LARGE MALE MOST VENOMOUS FOUND

With large fangs that can pierce the human fingernail a specimen of the world’s largest venomous spider has found a new home at the Australian Reptile Park, where it will help save lives after a member of the public discovered it by chance.

The deadly Sydney web spider dubbed Hercules was found on the central coast about 50 miles north of Sydney and was initially given to a local hospital the Australian Reptile Park said in a statement by Park official.  Spider experts from a nearby park retrieved it  and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia.

 The spider it measures 3.1 inches from the tip of its front leg to the tip of its back legs Sydney web spider usually large in length from less than a half inch to a little under 2 inches with females generally larger than their male counterparts but not as deadly. They are predominately found in forested areas and in suburban gardens in Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, to the coastal city of Newcastle in the north and the  Blue Mountains to the west.

Hercules will contribute to the reptile park antivenom program. Safely captured spiders handed in by the public under goal “milking” to extract venom, essential for producing life-saving antivenin, also known as antivenom.

 The Park is used to having pretty big funnel web spiders donated to the park. However, receiving a male funnel web spider this big is like hitting the jackpot said Emma Teni, a demand spider keeper at the Australian reptile park. A Female webs spiders are venominous, when ominous males have proven to be more lethal.

 With having a male funnel web spider this size in our collection his venom output could be enormous, proving incredible valuable for the park’s venom program.

Since the inception of the program in 1981 there has not been of fatality in Australia from a funnel web spider.

 Recent rainy, humid weather along the Australian east coast has provided ideal conditions for final web spiders to thrive.