From ambushing its prey to shooting venoms - and even building webs strong enough to catch small birds - spiders are armed with all sorts of ways to catch their prey. It's no wonder they evoke nightmares!
Discover the weirdest spiders in the world
Meet some of the scariest... and most ingenious spiders on the planet - and learn to love them rather than hate them!
- 10 biggest spiders in the world: meet enormous arachnids as big as dinner plates
- World's most venomous spiders: Are these 10 deadly spiders as fearsome as their reputation?
9 of the scariest spiders
Assassin spider
This aptly named arachnid stalks its prey (other spiders) for days on end by following their silken drag lines, then walks undetected in their webs, luring them to certain death by plucking seductively at the threads.
And then there's those long, fang-tipped jaws, which the predator uses not only to impale its quarry from afar but also to hold the victim at arm's length, as it were, so that it cannot bite back before the assassin's venom kicks in.
Spotted wolf spider
Range: British Isles
Size: 1cm (body) 3cm (legspan)
Venom: yes
Hunting style: Ambush
Fear factor: The UK’s tiny suburban terror scuttles around gardens fast – very fast. Fast enough to give you the creeps at the thought of them scuttling indoors...while you're asleep
Common brown trapdoor spider
Range: Australia
Size: 1.5cm (body) 3.5 cm (legspan)
Hunting style: Ambush - pounces from a hidden lair
Fear factor: Lies in wait in its silk-lined burrow, ready to pounce as prey wander past. Can get mistaken for the funnel-web spider
Black widow
Range: North America
Size: 1.5cm body 3cm legspan
Venom: yes
Hunting style: web
Fear factor: Female venom can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fainting and even death in humans. We named it one of the deadliest spiders in the world.
Sun spider (Solifugid)
Range: Middle East
Size: 5cm (body) 12.5 cm legspan
Venom: no
Hunting style: ambush
Fear factor: Huge-fangged arachnid that skitters across the desert at speeds of up to 16kph - you wouldn't want that chasing you....
Goliath bird-eating spider
Range: South America
Size: 12cm (body) 28cm (legspan)
Venom: yes
Hunting style: burrow and ambush
Fear factor: being the size of a dinner plate – and the largest spider in the world - is probably enough to evoke fear - but if not it also fires irritant hairs if alarmed - nice!
Spitting spider
Range: Europe
Size: 2mm (body) 5mm (legspan)
Venom: Yes
Hunting style: Spitting
Fear factor: Squirts a jet of sticky venom, bonding prey to the ground
Sydney Funnel-web spider
Range: Australia
Size: 4cm (body) 7cm (legspan)
Venom: Yes
Hunting style: burrow and ambush
Fear factor: very aggressive and with a venom humans find agonising. We named it one of the world's most venomous spiders
Golden orbweb spider
Range: South East Asia and Australia
Size: 3.5cm (body) 20cm (legspan)
Venom: Yes
Hunting style: web (up to 1m across)
Fear factor: Weaves vast golden web strong enough to catch small birds
Main image © Getty Images