Hercules, the world's largest and most venomous funnel web spider, has been donated for use in Australia's Reptile Park's anti-venom program.
According to media reports, the 3.11-inch-long spider has been donated by a citizen of Australia. The venom of this spider is so dangerous that it can kill a person in 15 minutes.
The Reptile Park, which relies on donations of spiders for its research, is the only institution in Australia that extracts the venom of this particular spider and makes antivenoms from it. According to an estimate, this poison can save 300 lives a year.
"A male funnel web spider of this size in our collection would have a very high venom production, which could be incredibly valuable to the park's anti-venoming program," said Emma Tenney, an agency official.