Massive funnel-web's spider venom to be milked in Australia

A deadly funnel-web spider with a leg span of 10cm (4in) is the largest specimen ever handed in to Australia's only venom-milking programme.

The spider, which has been named Big Boy, was caught in bushland in Newcastle, NSW, last week and handed over to the Australia Reptile Park.

The park encourages the public to catch and send in spiders so it can use them to produce anti-venom.

Programme supervisor Billy Collett said he had not heard of a bigger specimen.

"There might be one at a museum, but this is the biggest one we've had in our venom programme," Mr Collett said.

A "good Samaritan" had handed the spider in at a local hospital, which acts as a collection point for the Australian Reptile Park's venom milking programme, he added.

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An Arachnid Dracula? Rare, Red-Fanged Spider Is Uncovered

y Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | September 04, 2015 05:02pm ET

A one-of-a-kind spider from Down Under looks more like a Transylvania transplant than an Aussie, thanks to its red fangs.

The funnel-web spider (Atrax sutherlandi) does not actually vant to suck your blood, however. These shy spiders build their webs at the top of subterranean burrows and mostly eat insects. (Some species, though, do have venom dangerous to humans, and will defend themselves if they feel threatened. A. sutherlandi is venomous, but isn't known to have caused any fatalities in humans, according to theAustralian Environmental Pest Management Association.)

As a species, A. sutherlandi has been known for a long time. But when Mark Wong, an ecologist at Australian National University and the winner of a National Geographic Young Explorer grant, uncovered this one under a piece of fallen wood, he met with a surprise. [See Photos of the Blood Red-Fanged Spider]

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