Australian Reptile Park spider expert Rob Porter milks a male Sydney funnel-web spider to create antivenom in 2001.
Sydney Morning Herald Picture by Andrew Taylor, Fairfax Media via Getty Images
It’s spring in the land Down Under, and an Australian zoo has issued a mission to any adult brave enough to follow through: capture a deadly Sydney funnel-web spider.
While this quest may scare away arachnophobes, public donations of funnel-webs are critical to the mission of the Australian Reptile Park—the only place in Australia that milks Sydney funnel-webs, one of the world’s deadliest spiders, to create a life-saving antivenom.
The rainy weather and rising temperatures of springtime spark the start of the Greater Sydney region’s funnel-web spider season, sending male spiders scurrying across the land search of mates. In a field demonstration video, spider keeper Emma Teni explains how to safely collect a Sydney funnel-web’s egg sac—as well as the mother guarding her babies.
“To safely collect her, what you need is a jar she can’t climb out of, and a long spoon she can’t climb,” Teni says, just before scooping the spider into a cup.
The creatures can’t crawl up plastic or glass, according to a statement from the zoo. Brave spider-collectors can then bring the animal to one of the zoo’s drop-off locations.
The Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) is one of at least 36 species of funnel-web spiders that live throughout Australia. The arachnids are named after the shape of their webs, which emanate from their sheltered burrows beneath rocks and logs, creating silk trip lines that alert the spiders of prey, mates, or danger. While several species are known for their toxicity, male Atrax robustus are likely responsible for all 13 recorded deaths from funnel-webs, as well as several other life-threatening bites.
But since the invention of funnel-web antivenom in 1981, there have been zero fatalities from a Sydney funnel-web spider bite, according to the University of Melbourne’s School of Biomedical Sciences. Since then, the Australian Reptile Park’s venom milking program has been helping to produce doses of the life-saving serum.
Now, the program houses more than 2,000 spiders that are milked on a regular schedule. But to keep up these numbers, they rely on donations from the public. Capturing funnel-web egg sacs, in particular, is indispensable to the initiative. Producing a vial of antivenom requires nearly 150 spiders, and each egg sac can carry 50 to 150 spiderlings.
Hercules measures 7.9 centimeters from foot to foot, making him larger than a baseball.
Caitlin Vine / Australian Reptile Park via Facebook
This January, the park received quite a large donation: a 7.9-centimeter spider aptly named Hercules, who is bigger than a baseball and the largest male Sydney funnel-web ever collected.
Milking one of the world’s deadliest spiders requires extreme focus and a delicate hand. With a glass pipette fitted onto a small vacuum, spider keepers goad a spider into rearing up and exposing its fangs in a defensive position. Tiny drops of venom soon form on the fang tips, and the keeper quickly sucks the venom through the pipette. After finishing the milking, the venom is frozen until it is shipped to Seqiris, a pharmaceutical company that helps create the antivenom.
“The milked venom is then injected—in very small but increasing doses—into rabbits, which produce antibodies against the toxin over time,” as Christian Thorsberg wrote for Smithsonian magazine upon the discovery of Hercules earlier this year.
Seqiris scientists then collect the antibodies from the rabbits’ blood and ship them to hospitals throughout Australia. There, the treatment is crucial to the roughly 30 to 40 people who are bitten by Sydney funnel-web spiders annually.
If bitten, the Australian Reptile Park says to remain calm, apply a pressure immobilization bandage, call emergency responders and go to the hospital immediately. The zoo advises residents to check their homes and yards for common funnel-web hiding places, such as garden debris, garages, foliage, piles of laundry and shoes left outside.
“It’s essential that Australians know how to handle funnel-web spiders safely and are familiar with the proper first aid measures,” Teni says in the statement. “We depend on the public for spider donations, and we want to make sure everyone stays safe during the collection process, especially with conditions being so favorable this year.”
