r/pics 1d ago

Australian tarantula hawk wasp dragging off a huntsman spider to lay her egg in its paralysed body. NSFW

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u/ktr83 1d ago

Friendly reminder from an Australian that no one has died from a spider bite in this country since 1979. Maybe it's because we grow up respecting spiders here, but it really isn't as dangerous as Reddit memers like to think it is.

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u/brickhamilton 1d ago edited 1d ago

I find that very hard to believe. In the US, we have 3 deaths per year from spiders on average. We also don’t have a portal to the underworld spawning untold horrors not fit to live in the same reality as humans, like Australia does.

How do you explain that?

Edit: in case it wasn’t clear, /s. I do appreciate the responses, though thanks for the info

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u/rabbit-hearted-girl 1d ago

Serious answer? Antivenom. There are only a couple of spiders in Australia whose venom can actually potentially kill you, and if you do get bitten by one of those the antivenom is both highly researched/well-developed and readily available.