MEXICO: About 25,000 tarantulas have been discovered in the sparsely populated Northern Territory of Australia. The huge group of venomous spiders was found in a flood plain of the small community, Maningrada.
The discovery would have contrary effects; on one hand, many will never considering venturing Maningrada again while on the other hand, the revelations offers avenues for fresh scientific and medical research and a potential source of new income for the local population as well.
Dr Robert Raven, a senior curator at the Queensland Museum informed that the venom of these spiders could be used for medical research purposes. Raven added that these tarantulas have been under-researched creatures.
Further, Dr Raven stated that the normal colony size of these diving tarantulas is only around two or three hundred spiders but the newly discovered Maningrada group is around 100 times bigger and occupies an area of 10 kilometers. Thus, the large expanse of these toxic spiders at Maningrada can help the biologists and medical researchers to explore the potential of the venomous beings as more their number, more is the venom available for research.
Dr Raven also hopes that the discovery will benefit the Aboriginal people asserting that the intellectual property surrounding the spider belongs to the community. He stated, “This is a resource for the community in a number of ways… and this could flow back into the community eventually to help them manage the parks better”.
The spider was discovered recently, in 2006 and is called the diving tarantula, as it can survive underwater by creating air bubbles.
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