Male venom more toxic

It seems males and females are not created equal, especially when it comes to venom. Enter the Sydney Funnel Web spider, a hairy and scary looking spider that can be found in the moist cool forest areas of ….you guessed it, Sydney Australia.

Life starts off as an equal playing field (apart from the obvious differences in girl and boy bits) with the venom profiles being the same. They spend the first few years of their lives hanging around close to their burrows, which are usually found under rocks, rotting logs and in leaf litter.

As soon as the males become sexually mature the males start to get restless, and they set off from the safety of their burrow in search of a hairy, long-legged lady love. The females meanwhile are happy being home-bodies. This choice of lifestyle could provide a vital clue to why the male’s venom is so much more toxic than the females.

As they mature males develop an extra component in there venom. Is this to subdue their girl when they track them down? We don’t think so. Leading a wandering lifestyle would make you more exposed and vulnerable to large predators as bandicoots and large marsupial mice which make a meal out of these spiders.

This may also explain why all reported humans deaths from bites are suspected to be from males, as they’re more active and constantly on the move in search of a mate. It makes sense, more contact with predators and more contact with humans. The upside is that since the development of an anti-venom in 1981, no deaths have been recorded. So everyone, especially those in the Sydney area can now sleep safe at night.