Cave Spider

The Cave Spider is a hostile mob that is to be introduced in Minecraft Beta 1.8. It is a Spider with a blue re-textured skin and is more dangerous than the regular spider, but in turn they are much rarer than regular Spiders. The increased danger comes from the fact that Cave Spiders have a venomous bite, which is represented by your health bar turning yellow-green and gradually decreasing. Cave Spiders can only be found in Abandoned Mine Shafts, which will also be introduced in Beta 1.8. Cave Spiders are also smaller than regular spiders, presumably so that they can fit through the mine shafts that they spawn in. Their exact size is 0.7x0.7x0.5.

Venom
The most notable feature of the cave spider is its venomous bite. When bitten by a cave spider, your health bar turns yellow-green and gradually decreases. The venom inflicts half of a heart of damage about every second and a half, and lasts for 15 seconds, regardless of the difficulty. Armor does not affect venom; neither the conditions under which you will receive venom, nor the damage received from it. There is currently no known cure for the venom, but Jeb is considering using milk as the cure. Regardless of the difficulty, venom cannot kill you, but it can drop your health to half a heart.

Trivia

 * It was originally going to be called a "tree spider" according to Jeb, but that wouldn't make any sense due to it spawning in mine shafts.
 * In the Beta 1.8 preview, Cave Spiders were called "Poison Spiders", but "venomous spider" would be a more scientifically correct name.
 * Cobwebs don't affect Cave Spiders.
 * When exposed to sunlight, Cave Spiders do not become passive or burn, they stay hostile regardless.
 * Torching a Cave Spider monster spawner might not prevent it from spawning spiders.

Gallery & Media
''Left video demonstrates a Cave Spider encounter. Right video demonstrates the effects of venom.''