A ginormous and deadly funnel-web spider has been handed in to a reptile park in Australia, where staff said it was the largest of its kind they’d ever seen.
Fittingly named Hemsworth, the spider spans 9.2 centimeters (about 3.6 inches) from foot to foot, according to the Australian Reptile Park. It surpasses the record set by the park’s previous biggest, Hercules, which measured 7.9 centimeters (3.1 inches) and was donated in January 2024.
“Hemsworth, he’s different. He is the biggest spider,” said the park’s spider keeper Emma Teni, in a video posted on its official Facebook page.
The spider is named after the Hemsworth brothers – Chris, Liam and Luke – who are among some of the most notable Australian actors in Hollywood.
The spider Hemsworth was handed in at one of the park’s drop-off locations in Newcastle, a coastal city around 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Sydney.
Park staff first thought it was a female spider due to its size. However, upon closer inspection, they soon realized it was a male.
According to the Australian Museum, the average length of a funnel-web spider’s body is 1 to 5 centimeters, with male spiders typically smaller than females.
“We’re used to having pretty big funnel-web spiders donated to the park but receiving a male funnel-web this big is like hitting the jackpot,” Teni said to Sky News Australia.
Hemsworth’s fangs will now be “milked” to extract venom, which will be turned into life-saving antivenom. Only male funnel-web spiders are milked as they are about six times more venomous than females.
Funnel-webs, whose most dangerous species lives in and around Sydney, are known for their deadly, fast-acting venom. Before the antivenom was introduced in 1981, 13 people died as a result of funnel-web bites. Since its introduction, there have been no fatalities.
The park urges residents of Sydney and nearby areas at the start of every breeding season to beware and to carefully, and calmly, collect both the funnel-web spider and any of its eggs if they spot one so that they can be used to make antivenom.
Despite its size, Hemsworth is by no means the largest type of spider in Australia.
That title goes to a species of the tarantula known as the whistling spider, due to the noise it emits when provoked. The body length of the species can grow to 6 centimeters (about 2.36 inches) and they can have a leg span of 16 centimeters (about 6.3 inches), according to the Australian Museum.
