Number 6-Nick Southam
Nick Southam was an Englishman living in the UK who decided to purchase some bananas, like
he’d done many times before.
He shopped regularly at the Lidl market, and had never encountered any trouble.
After Southam arrived home with his products, he was shocked to discover that there was
something lurking in his fruit.
It wasn’t until the 48-year-old man bit into a banana that he realized there were
lumps underneath the peel.
When he cut into it, Southam was shocked as several small spiders burst out.
The middle-aged-man noticed dozens of eggs but didn’t know how many spiders had actually
survived.
The baffled customer took a picture of the disgusting scene and uploaded it online, hoping
to discover what kind of arachnid he was dealing with.
Specialists identified the insects as the deadly Brazilian wandering spiders.
The company apologized abundantly for Southam’s surprise arachnid experience, but according
to subsequent reports no further measures were taken.
What is it?
The Brazilian wandering spider is known by many names including armed spider, and banana
spider.
The wandering part of its name is derived from the fact that this kind of spider doesn’t
build webs.
Instead, it creeps around the jungle floor searching for different victims.
It’s fully nocturnal, preferring to hide during the daylight.
This particular kind of arachnid is among the most venomous spiders in the entire world.
It’s not only lethal when it comes to other animals, but also human beings, especially
children.
These species can grow as large as 2 inches with the legs adding another 6 inches to its
figure.
From leg to leg, a Brazilian wandering spider is about half as long as a bowling pin.
This arachnid comes in many different colors, frequently featuring black spots on its underside,
and is incredibly hairy.
When defending itself from predators, this animal attempts to make itself look larger.
It pushes both frontal legs high and assumes an erect posture.
The spider tends to frequently feed off insects but also preys on mice or small reptiles.
Number 5-Holly Cray
Holly Cray, a 21-year-old woman, was purchasing some groceries in January 2020 when the unexpected
happened.
She had ordered some groceries online from her home in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Cray began to take the items from the delivery bag and place them onto the counter.
When she grabbed the bananas, hundreds of spiders came rushing out, filling her kitchen.
Cray took her four-year-old son and her five-month-old infant out of her apartment.
She first spent the night at a hotel, before going to her mother’s home.
A spokesperson for the supermarket the bananas had come from denied that the spiders were
of a tropical variety.
The company attempted to contact but no settlement was reached.
The environmental health office assured the mother of two that appropriate fumigation
would be carried out before she returned to her house.
Where is it located?
Though the eight species described as Brazilian wandering spiders are native from Brazil,
some can be found in other locations of Latin America.
This includes countries such as Costa Rica, Argentina, Columbia, Peru, and even Paraguay.
Traveling in cargo containers, especially banana shipments, this spider has been able
to reach North America and even Europe.
This is due to the fact that, when attempting to escape, it can detach different limbs and
with them egg sacs that will become thousands of baby spiders.
These sacs travel in banana branches and erupt shortly after arriving at a shipment’s destination,
such as London.
The female Brazilian wandering spider is larger than its male counterpart.
In order to procreate, the male offers a dance as a tribute.
It’s common for aggressive fights to break out during courtship.
Once mating has been completed, the female spider tends to try and attack the male, as
he’s essentially become useless.
The mother can later lay up to 1000 eggs, separated in different sacs.
The Brazilian wandering spider has a short-lived existence, usually no longer than one or two
years.
Number 4-Ashley Gamble and his family
In 2016, a family of four was horrified by what they discovered in their Asda delivery.
Ashley Gamble, his wife and two children were forced to run away from their home after it
became infested with dozens of small Brazilian wandering spiders.
Gamble explains that the arachnids burst out of a sac stuck to a banana, and spilled all
over the counter and unpacked shopping.
He attempted to use the vacuum cleaner to remove the arachnids, but there were too many
of them to handle that way.
It was then that Gamble decided the family should leave the house.
The father of two refused to return to the location until Asda paid for his family house
to be fumigated and handled all their expenses.
He claimed being terrified that his children might be hurt.
The company apologized for the incident but refused to pay for the cost of fumigation.
Spokespeople for the company claimed that this kind of incident occurs from time to
time, but is incredibly rare.
The Gamble family was contacted so that measures could be taken towards resolving the situation.
Number 3-Charlie Wade
Charlie Wade was merely a schoolboy, when he found a strange-looking spider in a box
filled with locusts.
The boy was planning to feed the locusts to his bearded dragon.
The 12-year-old was curious and began searching for this specific kind of spider online.
He was shocked to discover that it was none other than the Brazilian wandering spider,
considered to be one of the world’s most lethal arachnids.
Wade rushed to tell his parents about it.
Wade Sr, chairman of governors at Fulham Boys School, said that in the box, all the other
insects were dead.
The pet shop denied it could have been this particular species, as it had been sent from
England.
However, when threatened the arachnid assumed the same attack position that the Brazilian
Wandering spider is well-known for.
It’s possible that, as many other specimens had in the past, it arrived in England in
a shipment of bananas.
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How will it kill you?
The Brazilian wandering spider is a lethal arachnid, resorting to both ambush and direct
attacks.
It tends to hide underneath rocks and other crevices.
The venom it releases is a mixture of proteins, and the toxin PHTx3, which directly affects
the victim’s neuromuscular system.
The symptoms are intense and painful, and include burning around the area of the bite,
as well as heavy sweating.
Within the first 30 minutes of the attack, blood pressure can go incredibly high or low
and the heartbeat can increase dangerously.
This is mixed with nausea, cramping, vertigo, blurred vision and convulsions.
The victim’s condition worsens leading up to organ failure and eventually, death by
asphyxiation.
There is a strange side effect when it comes to male victims.
The spider’s bite can cause painful and long-lasting erections that cannot be soothed
without the use of medication.
Human victims may die within as little as two hours after the first bite.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Brazilian Wandering Spider as the arachnid
possessing the most powerful active neurotoxic venom.
Attacks on humans are surprisingly common, given the spider’s habit of hiding in dark
places, such as room corners, especially where there’s clutter and dust.
Number 2-German supermarket goes into shutdown
A German supermarket was forced to shut down after a shipment of bananas caused panic among
its customers.
Both the police and firefighters arrived at the location, shutting off the building, when
a customer noticed several spider cocoons on the banana peels.
This happened in the Globus supermarket at Simmern.
It was far from the first time this issue had occurred.
During 2016, in the German state of Lower Saxony, several spiders were spotted in the
shipment of several fruits, and in Bayreuth, a worker noticed long-legged arachnids lurking
around the bananas.
This problem spread so wide that a German tabloid offered all its readers a reward of
$270 for a photo of one of these dangerous spiders in a local supermarket.
In September of 2019, British tabloid "The Sun" reported dozens of the spiders invaded
a family home after hitching a lift on a bunch of bananas from their local supermarket.
How to survive?
In the past decades, human death by Brazilian wandering spider attack had become such a
problem, that antivenom had to be invented as soon as possible.
The solution finally came in 1996, with an antidote for its incredibly strong toxins.
Since this spider has a limited amount of venom available at any given time, it won’t
really expend unnecessarily.
This is why only 2.3% of bites on human beings require antivenom.
The Brazilian Wandering Spider rarely releases venom when attacking such a large victim.
With that in mind, the mortality rate is incredibly high for that 2.3%, unless immediate medical
treatment is offered.
Antivenom is applied and pain must be managed to avoid further complications.
However, it's not advised to use heavy painkillers since it may lead to respiratory failure.
Local nerve block anesthesia is applied instead.
People who are bitten by a Brazilian wandering spider should seek medical attention immediately.
Ten people a year are reported dying in Brazil from the symptoms associated with envenomation.
Even those who don’t require large doses of antivenom have to deal with distressing
and painful experiences.
Number 1-Jordan Pollock
Jordan Pollock, a young TV production student, was shopping at the Kilmarnock Tesco, and
unwittingly purchased a handful of bananas filled with Brazilian wandering spider eggs.
When he returned home and started unwrapping his groceries he didn’t notice anything
strange.
He even ate half of one of his fruits before going to bed.
The next morning, though, he examined the other bananas and decided to record himself
peeling off the fruit.
Several spiders and small eggs lurked inside.
He called Tesco to protest, but they told Pollock he’d have to return it to the store.
In response, the student uploaded the video online.
The store got back to him and simply suggested Pollock should vacuum and clean the area.
It’s not been made clear if the supermarket took any responsibility for the situation
the student had to endure.
Thanks for watching!
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