Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. There are over 45,000 species of spiders in existence, but ...

They say good things come in threes—but is that true even for the most venomous spider in the world? Scientists in Germany and Australia have reclassified one of the world’s most infamous arachnids.

A giant funnel-web spider, named Hemsworth, has been recognized as the largest of its kind ever recorded by the Australian Reptile Park. Found in Newcastle, about 120 kilometers north of Sydney, this ...