Venomous Animals of the World Trivia Word Search

A slow loris activates its venom by licking a gland near its '_ _ _ _ _' and mixing the oily secretion with saliva before biting.

A small octopus flashes vivid blue '_ _ _ _ _' across its skin moments before it can deliver a fatal, tetrodotoxin-laced bite.

Unlike its inland cousin, the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' Taipan is fast-moving, aggressive when cornered, and responsible for more Australian snakebite deaths.

This Brazilian spider, once crowned the world's most venomous by Guinness World Records, doesn't spin a web -- it's called the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' spider.

North America's only semi-aquatic viper flashes the white interior of its jaws as a warning, earning it the name '_ _ _ _ _ _'mouth.

The '_ _ _ _ _ _' people of western Colombia traditionally wipe blowgun darts across the backs of live golden poison frogs to coat them in toxin.

Africanized honey bees are a '_ _ _ _ _ _' between African and European honeybee subspecies, not a distinct species of their own.

Found from Mexico to Guatemala, the Mexican '_ _ _ _ _ _' Lizard is the Gila monster's only other venomous relative on Earth.

A pain-relief compound derived from cone snail venom is reported to be up to 1,000 times more potent than '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _', without the same addiction risk.

A single bite from the inland taipan carries enough venom to kill more than one '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' adult humans, according to toxicologists.

King cobras occasionally prey on members of their own species, a behavior known as '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _'ism.

Male platypus venom production ramps up during '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' season, suggesting it's used to assert dominance over rival males.

Native only to the Indo-Pacific, the venomous lionfish has become a destructive invader throughout the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

North America's Northern Short-tailed '_ _ _ _ _' delivers a paralyzing, venomous saliva through grooves in its lower incisors.

The world's most venomous sea urchin gets its common name, the '_ _ _ _ _ _' urchin, from the blossom-like grasping organs covering its spines.

The blue-ringed octopus's lethal tetrodotoxin is delivered through its '_ _ _ _ _ _' rather than through an injected sting.

Despite its name, the death adder belongs to the same snake family as cobras and taipans, known as the '_ _ _ _ _ _' family.

A sting from Australia's box jellyfish can kill a healthy adult within just a few '_ _ _ _ _ _ _'.

Despite its name, this African snake's scales are olive-grey; it's actually named for the inky-black lining of its '_ _ _ _ _'.

Found from North Africa to the Middle East, the pale-yellow Death'_ _ _ _ _ _ _' scorpion carries a sting that's excruciating but rarely fatal to healthy adults.

Herpetologist Karl '_ _ _ _ _ _ _', bitten by a juvenile snake he believed too small to be dangerous, documented his own decline in a diary before dying in 1957.

This species' sting poses its greatest danger to young '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _', who can experience severe symptoms including breathing difficulty.

Though most clownfish live safely among its venomous tentacles, this marine invertebrate stings anything else that touches it: the sea '_ _ _ _ _ _ _'.

Chlorotoxin, a compound in deathstalker scorpion venom, is being studied by scientists to help surgeons visualize brain '_ _ _ _ _' tissue during surgery.

The Australian box jellyfish trails stinging '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' that can stretch up to three meters -- longer than a horse.

Asian giant hornets, nicknamed '_ _ _ _ _ _' hornets in the media, are the largest hornet species on Earth at over 1.5 inches long.

The brown recluse spider's alternate nickname, the '_ _ _ _ _ _' spider, comes from a distinctive marking shaped like a musical instrument on its back.

Alongside Russell's viper, the Indian cobra, and the saw-scaled viper, a fourth elapid species completes India's medically important 'Big Four' venomous snakes -- a slender, nocturnal hunter.

Capable of slithering at speeds up to 20 km/h, Africa's Black '_ _ _ _ _' is one of the fastest snakes on the continent.

The Slow '_ _ _ _ _' of South and Southeast Asia is the only primate species known to produce true venom.

This shrew-like Caribbean mammal injects venom through grooved teeth in a manner unlike any other living mammal, more resembling a snake's bite.

'_ _ _ _ _ _ _'s Viper is blamed for roughly 43 percent of India's snakebite cases, the highest share among the subcontinent's 'Big Four' species.

In 1981, Dr. '_ _ _ _ _ _' Sutherland's team developed the funnel-web antivenom that has prevented any recorded deaths since.

The '_ _ _ _' Monster is the only lizard native to the United States that is venomous.

An old warning rhyme about venomous coral snakes goes: 'Red touches _ _ _ _ _ _, kill a fellow.'

The golden poison frog is the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' species of poison dart frog, reaching up to 6 centimeters in length.

The most toxic of all poison dart frog species is the '_ _ _ _ _ _' Poison Frog, found only along a narrow strip of Colombia's Pacific coast.

By rubbing its rough, saw-like scales together, the saw-scaled viper produces a warning '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' sound before it strikes.

This thumbnail-sized Australian jellyfish, with a bell just one centimeter wide, can trail tentacles a full meter long and cause a delayed, severe illness named after it.

A stingray delivers its venom through a serrated '_ _ _ _' near the base of its tail, used purely in self-defense.

A box jellyfish has 24 '_ _ _ _', clustered in groups of six at each corner of its bell, some capable of complex image-forming vision.

This animal's lineage split off from all other living mammals roughly 76 million years ago, during the age of the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _'.

The Portuguese man o' war isn't a single animal at all -- it's a floating colony of specialized clones called '_ _ _ _ _ _'.

The longest venomous snake native to the Americas is the rainforest-dwelling Bush'_ _ _ _ _ _', which can exceed 11 feet.

Introduced to Australia in 1935 to control cane beetles, this large toad's skin secretes bufotoxin lethal enough to kill native predators that try to eat it.

Golden poison frogs raised in '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' on a diet of ordinary feeder insects gradually lose their toxicity entirely.

One bizarre side effect of the Brazilian wandering spider's venom is a painful, long-lasting erection, a condition researchers have studied as a possible treatment for a certain medical condition.

Scorpions '_ _ _ _' a vivid blue-green under ultraviolet light, a property scientists use to survey them at night in the desert.

Male platypuses deliver venom through a sharp '_ _ _ _' on each hind leg -- a defense females of the species entirely lack.

Jellyfish and their relatives like the Portuguese man o' war sting using microscopic stinging '_ _ _ _ _' called nematocysts, packed along their tentacles.

The death adder lies motionless and wiggles its worm-like tail tip as a '_ _ _ _' to draw curious prey within striking range.

When threatened, the '_ _ _ _' Adder inflates its body with air and hisses loudly rather than fleeing -- a bluff that doesn't always save it from being stepped on.

A single gaboon viper carries enough venom in one bite to deliver a lethal dose to roughly '_ _ _ _ _ _' adult humans.

Australia's Inland '_ _ _ _ _ _' has an LD50 that makes it, drop for drop, the most toxic land snake on Earth.

India's Naja naja is nicknamed the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' Cobra for the eyeglass-shaped marking on the back of its hood.

Despite being the world's largest scorpion species, the West African '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' Scorpion has venom no more potent than a typical bee sting.

A short-tailed shrew often keeps its paralyzed prey alive to '_ _ _ _ _' underground for eating later, rather than consuming it right away.

This well-camouflaged fish buries itself in sandy European shallows with only its eyes and venomous dorsal spine exposed, waiting for unlucky waders to step on it.

North America's Brown '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' spider is identified by a violin-shaped marking on its back and a bite that can cause necrotic skin wounds.

Lacking hollow fangs, a Gila monster must work venom into a wound through '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' motions, since its toxin flows along grooves in its teeth.

Closely related to the black widow, this Australian spider with a red stripe down its back is behind an antivenom credited with preventing any further deaths since it was introduced.

Common in Arizona homes and able to climb almost any surface, the '_ _ _ _' scorpion is North America's most venomous species.

Camouflaged to look exactly like an encrusted rock on the seafloor, this Indo-Pacific fish is considered the world's most venomous fish species.

A Sydney funnel-web spider's fangs are strong enough to pierce through '_ _ _ _ _', not just human skin.

Africanized honey bees trace back to an accidental 1957 release of African bee queens in '_ _ _ _ _ _', where they interbred with local honeybee stock.

Sea snakes, all of which are venomous, propel themselves with a flattened, '_ _ _ _ _ _'-shaped tail rather than a rounded one.

A widespread myth claims the camel spider is dangerously venomous; in truth, this arachnid group, properly called a '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _', has no venom glands at all.

Most of the 30 to 50 annual deaths from Asian giant hornet stings in Japan result from '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' reactions rather than the venom's direct toxicity.

A 2009 study overturned decades of belief that toxic mouth bacteria killed prey, revealing that the '_ _ _ _ _ _' Dragon actually uses venom glands.

A red '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _'-shaped marking on the underside of its abdomen helps identify the venomous black widow spider.

When threatened, a king cobra flares its hood and lets out a hiss that sounds eerily like a dog's '_ _ _ _ _'.

A wasp that paralyzes spiders many times its own size and drags them off to its burrow is called the tarantula '_ _ _ _'.

Nicknamed '_ _ _ _ _ _' bees after their aggressive, mass-swarming defense of the hive, Africanized honey bees are no more venomous, sting-for-sting, than ordinary honeybees.

Armed with venomous spines along its back, this striped Indo-Pacific fish has become a damaging invasive species throughout Atlantic and Caribbean waters.

Despite its fearsome venom, this docile Pacific sea snake only injects toxin in about one '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' of its bites.

This spider, found across eastern Australia from Tasmania to north Queensland, is considered one of the world's most dangerous -- the Sydney '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' spider.

The coastal taipan has the longest '_ _ _ _ _' of any elapid snake in Australia, at up to 12 millimeters, enabling deep, fast envenomation.

During mating, a male redback spider somersaults to offer his '_ _ _ _ _ _ _' to the female's fangs -- and is usually eaten as a result.

Reaching up to 18 feet, the King '_ _ _ _ _' is the longest of all venomous snakes.

Africa's '_ _ _ _ _ _' Viper holds the record for the longest fangs of any snake -- up to two inches on a six-foot specimen.

Some toxicologists rank '_ _ _ _ _ _ _''s Sea Snake as the most venomous snake alive, though its docile nature means bites are extremely rare.

On the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, the tarantula hawk wasp ranks '_ _ _ _ _ _', just behind the bullet ant.

Certain African cobras defend themselves by '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' venom up to eight feet with startling accuracy at an intruder's eyes.

The most dangerous cone snail species is nicknamed the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' Cone, and its sting can kill an adult in well under an hour.

The king cobra's genus name, Ophiophagus, translates from Greek as 'snake _ _ _ _ _'.

Female king cobras build a '_ _ _ _' -- the only snakes known to do so -- to protect their eggs before hatching.

The reef stonefish carries its venom in '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' stout dorsal spines that it raises defensively rather than fleeing from danger.

'_ _ _ _ _ _' Schmidt, the entomologist who created the sting pain index, rated the bullet ant's sting as the most painful of any insect.

Unlike snakes or spiders, dart frogs are technically described as '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' rather than venomous, since their toxin only harms if touched or eaten.

Like sharks, stingrays have skeletons made of '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' rather than bone.

Even after washing ashore and appearing dead, a Portuguese man o' war's tentacles can still deliver a painful sting for '_ _ _ _ _'.

This rear-fanged African tree snake injects a hemotoxic venom that causes uncontrolled bleeding rather than affecting the nervous system.

Because victims reportedly have time for only one smoke before dying, this deadly cone snail is nicknamed the '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' Snail.

Weever fish venom contains unusually high levels of '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _', a chemical that helps explain why its sting is so intensely painful.

Though barely three feet long, the saw-scaled viper is blamed for more snakebite deaths than every other snake species '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _'.