A Giant Specimen of World's Most Toxic Spider Was Caught in Australia (ARTICLE LINK)
This is one fellow you do NOT want to find in your shoe. The Australian Reptile Park has just been handed an absolute whopper of a male funnel web spider - not just the most toxic spider in Australia, but the entire world.
He's so big that the reptile park team have given him the most appropriate name they could think of - Colossus.
The Australian funnel web is dangerous. The venom of the most toxic of the 35 species, the Sydney funnel web, can easily kill an adult human.
To top it off, the males are not just aggressive, but likely to hide in human habitation when on the prowl for a mate.
Their deadliness also makes their venom very valuable - for making antivenom, the antidote that has ensured no one has died from a funnel web bite since 1981, even though 30-40 people are bitten every year.
That's why, instead of getting smooshed, Colossus was brought to the Australian Reptile Park, which is home to Australia's venom milking program.
He's a beauty, his legspan reaching 7.8 centimetres (3 inches). Usually, male funnel web spiders reach between 1 to 5 centimetres.
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