Customer spots one of ‘world’s most poisonous spiders’ on Tesco’s bananas

Customer spots one of ‘world’s most poisonous spiders’ on Tesco’s bananas

An arachnid called the Brazilian Wandering Spider (phoneutria), is known to be one of the most dangerous poisonous spiders on the planet. Also labelled a Banana Spider, it is one of the very few that can present any serious threat to humans if it should bite them.

They are normally found in South America’s tropical regions, but more recently, they can be seen in Tescos in Eastbourne, East Sussex. This can be verified by Adam Shepherd, who while shopping at his local Lottbridge branch of the popular supermarket chain, found one of these species cocooned on a bunch of bananas in the fruit section.

banana spider cocoon

Before handing the sleeping spider to supermarket staff to dispose of, Adam took some souvenir photos and shared them on his personal Facebook page. This was where experts pointed out to him that they had identified the creature as what could have eventually transformed into a lethal, and venomous, Banana Spider.

Adam seemed pretty chilled about the incident when speaking to the Brighton Argus, as he told them, “I wasn’t really that shocked as I used to work produce for Tesco and I’ve seen it quite a few times. No idea what kind it was but it was definitely a brown colour. You can just about see its leg coming out”.

Among the effects of a bite from the Banana Spider are high blood pressure, and sweating, while in men, it can cause, in some instances, an uncontrollable erection.

Matthew Stevens, a chef from Somerset, while working in the Quantock Gateway pub in Bridgwater had a run-in with a Banana Spider back in 2005. It had presumably stowed away in a crate of bananas and found its way to Britain.

“It was hiding in a cloth and when I squeezed the cloth it bit me. It was about as big as the palm of my hand”, he told The Times. “I went to try and pick it up and it bit me again. It landed in the freezer, which stunned it”, he added, as reported by dailystar.co.uk.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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