from predators and prey.

  3