For most people, spiders are creepy. In some parts of the world, they can also be very dangerous. People who live in colder climates, however, can typically enjoy the fact that the really dangerous spiders of the world can’t survive the harsh winters, so they don’t live in those regions.

Unfortunately, the noble false widow spider (Steatoda nobilis) is an invasive species of spider that is spreading through Europe, western Asia, North America, and South America.

The spider is far more tolerant of the cold than most other venomous species, and it also lives longer, and is able to have about 1000 baby spiders each year.

Its venom is a neurotoxin that can cause neuromuscular paralysis in humans, which can be very dangerous to those who are very young or otherwise immunocompromised. Even for healthy adults, its bite can be very painful and serious.

What is perhaps even more terrifying is that this little spider is able to capture and consume prey that is far larger than itself. You can see this in action in the video below from IFLScience, where one of these little spiders is able to not just bite a shrew many times its size, but also use its web to hoist the shrew up about 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) so that it could be secured and eaten at the spider’s convenience.

Dr. John Dunbar is the senior author of a study published in the journal Ecosphere on these spiders. He is an Irish Research Council Post-Doctoral fellow, Venom Systems Lab, Ryan Institute, University of Galway. In a statement about the study, he said:

“The noble false widow is a very intriguing spider, and we have much to learn about it still. We are very grateful to the members of the public who share their observations with us. This allows us to understand better how this invasive species may impact us and our environment.”

The recordings and other things that have been submitted have helped to contribute to the research, which shows that this is a very dangerous spider to have around. In the paper, the authors write about how this spider captures large vertebrates and uses them for the large amounts of energy they contain:

“In order to capitalize from a large vertebrate meal that requires expending energy to acquire, S. nobilis may spend several days feeding off the remains, and in the case presented here, the spider only released the shrew after three days, to which the remains of the shrew were nothing but fur, bones, and skin.”

It is a terrifying thought to consider.

So far, the researchers have found that only females of this species attack such large animals. It is likely a way for them to secure plenty of nutrients to help them generate eggs and other resources needed to create the next generation of the noble false widow spider.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.