Coyote Peterson catches a Sydney Funnel Spider and describes the venomous bite before transporting the poisonous spider to the Australian Reptile Park.
Coyote Peterson captures an Australian Funnel-Web Spider, but he’s initially not sure whether the spider is the specific deadly Sydney Funnel-Web Spider. He takes the spider to the Australian Reptile Park where he finds out the spider is the deadly Sydney Funnel-Web Spider and where personnel milk this spider’s venom to create an anti-venom. Personnel milk the venom with a pipette.
Coyote milks the venom from a Sydney Funnel-Web Spider.
As of January 2016, Atrax robustus is one of three species of the genus Atrax in the family Hexathelidae. The Sydney funnel-web spider shares its name with some members of the genus Hadronyche.
The Sydney funnel-web and the northern tree funnel-web spider are the only Australian funnel-web spider known to have inflicted fatal bites on humans, according to the World Spider Catalog which includes over 47,000 species of spiders.
Funnel-web spider venom contains a compound known as atracotoxin, an ion channel inhibitor. The inhibitor or Channel Blocker prevents the normal physiological of a cell. The venom is highly toxic for humans and other primates, but not of other mammals.
Australian Funnel-Web spiders often deliver a full envenomation when they bite, often striking repeatedly. The have defensive, and large chitinous cheliceral fangs with a fangs up posture. There has been no reported case of severe envenomation by female funnel-web spiders, and the venom of female specimens is less potent than the venom of their male counterparts.
Severe envenomation time to onset of symptoms is less than one hour — even 15 minutes. A study of funnel-web spider bites found a median symptom onset time of 28 minutes.
Children are at a particular risk of severe funnel-web envenomation. with 42% of all cases of severe envenoming being children, according to an article in the Medical Journal of Australia.
There is at least one recorded case of a small child dying within 15 minutes of a bite from a Sydney funnel-web spider.
Tip learned from Coyote Peterson today? Always grab logs from the top; never from the bottom, where a spider could be lurking and a bite could occur.
The first response to a venomous spider bite is to immediately remove any rings or bracelets because of immediate swelling. A compression bandage from the bite upward of an affected limb, and is better than a tourniquet. Next, the victim needs to get a hospital where anti-venom can be obtained or delivered.
Coyote Peterson says the Sydney Funnel-Web spider is the deadliest venomous spider in the world.
See also …
Isbister, GK; Gray, MR; Balit, CR; Raven, RJ; Stokes, BJ; Porges, K; Tankel, AS; Turner, E; White, J; Fisher, MM (2005). “Funnel-web spider bite: A systematic review of recorded clinical cases”. The Medical Journal of Australia. 182 (8): 407–11.
Australian Museum Funnel Web Spiders
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