Record-breaking funnel-web spider 'Hemsworth' to be milked for venom

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia already boasts a few famous Hemsworth’s, now it has another one. This Hemsworth is not an actor but a funnel-web spider, the largest ever recorded. Spider keeper Emma Teni has all the arachnid facts about the big guy.

Transcript

00:00Hemsworth is the biggest spider that we've received here, male, of the funnewebs. I can

00:06actually show you, I've got him here. So average funneweb spider would be around about the

00:12size of a 50 cent piece coin, and Hemsworth absolutely dwarfs the coin. So stretching

00:18from tip to tip, he's 9.3 centimetres, which is about almost one and a half centimetres

00:23bigger than the last funneweb that we had. Wow, thanks so much for giving us a look at

00:27him. He's huge. Were you surprised to find out that he was a male? Yeah, absolutely.

00:34So females are naturally bigger than the males, and when he got handed into one of our drop-off

00:39locations, we just, you know, had a look at him and thought, yep, definitely a female.

00:42And then on closer inspection, you can actually see the spurs, which are the male sex organs,

00:46and we were like, yep, no, that's a male. So he's ridiculous. Wow. And so Hemsworth

00:51is exciting, not just because he is so big, but also he's going to join the park's anti-venom

00:56program. What is that? Yeah, so in 1981, we began the anti-venom program here at the park,

01:04and since its inception, we've had no fatalities due to the funneweb spider bite. So here at the

01:11park, we collect the venom, we freeze it, freeze dry it, and then send it down to the laboratory

01:17in Melbourne, and they rehydrate it, and they'll inject it into rabbits. Now, the rabbits don't

01:23have a fatal reaction from the venom. However, they have an immune response, and that creates

01:29venom-resistant plasma. Now, that venom-resistant plasma can be popped in, we can take the blood

01:34from the rabbit, pop it into a centrifuge, spin it, and the venom-resistant plasma separates

01:40from the red blood cells. Now, we don't need those red blood cells. We can pop them straight back

01:44into the rabbit, and then that plasma, which we have, is actually able to be used to save lives

01:49of those who are bitten by the funneweb spider. Wow, and so you say that since its inception,

01:54there hasn't been a single fatality in Australia from a funneweb spider bite?

01:59Yeah, we're very proud of it. So, 1981, we invented the anti-venom here at the park,

02:05and we're the sole supplier for the venom, and since we introduced the anti-venom program,

02:09there has been not one fatality. Wonderful. And I read that 150 to 200 milkings are necessary

02:17to create just one vial of anti-venom. Does Hemsworth's size mean that he has more juice

02:23in the tank? Well, yeah, I actually do describe him as pretty juicy, so science has not determined

02:29their yield. However, Hemsworth is a particularly juicy spider. And are you always on the lookout

02:36for more spiders? I understand someone brought Hemsworth into you. Is this a call-out that

02:42you're putting out? Do you want people to bring you spiders? Yeah, absolutely. So, as being the

02:48sole supplier of venom for the anti-venom program, it's so important that we have a constant supply

02:52of spiders. Now, to make that harder, we only milk the male funneweb spider because he's about

02:57six to seven times more toxic than the female. And then to make it harder again, once they reach

03:03maturity, their only natural lifespan is around about a year. So, we need that constant supply

03:09of males to ensure that we have a constant supply of spiders for the anti-venom. How should people

03:17go about catching a funneweb spider if they do find one? So, good news for them, they can't jump

03:23and they can't climb a smooth surface. So, if you have a smooth jar and a long-handled spoon or

03:29something like that, you can gently place it in front of the spider and encourage them to walk

03:32into the jar. Once you've secured it with a lid, you can drop it to one of our drop-off locations.

03:37We have them, you can find them on our website ranging from Newcastle all the way down to South

03:41Sydney and then we will send a keeper out each week who actually will then go and collect the

03:45spiders and bring them to us and they'll go into that life-saving anti-venom program.

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