'World's deadliest spider' may actually help save its own victims

He’s big. He drips venom. He’s angry. His name is Colossus. And he’s the Australian Reptile Park’s biggest recruit. Found on New South Wales’ Central Coast, he’s now letting go of all that pent-up hostility for a cause. Antivenene. Colossus is being milked for his prodigious production of venom, which is then used to create life-saving antidotes for the bite of the frightening Australian funnel web. Australian funnel webs are renowned as the world’s deadliest spider. Fortunately, just one of the 40 species of funnel-web found in Australia holds that title: the Sydney funnel-web (Atrax robustus) In a worst-case scenario, it can kill a human in just 15 minutes.