Any dangerous spiders in Denmark?
More than 540 species of spiders have been recorded in Denmark. Fortunately, all of them are harmless to humans. However, some can bite you quite noticeably!
Actually there are quite a few Danish spiders which are able to bite you noticeably, according to the Danish wildlife magazine NaturGuide.dk. However, all of them are considered harmless to humans. In the worst cases the bite can feel like a sting from a bee. Furthermore, you almost must squeeze the spider to make it bite you!
So don’t worry. 99.9% of the Danes have never been bitten by a spider – and, for the most part, do not even know that some spiders are able to bite.
According to an old Danish saying you must not kill a house spider. It will bring you luck!
Spiders are an important factor in our ecosystem. Did you know that spiders worldwide eat an estimated 400 to 800 million metric tons of insects every year.
For comparison, the entire human population consumes about 400 million tons of meat and fish every year.
More species in the future…
More and more spiders species native to southern Europe are making their way north to Denmark because of warmer temperatures. Many Danish biologists believe that climate change will bring new species of spiders north to Denmark in the future.
Of the 35,000 species of spiders described worldwide (out of an estimated 170,000 species), only a few are considered to be dangerous and only 27 are known to have caused human fatalities. As mentioned no dangerous spiders are found in Denmark.
Sources: NaturGuide.dk, Science of Nature.
