The funnel-web spider is the deadliest arachnid in the world. While it’s something you no doubt want to stay away from no matter the situation, researchers now say that its potent venom changes depending on its mood.
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00:00This is a funnel web spider, the deadliest arachnid in the world.
00:08And while it's something you no doubt want to stay away from no matter the situation,
00:12researchers now say that its potent venom changes depending on its mood.
00:16Researchers have been keenly interested in this spider species, not only because of the
00:19potential dangers it poses, but also because of the multitudinal applications their complex
00:23venom could be used for, including pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
00:28So while testing and extracting their venom, they discovered that it wasn't always the
00:31same, so researchers wanted to know why.
00:33They tested venom that was extracted during different psychologically induced states for
00:37the spider, including during what the spider thought was a threatening situation, as well
00:41as other states, including social moments with another spider of the same species, and
00:45while the spider was exploring.
00:47And one of the four funnel web species venom had a high variability depending on the psychological
00:51state of the creature, meaning they are actively changing their venom's recipe on the fly,
00:56something the researchers say could be a trade-off, as the more potent the venom, the
00:59higher the metabolic cost, which they also found slows their movement speed.