An influx of funnel-web spiders donated to the Australian Reptile Park has provided an unexpected boost to its anti-venom program.
Key points:
- Twelve funnel-web spiders have been caught by members of the public after recent rain
- The Australian Reptile Park says they will be used to create anti-venom
- Researchers say more study is needed to understand the difference between males (venomous) and females (non-venomous)
Twelve funnel-webs — five males, five females, and two juveniles — caught by members of the public were recently dropped off in jars at Hawkesbury City Council in Sydney’s north.
The park’s operations manager Billy Collett said the donations suggested the spiders were unusually active despite the cold weather.
“Our peak period is normally spring and summer, which is when the males are cruising around chasing girls,” Mr Collett told ABC Radio Sydney.
He suspected recent weather had driven them out of their burrows.
“It’s a win for us because we need as many as we possibly can to produce enough venom for the anti-venom program here in Australia,” Mr Collett said.
The park has about 500 male spiders in its anti-venom program, which they milk once a week for venom. Females do not have venom and spend almost all of their lives in their burrows.
‘Easy’ to catch
Mr Collett encouraged people to catch the spiders if they saw them crawling around.
While many people feared the spiders, Mr Collett said they could be safely caught.
“It’s really easy. They don’t jump like a lot of people think,” he said.
“You just basically put a jar or a cup over him, slide a piece of paper or plastic underneath, tip it over to secure it, put a couple of holes in the lid, and a little bit of moist soil.”
There are a number of drop-off points at vets, hospitals, and councils across Sydney, the Central Coast, and Newcastle.
There has not been a fatal spider bite since 1981 when the park’s anti-venom program began.
More education needed
Researchers urged caution — not because the spiders posed a threat to humans, but the other way around.
While much is known about their venom, little is known about the size and make-up of the native species’ population size or their behaviours.
Linda Hernández Duran, from James Cook University, recently completed her PhD on the “misunderstood” arachnids, finding they were rarely aggressive.
“We have to let them be. They’re not going to do any harm,” Dr Hernández Duran said.
She said encouraging people to catch them without understanding the impact on the local population was concerning.
“We don’t know anything about the biology, the status of the population, how they are dispersed, if they are different species,” Dr Hernández Duran said.
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“And if we are just taking and taking and showing that they are a threat for humans, that’s a big problem.”
She called for more public education so people could recognise males, which have venom, and leave females and juveniles alone.