Hey all

Just watched a show on Discovery called nature's deadliest - Brazil.
For those who are not familiar with the show, they basically pick a location and show their most dangerous creatures.

On this specific show they had a spider that kills in 3 hours, called The Brazilian wandering spiders (Phoneutria spp.). The weird thing about this spider is its size.
According to the show it grows up to 5 inches. So now you have a spider as big and bulky as a tarantula, but also with potent venom. And the main reason why its so dangerous is because its a wandering spider. Apparently they get shipped all over the world with bananas.

Here's a link to wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_wandering_spider

Anybody know where I can get some bananas from Brazil? :whistle:

Enjoy the read

Hey Wynster, I saw that program a while ago and forgot about it till I saw this post.

I think the most interesting fact about this spider is that lab test showed that its venom is 18+ times stronger than the venom of Latrodectus mactans (Southern black widow) :ohmy:

Quite scary :blink:

HAHA i read this paragraph in the wikipedia article.

Aside from causing intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause priapism in humans. Erections resulting from the bite are uncomfortable, can last for many hours and can lead to impotence. A component of the venom (Tx2-6) is being studied for use in erectile dysfunction treatments.[6]

@ Phantom: Thats why this is such an interesting spider. Why would n spider that is big enough to kill with the strenth of its bite alone, need such strong venom?

All i know is that they have been doing research on this spiders venom for years now... they trying to develop a safer Viagra that will keep blood pressure low and all that other nitty gritty! btw, this venom is still mild compared to venom that can be found in other creatures, especially the sea ones! Wandering spiders are so-called because they wander the jungle floor at night, rather than residing in a lair or maintaining a web, this is the reason i think it has a toxic venom, and its just my opinion. There could be many more!