Least venomous spiders

Of almost worldwide distribution and belonging to the taxonomic family Uloboridae, the least venomous spiders are the cribellate or hackled orb-weavers, because unlike all other modern-day spiders they lack venom glands (although their ancestors possessed them). However, they are still very predatory, and kill their prey not with venom but by wrapping them in silk and then regurgitating digestive enzymes all over them until the silk-wrapped prey are liquefied, after which the spiders ingest them.

These spiders are named after their unusual silk, which is feathery and fuzzy in appearance, and is known as cribellate or hackled silk. All other spiders are venomous to varying degrees, possessing venom glands in the roots of their chelicerae – the mouthparts of spiders. No other arachnids possess venomous chelicerae, the venom of scorpions famously being contained within the sting of their tail.