I love how you show the lengths this spider went to avoid biting you, it just wasn't interested until you gave it no other option. Keep making great videos and fighting misinformation!

What a terrifying spider. I've had mosquito bites worse than that.

A lot of staph infections I’ve seen get miss identified as spider bites or a benign spider bite gets infected with staph and suddenly a common house spider has a “necrotic bite”

This really shows how shy and reluctant to bite lampona really is

Fantastic video man! White-tailed spiders aren’t super well known in the US, but they’re a species that I’ve always liked and I’m happy to see such a thoughtful and educational video about them, there aren’t many of those out there. I’m almost surprised that the bite was as weak as it was, but her reluctance to bite was the thing that stuck out to me. Really solid piece, nothing felt too long and I appreciate the level of depth that you approach these topics with.

Great video, I’ve seen way too many people talk about the “effects” of Lampona bites. Awesome to see someone finally debunk the myths.

What always gets me is how much these spiders need to be prompted to bite

Thankyou so much for putting yourself through that for the sake of education. My family has always had a severe fear of white tails, so I've also been terrified of them the most throughout my life. Your videos have helped me the most with my fear of spiders, and it's about to be "white tails invading my home every other night" season so you've made this at a convenient time for me 😅 I was stunned at how difficult it was to get him to even bite you properly. My little pet wolf spider is basically a savage (seriously he's like a chihuahua 😂) and I was really expecting the white tail to be the same! Another great video as always, looking forward to the next one 😊

Thanks for yet another amazing informative video! :) I'm pretty far away from Australia, but I remember many years ago seeing a youtube video on these spiders and it definitely made them seem like this absolutely terrifying lil spider. How this spider was one of the reasons in Australia it is a must to tap your shoes to check for spiders. Videos like that fed so much worse in my fear at the time. Thankfully there is now channels like yours- that have not only great information and based on fact, but also the visual to show that spiders don't come even remotely near the monsters many of us tend to believe. My fear used to be so irrational I used to think relocating spiders outside would make them come back inside and want revenge and would for sure then bite me. I hated something had to be killed in order for me to have ease, so I decided to start learning more about them because I believe fear more often than not comes about when we do not understand something. I really appreciate channels like yours as they have been a tremendous help in not only overcoming my phobia, but also learning to even appreciate and see beauty and cuteness in spiders. I also love to share videos like yours with friends that also struggle with fear but are open to overcoming said fear. (Also I hope my rambling made sense, English is not my native language)

3:15 It was way back in the '80s that scientists made the discovery about white tail spider's venom. However, it was also found that some white tail spiders carry a virus that does cause necrosis. The same virus can be found in ground soil, in certain areas. That's another reason why we should always wash our hands after digging in the garden. (This was mentioned on the JJJ radio Thursday science phone-in show, a few years ago.) I also know from experience that white tail spiders are a bit aggressive. One two occasions, I've had a white tail spider follow me in a room. One time in a lounge room, where the spider was on the wall. It actually jumped off the wall and onto my back. I don't know if it bit me, though. The other time was in the bathroom. I was standing in one area, while the spider stared at me from the ceiling. When I moved, the spider turned and followed me. When I was in the shower, I looked up and the white tail spider had followed me across the room and it was staring down at me from the ceiling.

Your demonstration makes a valid point in that these are usually placid and retiring. You’ll have a higher number of encounters in New Zealand where these are now ubiquitous. It wasn’t unusual to see 10 per day when I was in the building trade there. They will quickly occupy new buildings and like to lay-up under roofing. I have also seen these exhibit a threat display when attending their eggs, usually around November, but some of them appear almost dormant, including a very large one I found under roofing - probably 45mm leg to leg with an abdomen and cephalothorax about 25mm. A colleague of mine was bitten on the back of the thumb and we observed a string of ulcers tracking up his wrist over several days. We also saw the crushed spider. This was quickly curtailed by topical antibiotics and aloe-vera. So as much as the ‘experts’ deny and invoke misidentification there is likely a mechanism not yet understood that enables reactions. This was also mentioned by a NZ medical doctor in regard to many of his elderly and likely compromised patients. I no longer have the source material for this. At one time I encountered so many of these daily that I contacted the DSIR entomology department and received exactly the same information as you present. But they did caution me against the large centipedes which were also present and said they can be medically significant. Do I think that these spiders are incredibly toxic? No, probably not. But I can not discount that which I have personally observed and will shake out clothing and shoes and generally discourage them taking up residence. BTW: I have only seen 5 in the 12 years I have lived in West Australia, so population density is much higher in NZ where they have been resident since around 1897, having thought to have first arrived on a shipment of timber to Waiwera, north of Auckland. They are now established throughout the North and South Islands. Probably due to having no natural predators as is typical with introduced species in NZ.

I really appreciate the careful and exquisite work you do in your videos. Very detailed with specificity.

Great, informative video mate! I remember A Current Affairs and Today Tonight running terrible, fear mongering stories on the White Tail.

I found one of these in my kitchen early this morning! Great video dude, thanks for clearing that up for us all.

I love this keep up the great work!! I find it fascinating that it took a lot for this spider to bite you, people assume that spiders want to bite you when really they want nothing to do with you. I love this channel keep it up!

This is similar to here in america, where people blame the brown recluse on absolutely any wound you get. Some states don't even have the recluse and they are still blamed and every unknown brown spider being labeled one.

I wonder if the belief in the potency of the bite of the white tailed spider comes from it being a spider hunter. "If it kills other spiders, it must therefore be more venomous." I also suspect that many of the medically significant reactions to spider bites are either allergic reactions or infection due to bacteria left on the spider's fangs from its last meal. But I am certainly no expert.

We have similar looking species here in America called parsons spider and most of them have a white heart 🤍 on their rumps. But I hear you there are so many horror stories about spiders here as well and pretty much all of them are nonsense and probably weren’t even spider bites. People unfortunately love to blow things way out of proportion. Thanks for all the great work you do and love that you set those stories straight.

Great video mate! Hopefully this goes viral and educates many 'strayan folk 🤞

You sir have an underated channel , no BS it's a shame the algorithm doesn't serve you well. Keep going

Someone had to do it. Of course it was you! Yeah we do see these a lot in our homes here down south. I've only ever encountered a couple in my garden. The majority I bump into inside the house. Found a juvenile one yesterday inside one of my cats bed blankets. They are the most frequently encountered spider I find in the house. Second place is daddy long legs followed by jumping spiders and the occasional huntsman. I've noticed the fear mongering articles about amputations run by the media like to highlight the (UNCONFIRMED) white tail spider bite in the headline, but upon reading these articles the common thread shared by these stories seems to be the victim having diabetes; which puts them at higher risk of dangerous infections from ANY cut, scratch or bite. Always clean your wounds people! If you inadvertently scratch any kind of bug bite, make sure you clean it after too. And scrub your hands and under your finger nails while you're at it.

Good job mate! We get maybe 1 a week in the house, probably looking for all our black house spiders around the windows. South Gippsland seems to have an endless supply of them.

Great video man!

NZ is swarming with Badumnas, probably the most common spider you'll see here. Not surprisingly Lamponas are very common, also not surprisingly people are shi+ scared of them, believe they are 'poisonous', will freak out and empty an entire can of flyspray on the poor little buggers. Ironically I've noticed that Lamponas are amazingly resilient, often surviving said fly spray and even the boot.

The number of times i heard an Aussie say something similar to "it is true! My aunts arm fell off after a white tail bite". This belief will never go away, as most people are immune to evidence, logic and reason.

Seeing this just tells me that someone getting bitten by these spiders says more about them being a complete psychopath than the spider at all.

It’s like the brown recluse spider here in the States, once in a while someone has a bad reaction to the venom but most people don’t have much reaction at all.

I'm from the UK and came across 2 whitetails during my visit to Melbourne recently, they were so chill and I felt so much more comfortable using cup-and-paper on the one in my bed than anything at home

Even the false widow was more eager to bite me when it bit my thumb after I accidently mistook it for a piece of fluff in the dark in my bed. The False Widow of England has a similar largely exaggerated reputation as having necrotic bites as the White Tailed Spider, I experienced extremely minor symptoms of a throbbing thumb which subsided after 2 hours. No necrotic lesions either!

When the spider bit you for the first time, it made me jump and scared me 😂

Thank you. Very interesting! I'd never heard of this species. Glad you were NOT hurt.

What a cool looking little guy! I was rather reminded at first of a camel spider but his posture and body structure are fascinating. Watched a few of your interesting and educational videos in the past and nice to put a face to a voice, a nice face. Keep up the good work, subscribing.

Well done, and way to congratulate that spider he was most certainly way too unwilling to assert any type of aggression in spite of your near constant provocation! Well done from the US my brother, you're doing an excellent job bringing awareness to some truly phenomenal creatures we share the planet with. Keep the content rolling!

I do much appreciate this vid bro because I’ve been so scared of these spiders and it looks like for nothing…i used to go out of my way to kill these on sight but i will no more and let the beautiful creatures live…thank you 👍🏾I’m from vic where they are a plenty so ill be sharing this with my family and friends

Here in NZ, I was inadvertently bitten rescuing one from the shower. It bit me on the side of my hand when it was pressed against me, trying to transfer it to a surface. My skin was rather tight and itchy for a few days, but no worse than that.

Thank you for making this video I’ve been trying to find one where someone holds and takes a bite from this spider for a long time

Thank you so much for showing real information

Really enjoyed this, also the care used to not harm the spider. It's taken years to knockdown the white tail myths, now we carefully relocate any we find in the house or just leave them be. One thing I'm unsure of is why some here are larger with an all black rounded thorax, while others are smaller with the distinctive black arrow thorax tipped white.

Tried to pick one up and everyone around me started screaming random rubbish about it.

such a beautiful spider. I love the red and black bands on its legs. And the little white spot on its butt is adorable! Thank you for spreading the good word about these amazing creatures!

Another great video :)

My wife walked past the bed one day, brushing against the corner with her bare leg. When she came into the room I was in, I noticed a bleeding cut on her leg. I looked back in the bedroom & spied a White Tail spider on the bed corner at the same height as the cut. It had sliced her with a fang as she went past. She was 8 months pregnant, so I rang the hospital, but they didn't have a clue. Thankfully nothing happened, but it was like a razorblade cut. I'm glad to hear they don't cause flesh to rot, but I'm still wary of them, but will easily handle a huntsman.

I was overly scared of these too up until I started being curious about spiders. I thought since they like to hide that the dangers are the spider getting trapped in a shoe etc. I found one of these stuck in the bottom of the sink today, cupped him but accidentally hurt his leg, and looking for a place to take him... Thinking a tree is appropriate! Definitely had bites looking like that, I've always assumed they were from mosquitoes or ants. I've never been bitten by a spider as far as I know, but now I wouldn't be surprised if I've had spider bites.

Keep up the good work bug man😎

that spider looked like he was screaming "LEAVE ME ALONE PLEASE I BEG YOU"

Awesome we have so many here owning a lot of house spiders. At least in certain parts great video again cheers. Cool looking Spider

7:22 That Jimmy CARR laugh caught me off guard lmao, great vid' buddy !

There is a theory that some white tailed spiders may have flesh eating bacteria on their fangs. A case in point was a South Australian woman who was bitten on the hand while gardening. She was wearing gloves and when bitten took them off to discover a large white tail inside. She immediately went and washed the bite site only to see a 10 cent size piece of skin slough off. Over the following days and weeks this developed into a large necrotic wound that eventually required several attempts at skin grafts before they finally took.

My god I love this spider's colors its crazy to think people are so afraid of these wonderful specimens. Its always a treat watching your vids man thank you!

Thanks for dispelling the myths, B&B.

I live on the east coast and know 2 people who have been bitten by the white tail. And yes their skin started rotting!

Most Spiders/and other Inverts or Insects have been given a bad name by the media when in fact they are not even half as bad as they are made out to be 🤔

The down-right forcing of the spider to bite you made me chuckle, such an unaggressive animal. Thanks for making these informative & clear-cut videos. I feel like my only remaining fear of the land down under is the waters edge. Although perhaps it's best to avoid that bite test.

I love that most spiders try to not to bite unless provoked too much.

Necrosis occurs as a result of infection at the wound site, and the only determinant factors are the size of the puncture wound and the likelihood that spider has recently come in contact with a pathogen. It's sort of shocking that in the murder bug capital of the world, it's not common knowledge that any puncture wound from any insect, reptile, or even dropbears (especially dropbears...) can become necrotic. Hek mate, even a Bogan with a sharp tooth can give ya a staph infection that might cost you a finger.

This actually makes me really curious. My mum is Terrified of White Tails, cause years back, she was bitten by something in her sleep, and the reaction she had was blamed on said Spider. Her face swelled up and bruised so badly it looked like she'd been punched. It would go down, then a few days later, swell up again in the same place. But if these spiders don't have that effect, I really wonder what actually did bite her. Or if maybe she was just allergic to whatever bit her.

It’s a frustrating myth, especially down here in Victoria where they are so common. Explaining that they are harmless, beneficial even, given their role in spider population control will generally garner looks of disbelief.

Love the "spider biting music " in the background.

Nice channel doctor!

Poor little buddy. I know your heart is in the right place, showing the true nature of our little eight legged buddies. This is the fourth video I've seen from you. I don't think you need to push that individual to annoyance to prove your point, you have science behind you. Keep up the good work, bubbas.

I literally own some of the most cranky spiders out there, closest ive had to anything chasing me is when they run away from me in my direction. Some spiders pick a direction and run because they cant see very well, sometimes they choose wrong and its your direction. These white tails are really cute actually

Well said mate 👍, so people don't judge a spider by it's cover 😊

These guys are quite hard to catch at midnight in your bedroom

I swear that they're on the pest control posters in Aus', matched with other medically significant spiders so when you inevitably see one in your house you freak out and call the pest control people. All a marketing move. But thanks for doing this for science!

Im surprised this is the first Ive heard of this spider. Especially with it having such a bad rep… Thanks for the info, mate!

What do you think about Steatoda grossa? We have a lot of these spiders at home.

I work in pest control in Perth Australia and I pick up white tails and Redbacks. I try to educate people that these spiders don't deliberately bite unless provoked. It's good people like you are showing these videos as it proves my point too.

Spiders are my only real fear though in the last few years I've grown quite curious about them. Even coming close to picking a few up, though I'm not there yet I guess.

I 110% agree about Jurassic World Dominion!

I cannot believe you want him to bite... and he won't. Damn dude.. you're crazy. Just watching him clamp down on your arm..

As an Australian myself & having grown up dodging these spiders this was a truly fascinating video. Obviously I was wrong to fear these spiders. Thanks for the info.

We have them in New Zealand - I was bitten one night and had skin become sticky before falling away. It left me with several sets of puncture marks that eventually scabbed like mad before healing over

Thanks!

I was correct, it was a White-tailed spider 😄 You know spiders are so reluctant to bite. Even I’ve learned that after sleeping the last couple nights with a Huntsman spider in my room. There is nothing to worry about as they don’t even intend of biting me in the night😁🕷👍

Never heard of this spider... But now that I see it I distinctly remember that my second cousin's ex-boyfriend's uncle's manager was bitten by such a spider and then she instantly imploded into a black hole which consumed the entire galaxy! Scary stuff. (Very pretty & polite spider though! And wonderful narration as usual.)

I came here looking for information after finding one in my bed at midnight. I'll be able to sleep well after seeing this, thank you 🥰

The closest I've ever got to the necrotic bites White-Tails are feared for is an unknown insect bite that I scratched and scratched and scratched until it turned into a slightly pussy wound about the size of a 20 cent piece... which eventually got less and less severe and is now just a faint scar. So... clean your wounds guys and please try not to scratch them... I know it's very hard to not scratch but you can at least try.

Very interesting. I found this video after catching a white-tail spider having heard tales of its terror since I was a kid. Very surprising to see the opposite is probably true. I may let the little guy go now.

I recall an article from this year claiming a woman was bitten on the foot by a white-tail and consequently had to have her leg amputated due to a severe case of necrosis. But I'm wondering if it really happened due to other complications, and not necessarily a direct cause of the bite itself.

I was tagged by one of these on the top of my foot. I stupidly decided to use my rowing machine with bare feet so it was my own fault. It was sat inside the foot loop. It wasnt particularly painful, more like an ant bite that i barely noticed, but then felt very itchy the rest of the day.. It did sadly get infected over the next week, even after cleaning the. Some antibiotics/antibacterial cream from the doc quickly cleared it up. I always assumed it was secondary bacteria that got into then wound (being a pomme living in VIC i wasnt aware of the rumours of their bite etc). Great informative post. Appreciate your work and efforts. 😊

My mum got bitten by one and had a one inch hole in her face for a year

Looked like the spider bit in, and was waiting to get squashed for it.

Excellent video. The truth will always prevail!

i actually cant be leave how hard it was to get bit and how little effects there are thank you for clearing up some myths but i have heard its the parasites that live aroud the fangs are what cause the necrotic effects. and if not the white tip then what is causing it

That spider had zero interest in biting you, even under extreme duress. Thankyou for this video it has been very informative and hopefully clears up some of the false information out there.

that poor thing resigned to its fate

Not only was this a great educational video but what topped it off was the Jimmy Carr laugh 😂

such a cool looking spider 🕷️

I got bitten by a white tail a couple times a week ago ,not for the first time... I roled on it at night ,it kinda made a little blister that poped and it melted away a little dibbit out of my skin but nothing to bad. I get that they overhyped how bad they can be but at same time I've picked up a peace of wood with no shirt and just shorts on and ended up with 4 big white tails crawling over my chest , if you got bitten by a whole nest of them maybe 5 times and you weren't the healthiest person to start off with you might have a few problems and need to see s doctor......its seems to depend on the person like i usually have like i said from them ,but I've seen two people with some quiet bad saws and infections from them .....im just saying it might still be a little miss understood , for spiders i quite like the white tail its s hunter like me

See alot of people exaggerate how deadly most spiders are

My dad used to put these in his mouth to scare us! I'd be like dad there poisonous 🤦🏾‍♂️

Ever since I started watching your videos, I have been fighting the fight of misinformation being spread around. Excellent footage. She was so reluctant to bite! Much like trichonephila edulis(?) Who didn't end up biting at all. 😅 It makes me wonder though. When I did my senior first aid course, the teacher warned us about white tails, and she made it clear their venom itself wasn't harmful to us, however sometimes after a bite, if you scratch the site it can cause bacteria to be introduced and start the necrosis. I went away wondering if white tails (atleast the ones here in WA) are more susceptible to carrying a certain type of bacteria around their fangs, or whether we just have it all wrong. And if so, then /what/ is it that causes that. Bit of a shame when medical professionals are out there misinforming the public.

Being a little scared of white tails (just their look and movement), what did that little bite feel like around the midway point? You recoiled a bit, did it hurt quite a lot when the fangs went in? Could you describe it? Just super nervous about getting bitten unexpectedly one day, I see them a fair bit...

One of those little sods bit me. Not that bad. Very itchy. Slight swelling. Took a day for the effects to go away. The Spider didn't fare so well. I needed to measure the fangs under the microscope, to match it to the holes in my finger. just to be sure. I did swab the wound with disinfectant and squeeze the blood out just in case.

My pet spider's name is Terra. She is an acanthoscurria geniculata. A brazillian whiteknee tarantula.

These things are ubiquitous in Auckland, New Zealand. You’ll see them virtually every day in semi-urban areas in summer. Rumours persisted that their venom was dangerous not owing to its negligible toxicity but a bacterium that ‘infected’ their venom sacs.

Love the jimmy carr laugh

Has arm fallen off two months later?

Its cute how squished he got

So spider venom is the new heroine I see lol