According to Guinness World Records the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria fera)
is officially the world’s most venomous spider. It is capable of
injecting a powerful neurotoxin which is nearly 20 times more deadly that of the Black Widow spider if it gets into the blood stream.
That is as potent as the venom of many deadly snake species and the
effects are similar. The symptoms of envenomation include a loss of
muscle control leading to breathing problems which can result in
complete respiratory paralysis and eventually asphyxiation.
But there are two other major side effects to the wandering spider’s
bite; firstly there is intense pain and secondly, if you happen to be
male there is the four hour hard on. Yes, you did read that correctly –
the bite of the Brazilian wandering spider can cause an erection that
lasts for several hours, unfortunately it is also painful.
In
addition to the this deadly venom the behaviour of the wandering spider
make it particularly dangerous to humans. As its name suggests the
spiders are not confined to a web in a dark corner. In fact they like to
turn up in all manner of hiding places; boots, piles of clothes, log
piles, cars and bunches of bananas. Also known as ‘banana spiders’
wandering spiders have been known to hitch a ride across the globe in
boxes of bananas. In one case a man in the UK was bitten after buying
bananas in his local supermarket.
There is little doubt that these
are dangerous spiders. Their aggressive nature and close contact with
humans have resulted in a number of deaths over the years. In one tragic
case a single spider was responsible for the deaths of two children
in São Paulo. Fortunately an effective antivenom has been developed and
there have been relatively few fatalities since.
