![]() ![]() The female spider was been dropped off in a Tupperware container with no clues to where she was from or who found her. "She is unusually large and if we can get the public to hand in more spiders like her, it will only result in more lives being saved due to the huge amount of venom they can produce.” "Having megaspider handed into the venom program is so amazing,” says Tate. ![]() Since the reptile park started its program in the 1950s, officials say its antivenom is estimated to have saved roughly 25,000 Australians lives, and hundreds more each year. Keepers milk spiders’ fangs weekly and send the venom to a pharmaceutical company in Melbourne, where it's made into antivenom. ![]() The zoo is the county’s only source of raw funnel web spider venom, which is a necessary ingredient for creating the serum that neutralizes the venom's toxins in humans, reports CNN’s Rhea Mogul. The Australian Reptile Park says the spider’s fangs will be milked for venom as part of the zoo’s ongoing antivenom program. A bite from certain species is toxic enough to kill a person within 15 minutes. Though not all funnel web spiders are dangerous, many have impressive fangs and toxic, fast-acting venom. Of the at least 40 species of funnel web spider, the most notorious member of the genus is the Sydney funnel web spider, which is responsible for all of Australia’s funnel web spider–associated deaths. The spiders earn their name from the funnel-shaped silk tunnels they build at the entrance to their burrows, which ensnares passing insects and other prey. They have dark, shiny, almost hairless bodies and eight eyes. A typical funnel web spider is about one-and-a-half to two inches long, which makes this individual a particularly large specimen. The "megaspider" measures just over three inches long leg-to-leg, packs powerful venom, and has curved fangs strong enough to pierce a human fingernail, reports Mindy Weisberger for Live Science. “In my 30+ years at the Park, I have never seen a funnel web spider this big!" says Michael Tate, education officer at the Australian Reptile Park, in a statement. Shocked by the arachnid’s unusual size, keepers promptly named the female spider "Megaspider. The spider was anonymously donated to the Australian Reptile Park as part of a weekly collection from spider drop-off points near Sydney. Scientists were also perplexed as to why male funnel webs appeared to have much deadlier venom than females, and caused most human deaths.An Australian zoo recently acquired what they say is the largest funnel web spider they've ever seen. Scientists have long been puzzled by why these toxins are so deadly to humans, when we and other primates have never been funnel web prey or predator. In severe cases the venom can cause muscles to go into spasm, blood pressure to drop dangerously, coma and organ failure, and ultimately death – sometimes within a few hours. This toxin can kill humans by attacking the nervous system, keeping nerves “turned on” and firing over and over again. However all 13 recorded deaths occurred before anti-venom was introduced in 1981.įunnel web venom is lethal because it contains a type of neurotoxin called “delta-hexatoxin”. As an animal matures and its activities change, so too can its venom.Īustralian funnel webs are among a small group of spiders whose venom can kill humans. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Why so deadly?Ībout 15 per cent of all animals use venom for reasons such as to kill or immobilise prey, self-defence or to gain advantage over competitors, such as during breeding season. Related: Australian spiders: the 10 most dangerous Funnel webs are among Australia’s most feared spiders. ![]()
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