It’s deadly to humans.
It’s about the size of your palm.
And with fangs that can pierce a through a human fingernail, a newly collected funnel web spider dubbed “Hercules” is the largest male funnel-web spider donated for research in Australia’s history.
A member of the public found the arachnid and handed it into an animal hospital on the NSW Central Coast.
It was then collected by spider experts at the Australian Reptile Park, who quickly realised it was the largest they had ever seen that was handed in by the public.
Measuring 7.9 centimetres from foot to foot, the newly named “Hercules” beat out the park’s previous largest male funnel web “Colossus”.
The spider will be used for the reptile park’s antivenom program.
Spiders that have been safely caught and handed in by the public are “milked” for their venom, which is used to create life-saving antivenom
The antivenom created by donated spiders can save up to 300 lives a year, including those who are bitten by New South Wales’ funnel webs.
The Australian Reptile Park is the only facility in Australia that milks funnel web spiders.
Recent rainy and humid weather creates ideal conditions for funnel webs to thrive.
Commenting on the hand in, one of the park’s spider keepers Emma Teni said: “We’re used to having pretty big funnel web spiders donated to the park, however receiving a male funnel-web this big is like hitting the jackpot.”
“Whilst female funnel web spiders are venomous, males have proven to be more lethal. With having a male funnel web this size in our collection, his venom output could be enormous, proving incredibly valuable for the park’s venom program.”
The Australian Reptile Park relies on donations of funnel web spiders to keep venom supplies up.
The raw venom is sent off to a vaccine manufacturer in Melbourne to be made into lifesaving antivenom.
Since the inception of the program in 1981, there has not been a single death from a funnel web spider bite.
