An Australian zoo was recently given a giant funnel-web spider, which is so large that it has been nicknamed “Megaspider” by staff, whose bite can penetrate even human fingernails.
This spider was found by an unnamed person and donated to a zoo specializing in reptiles in Australia. It measures 7.6 cm and with fangs nearly 2 cm long, staff say the female spider can bite through even human fingernails, which are quite thick and hard.
Honestly, this “Megaspider” is about the same size as some tarantula spiders, even smaller. However, while tarantula spiders are kept as pets by many people, with this spider, it’s not just about size and bite force.
Funnel web spiders are also extremely venomous, and their venom contains a number of neurotoxins that block sodium channels in our nerves. In the worst case, a large enough dose can be fatal. About a dozen deaths have been recorded in recent history.
This spider will be extracted venom by the zoo to create the necessary anti-venom.
The strange thing is that the venom of this species does not have a great effect on other mammals. For example, cats and dogs are almost unaffected by bites.
Scientists still don’t know why this spider’s venom is so harmful to humans, but they think it’s a side effect of an insect killer inside the spider’s venom. This spider hunts at night, they bury themselves in the ground to camouflage and wait for their ill-fated prey to approach.
Funnel web spiders are not rare in Australia, they especially appear in great numbers in the rainy season, but are very rarely seen with this huge size, usually they are only 1 to 5 cm.
They rarely bite humans, with a reported number of 30 to 40 cases per year.
This isn’t the first oversized funnel web spider found, last year an unusually large one was discovered in Newcastle and nicknamed ‘Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. , The Rock is smaller than Megaspider, but in 2016 a male spider was donated to the zoo that measures up to 10 cm and is nicknamed “Big Boy”
Reference: ScienceAlert
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