Spider Shuts Down Supermarket In Bexbach, Germany

TheLocal.de:

Experts in Bexbach, Germany, are still searching a supermarket for a spider that jumped out of a Colombian fruit crate on Friday.

The eight-legged escape artist is thought to be a highly venomous banana spider.

Read the whole story: TheLocal.de

Comments

[Max Shaw]

04:36 PM on 07/11/2011

I cant believe things like thi exist. Why would an arachnid that small need a bite so powerful?? Granted most things where the spider came from are deadly, it just seems a bit of an overkill. Even for nature.

[Bill Simpson]

09:42 AM on 07/11/2011

Actually, it is the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria spp.) that is venomous, not the common banana spider (genus Nephila) which, though fearsomely large, is quite harmless. The woods here in Louisiana are full of the banana spiders. Both are commonly confused with another large spider, the taranchula (Family: Theraphosidae) whose rare bite is seldom fatal, and are often kept as pets. Although potentially deadly, the probability of actually dying from a bite of the Brazilian wanderer is rather slight if anti venom is available and administered quickly. Although an extended hospital stay is common.Then again, you could die. A single one of them did kill 2 people once.
Of course, like sharks, spiders play a vital role in the balance of nature by keeping the insect population in check. Their venom is extensively studied for potential drug development.
The photo is not of a Brazilian wanderer because they don't weave webs, which is one reason why they are so dangerous. They wander around, usually on the forest floor.

[abuckley23]

12:03 AM on 07/11/2011

I am never, and I mean NEVER, going to Columbia if those are the kinds of spiders they have there. Also a damn good reason to stop eating fruit.

[getsit]

01:45 PM on 07/11/2011

Oh, honey, we have dangerous spiders here. The black widow, the hobo, the brown recluse. Even household spiders that can bite can cause problems if you are allergic.

The irony is that almost every household probably has a black widow in residence.

[abuckley23]

02:01 PM on 07/11/2011

You're just trying to scare me aren't you?

[lostinit]

11:11 PM on 07/10/2011

Banana Spiders = Brazilian Wandering Spider. Very deadly. Avoid!

[sunbeltvoter]

09:37 PM on 07/10/2011

When is AOL going to hire a reporter with a triple digit IQ? Or at least an internet connection and directions to Wikipedia?

The photo above is a Golden web spider. Very large but gentle minimal poisonous spider common in the Southern US. Sometimes called a banana spider due to its yellow body. But the dangerous South American banana spider is a brown hairy tarantula looking spider. That does not spin a golden web. Duh.

The lack of true facts on this news(sic) site is staggering. Did perhaps Fox buy you instead? Wiki has a photo of the spider you need, in the public domain which HPAOL could use. If you had a reporter smarter than a fifth grader.

[rh654]

11:17 PM on 07/09/2011

WHY did I read this story?!? I'll be doing a freaking bedroom search before I can fall asleep.

[CHMB]

06:50 PM on 07/09/2011

It can grow up to 13cm in size?! I don't have issues with spiders, but if I saw a spider that large, I'd run away screaming, and hope that it didn't come chasing after me and eat me for lunch.

[Deep Thinking Man]

06:21 PM on 07/09/2011

i'll bet that no matter who is looking for this spider, if/when they find it, they kill it.