Nature & Environment

Eggs from deadly spider found in bananas

By T.K. Randall
September 10, 2014

Image: Bananas
Credit: Frank Vincentz / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) 30-year-old Abby Woodgate had initially mistaken the eggs for mould and had attempted to remove it so that she could still use the rest of the bunch when she discovered that it was actually a cocoon containing a quantity of tiny eggs.

Throwing the bananas in the bin she then used a vaccum cleaner to hoover up a few of the eggs that had dropped on to the floor. After that she called the supermarket, Tesco, who sent pest control specialists around to her house to investigate.Woodgate got the fright of her life when she was told that the eggs belonged to one of the world's deadliest species of arachnid - the Brazilian wandering spider. The pest controllers confiscated both the bin and the vacuum cleaner to ensure that none of the eggs could hatch in the house.

The species itself is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most venomous spider and a single bite can lead to intense pain, loss of muscle control and asphyxiation.

"I couldn't believe it when the little cocoon opened," said Woodgate. "It looked just like frog spawn - I still didn't think the worst. But then it dawned on me and I jumped and threw them in the bin."

Source: Independent

Tags: Spider, Banana