A “megaspider” sounds like something from a bad sci-fi movie but it is in fact very real and is even more scarier and dangerous than you could possibly imagine.
The large funnel-web spider, which recently arrived at the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, New South Wales, measures three inches from foot to foot and has venomous fangs that are nearly an inch long.
In addition to this, the arachnid’s jaws are said to be so strong that they can pierce a human fingernail. The park claim that the spider is the largest version of this particular species that they have ever seen.
The spider was donated by an anonymous individual but the park is now hoping that the person can come forward and potentially help them to discover more large spiders in the future.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
Michael Tate, the park’s education officer, told CNN: “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.
“We are really keen to find out where she came from in hopes to find more MASSIVE spiders like her.”
Meet Australia's "Megaspider," with fangs capable of piercing human fingernails https://t.co/l3Wdl41cUo pic.twitter.com/dpUwQeewqI
— CNN (@CNN) November 16, 2021
The spider is now part of the park’s “antivenom” program where they will “milk” the eight-legged critter’s venom and then send it on to a firm in Melbourne which will turn it into antivenom.
The park claims that its antivenom program saves up to 300 lives per year.
