Deadly spiders immune to insecticide invade school field just before sports day
A horrifying plague of deadly spiders has forced a school to cancel its sports day.
Misa Elementary School in Oita, on Kyushu Island in Japan was overrun by more than 100 deadly Australian black widow spiders found on the playing field just hours before it was due to host a full school sports day event. A teacher raised the alarm after spotting one of the spiders on the school grounds and the event was quickly cancelled.
These spiders, also known as Redback spiders, are close relatives of the infamous Black Widow spider and can be identified by their red dorsal stripe. After a frantic search by teachers and other officials, 100 more of these creepy crawlies were found along with their unhatched egg sacs – which if left undiscovered could have seen thousands of the dangerous creepy spiders roaming the school.
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Spiders. More spiders. HERE
And shockingly, despite extermination efforts, even more spiders and egg sacs were discovered the next day. The bite of a Redback spider can be fatal to humans in rare cases, causing severe pain, muscle weakness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, and an increased heart rate.
Experts warn that while adults may take up to 30 days to succumb to a bite, babies can die within hours. According to the experts at the Australian Museum: “Redback bites occur frequently, particularly over the summer months. More than 250 cases receive antivenom each year, with several milder symptoms probably going unreported, but only the female bite is dangerous.
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“They can cause serious illness and have caused deaths. The venom acts directly on the nerves, resulting in release and subsequent depletion of neurotransmitters. Common early symptoms are pain (which can become severe), sweating (always including local sweating at bite site), muscular weakness, nausea and vomiting. Antivenom is available. No deaths have occurred since its introduction.
“Redbacks have most likely become much more common since European settlers started providing them with lots of the kinds of places they like to make webs in.”
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