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Five of the World’s Deadliest Spiders (Photos)

CREEPY CRAWLERS

Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman died from complications of a spider bite. A look at a few arachnids to avoid.

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Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman died Thursday at the age of 49—succombing to liver disease that he allegedly contracted from a spider bite. As those close to him search for answers in his mysterious death, here's a closer look at some deadly critters on the prowl.

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The funnel web spider, one of Australia's deadliest creatures, packs a lethal punch. With a venom that contains more than 40 different toxic proteins, a bite from one of these causes massive electrical overload in the body's nervous system. Fatalities generally occur from either heart attack or a pulmonary edema, and can come as quickly as two hours after a bite. Thankfully, due to advances in anti-venom technologies, there have been no deaths from funnel web bites in Australia since 1980.

Ian Waldie/Getty
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The redback spider's red spot is meant to issue a stern warning: run. A close relative of the black widow spider, only female  redbacks are considered dangerous in the U.S. A bite from a female redback can lead to a slow and painful death, as a result of neurotoxins in the venom. Symptoms of a lethal bite generally begin with nausea, vomiting, and then eventually muscle weakness.

Ian Waldie/Getty
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Known for its classic violin-shaped marking, the danger of the brown recluse spider centers on the fact that those bitten often do not feel it initially—or, in rare cases, ever. The lack of pain associated with the bite is misleading. In children and elderly people—who are less able to fight infection—a bite can result in necrosis (the death of tissue), nausea, vomiting, and even death. In areas of the U.S. where the spider is prevalent, such as the Midwest, systematic exterminations occur frequently.

Carolyn Kaster/AP
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The black widow spider is not quite as dangerous as her frightening name implies. A bite from this black creature—although 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's bite—rarely causes death. Researchers say most deaths from black widow bites occur in young children. The creatures only bite in self-defense. Still, anything that willfully kills and eats its mate (hence the name black widow) is trouble.

John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer, via Landov
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Brazilian wandering spiders—also known as banana spiders and armed spiders—were once rated the most venomous spider in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. The banana spider's bite is extremely venomous, sending neurotoxins through the body that—left untreated—result in paralysis, followed by asphyxiation. In the rarest of cases, the bite can cause priapism in men—a painful erection that lasts for hours on end.

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