The majority of spiders carry venom inside their bodies and use it to bring down their prey or paralyze it. However, some spiders don’t have any venom at all – the most common spider species without venom is the Uloboridae family of spiders.
A spider’s venom contains neurotoxins, which are designed to paralyze the targets that are affected by the venom. Some spiders carry more venom than other spiders, and it’s not necessarily dictated by the size of the spider.
In this article, we’ll take a look at spiders that don’t carry venom and spiders that are not poisonous to people.
List of Spiders that are not Poisonous
1. Uloboridae Spiders
Uloboridae spiders are one of the only spider species that don’t carry any venom at all.
They’re intricate web weavers instead, as they will create strong and gripping webs to capture their targets and kill them.
When an Uloboridae spider catches an animal in its web, it will then wrap it with a thick layer of silk. The spider will also cover the target with special enzymes that are aimed to break down the animal before it enters the spider’s digestion system. As the target is covered by the enzymes, it gets liquified, making it easy for the spider to digest the animal fully.
The lack of venom glands in Uloboridae spiders is a result of an interesting development in their evolution; they have gotten used to using their enzymes for breaking down their animals and have stopped relying on their venom instead.
Uloboridae spiders are distributed widely all over the world; some spiders of this type are found in Northern Europe, while the majority of these spiders are found in North and South America, as well as in Australia.
2. Wolf Spiders
Wolf spiders do carry venom, unlike Uloboridae spiders. However, the venom they carry is not very poisonous to humans and it might only cause minor changes on the surface where the bite has happened.
The wolf spider’s bite is not poisonous, though. It might cause some discomfort and pain, although it might also cause a reaction if you’re allergic to spider bites. The majority of the population, though will not be affected by the bite of the wolf spider.
It’s typical to spot a wolf spider by seeing the eggs that it carries on its body, which is especially typical for the female members of the group. They’re at their most active at night, and they don’t usually bite humans – they only do it if they’re threatened, but their poison is not harmful to humans.
Instead, their venom is aimed towards killing or paralyzing the targets that they attack. This means that even though they do carry venom, they will not cause damage to humans, so you should not be worried about a wolf spider bite too much (unless you’re allergic to spider bites).
3. Tarantulas
Even though tarantulas appear very dangerous and potentially poisonous to humans, most are actually not that scary at all.
In fact, if a common tarantula bites you, you will probably not feel too bad after the bite. You might feel some pain and discomfort in the area where you’ve been bitten, but not much more than that.
There might also be redness and swelling in the bite area where the tarantula bites – think of it like the skin you get after a bee bite, for instance. Again, the only problem with tarantula bites is that if you’re allergic to them, you might experience a shock, but it’s not because of the spider bite, but rather because of your immune system’s reaction to the bite.
Tarantulas are one of the world’s most favorite pets, and the good thing is that most are not poisonous to humans at all, even if they bite you. But tarantulas also rarely bite, as they will do so if you handle them incorrectly.
To find out avout some exceptions to this rule, see our article on venemous tarantulas.
4. Jumping Spiders
Jumping spiders also don’t tend to bite humans, as they rely on other mechanisms to protect themselves.
There is great variety when it comes to these spiders, as there are dozens of different variations of jumping spiders.
They can jump several times their body size, which means they’ll pounce on their targets to catch them, and then inject the venom to paralyze them.
Yes, they do carry venom, but the venom is not potent enough to harm a human. Like with tarantulas and other spiders, it might only cause some irritation on the skin. Besides, bites from jumping spiders are extremely rare, and they’ll only bite you if they’re cornered or have no other choice.
5. Orb-Weaving Spiders
Orb-weaving spiders rely on their web-spinning capability to survive and to capture their prey. This means that their venom is not very potent, especially if they bite you or another human being.
Orb weavers are commonly found in gardens and outside areas where they’ll spin webs between grasses and leaves to capture other animals. These webs are often large-scale webs, which are also meant to protect the orb-weaver from potential predators from the sky.
Sometimes, orb weavers are also called garden spiders because they’re so common in garden areas around homes and houses. But don’t worry if you have on in your garden – it will usually not bite, and its bite is also not poisonous to humans. In fact, it can be highly effective at killing bugs or insects, so you might even want to keep it!
6. Common House Spiders
Lastly, common house spiders such as the Southern House Spider, for instance, don’t have a venom that is potent enough to cause severe damage to humans.
These spiders are often found hiding in homes, especially in the darker corners of homes. There, they will wait for other animals to come by, which is when they’ll take the chance to kill these animals and have a nice meal. They also create webs to capture these animals all over your home.
FAQ: Do All Spiders Have Venom?
Not all spiders have venom – one of the species that doesn’t have any venom glands is the Uloboridae family of spiders. These spiders will rely on their web-spinning capabilities instead.
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Conclusion
Not all spiders are poisonous to humans, even though the majority of spiders carry venom. One of the rare spiders that don’t have any venom glands is the Uloboridae family of spiders, but they’ll use different means of capturing prey.
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