The Australian Reptile Park said Thursday in a press release that the Sydney funnel-web spider, nicknamed “Hercules,” was found on the Central Coast, about 80 kilometers north of Sydney, and was initially taken to a local hospital.
Spider experts from a nearby park collected it and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia.
The spider measured 3.1 inches from foot to foot, surpassing the park's previous record holder from 2018, a male named “Colossus.”
Funnel-web spiders are typically between one and five centimeters long, with females generally larger than their male counterparts, but less deadly. They are found mainly in wooded areas and suburban parks from Sydney, Australia's most populous city, to the coastal city of Newcastle in the north and the Blue Mountains in the west.
Hercules will contribute to the reptile park's poison control program. Captured and safely released spiders are “milked” by the public to extract the venom, which is essential for the production of life-saving antivenom.
“We're used to receiving donations from fairly large funnel-web spiders in the garden, but receiving a male of this size is like hitting the jackpot.”
– Emma Tenney, spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park
“Although female funnel-web spiders are venomous, males have been found to be more lethal,” she said.
Since the program began in 1981, no deaths from funnel-web spider bites have been recorded in Australia.
The rainy and humid weather along the east coast of Australia has provided ideal conditions for these spiders to grow.
