Venezuelan spider

### Related species

* Spiders (*Olias*, Domestic house spider, Canaima spider, Black widow) (taxonomically)
* *Photius manlii* and 24-hour ant (geographically)
* Ants and bees (behaviorally)

## Portrayal

### Appears in

See appearances

“*When that happens, this town is dead. And the next town, and the next town...*”
—Dr. James Atherton describing what follows an infestation[src]
The **Venezuelan spider** was an ancient, deadly and highly unusual species of spider native only to a sinkhole in a remote tepui in Venezuela, South America. There, isolated by the harsh geography of a steep, flat-top tepui, the spiders enjoyed an unrivaled position at the top of the local food chain.

Unlike any other known species of spider, Venezuelan spider populations maintained a highly sophisticated, organized, and hierarchical social structure. A colony of the species was governed by an intelligent General, a fertile male, who produced a fertile female Queen, which then produced drones. The drones were infertile footsoldiers which were deployed by the higher castes to eliminate competing predators and dominate all species in the surrounding area. For this purpose they possessed an exceptionally lethal venom, contained in three venom sacs, which was capable of killing even large mammals such as humans within seconds.

In its original, inaccessible habitat, the spider and all other native species were isolated from evolutionary pressure and remained unchanged for millions of years. However, in 1990, a scientific expedition led by famed entomologist Dr. James Atherton made a descent into the tepui's sinkhole for the purpose of identifying and documenting new arthropods. As the expedition departed, a fertile General of the species concealed itself in research supplies and was inadvertently shipped to California. There, the specimen exited and mated with a domestic house spider, producing hybrid offspring which invaded and terrorized the town. However, through the efforts of physician Dr. Ross Jennings and exterminator Delbert McClintock, the infestation was contained and ultimately eliminated.

## Description

“*Amazing! Miguel, look at these markings!*”
—Dr. James Atherton[src]
The spiders were slightly more massive than a Goliath Bird Eater tarantula, with a considerable leg span. Their abdomens consisted of a robust, semi-acorn shape with a base color of dark maroon. Accentuated over the dark maroon were dark yellow markings running in pattern from their spinnerets to their cephalothorax. Their carapace was a flat, deep turquoise color with subtle ridges bilaterally running parallel with each other. They had six eyes arranged similarly to jumping spiders.

Their eight legs were colored with dark maroon matching the abdomen as well as dark yellow markings on the patella and tibia segments. The leg segment diameters were thicker than most Theraphosid tarantulas, probably needed to produce its strong jumping ability, adequately befitting its heavy bodyweight. All joints were colored with dark grey-brown hair, while the other portions of the legs were colored with dark maroons and black. The chelicerae were robust and disproportionate to the remainder of the body, suggesting a large venom capacity and an adaptation to hunting large prey. These were colored black with inner green, yellow, and pink.

The spiders' anatomy differed based on its status within the population. For instance, a General was capable of reproduction and maintained prominent pedipalps with fully developed palpal bulbs, each with a prominent cymbium at maturity. However, drones lacked reproductive organs entirely.

## Taxonomy and classification

The taxonomic classification of the Venezulean spider was unclear. The species morphologically resembled tarantulas, belonging to the infraoder *Mygalomorphae*, specifically the South American genus *Theraphosa*, commonly known as bird-eating tarantulas. Individuals of the species were slightly larger than such tarantulas and possessed a more robust abdomen.

However, it is possible that the species should not be classified within *Mygalomorphae*; they had no visible foveal groove, and their fangs seemed to be inward-swinging, indicating a potential biological link to the "true spiders" of the infraorder *Araneomorphae*. Likewise, the species' penchant for orb-web construction suggests classification as araneomorphs. Additionally, Dr. Atherton, who first described the species, indicated that one individual's hybrid offspring appeared closely related to the order *Olias*, the largest genus of huntsman spiders, which are also araneomorphs.

## Behavior

### Web

Like most spiders, Venezuelan spiders constructed webs of varying kinds, including circular orb-webs constructed to ensnare flying insects, parrots, and other such creatures. The species was also known to employ silk to cocoon prey and preserve it for later consumption. The species also spun silken drop lines as a means of descent.

### Feeding habits and venom

In their native habitat the spiders enjoyed a position at the top of the food chain. The spiders fed on small insects such as crickets. However, they were also capable of feeding on larger animals, including parrots, tapirs, rats, and even fully-grown humans. Individuals were capable of feeding exclusively on human blood and thereby draining a human cadaver over a relatively short period of time.

For this purpose they possessed venom of exceptional neurotoxicity, which was stored in three venom sacs. Introduction of the venom into the bloodstream caused massive seizures and could kill an adult human within approximately thirty seconds. It was therefore far more venomous than any other species of any kind known to science, besides, perhaps, its own hybrid offspring. Said venom was susceptible of no known cure or antidote, and a bite virtually guaranteed certain death. It was shown to be capable of killing lesser creatures even faster, as a crow died almost instantly upon being bitten.

Individuals displayed high aggressivity and raised their front two legs to threaten attack in a manner similar to most tarantulas. When attacking, specimens were capable of sudden, targeted jumping over a distance several times their own body length. Individuals used this impressive ability as a predatory tactic to ambush their prey or surprise competing predators.

### Vocalizations

The spiders were capable of different kinds of vocalizations. When threatening attack, specimens were observed to stridulate, or "hiss" at a target. The spiders were capable of much louder and more intense vocalizations, however, more akin to a harsh shrieking or screeching sound, which often accompanied an attack. The biological source of these latter vocalizations was unknown, though it may have been some modified process of stridulation.

The spiders also emitted high-frequency sound waves, which were undetectable by human ears and used predominantly for intraspecific communication. When played back at a detectable frequency, the sound was described as a cross between nails dragging on a chalkboard and deep, throaty barks. Such vocalizations could be detected through certain specialized equipment, which was also capable of roughly locating the emitting spider.

### Society and reproduction

Over millions of years, these prehistoric spiders evolved to organize their population into a complex social hierarchy. Governing the colony would be a General, a fertile alpha male of the species, who took a fertile female Queen as his mate. The Queen would produce a central nest which she guarded, ensuring that no spiders or other predators of any kind disturbed the egg sacs. When the time came, a number of drones would hatch from the nest, not only infertile but devoid of reproductive organs.

The General would then oversee the deployment of the drones into the surrounding environment, their deadly venom adapted to the purpose of eradicating any competing apex predators. All the while, the Queen would produce reproductive offspring of her own, readying the next generation to propagate the colony.

### Intelligence

The Venezuelan spider, and in particular a General of the species, exhibited a notable amount of intelligence, particularly goal-oriented thinking, whereby the spiders seemed to consciously act for the end of dominance over other species in the environment.

The spiders also exhibited problem-solving and even strategic thinking. For instance, the first drone to be encountered by mankind went as far as to feign death in an effort to ambush photographer Jerry Manley. Within the spiderly caste system, the General's biological function involved the strategic deployment of his drone underlings towards the goal of domination, analogized by Chris Collins to a military commander waging war against his adversaries. The Canaima General, in particular, also apparently exhibited strategic thinking when he opportunistically concealed himself in research equipment for the purpose of escaping the sinkhole.

The spiders' intelligence extended even to primitive language, as they employed high-frequency emissions for intraspecific communication. Generals and Queens produced the loudest such emissions, using the mechanism to govern their drones and influence their movement and behavior, which was colorfully likened to a ruler "shouting orders" at its underlings.

### Resilience

Venezuelan spiders displayed a capacity for resilience against harmful agents and substances. Drones were observed to be either partly affected or unaffected by fumigation. Generals and Queens were also capable of surviving insecticides such as Toxi-Max and detonation of so-called "Bug Bombs," which left them incapacitated for a time. The Canaima General even withstood immolation, briefly, and attacked while actively engulfed in flames.

## Distribution and habitat

The spiders were only known from a single sinkhole located in an unnamed tepui in the Amazon basin of Venezuela. There, the spiders dominated the local rainforest ecosystem, which was characterized by tall tree canopies, dense vegetation, and diverse flora and fauna. The species was observably arboreal, having been detected in high density among the trees of the sinkhole. While successful in this habitat, it was unable to propagate beyond the steep walls of the tepui.

However, in 1990, Dr. Atherton's entomological expedition to the tepui inadvertently introduced the spiders to a very different forested biome in California, on the west coast of North America. This invasive population, while initially successful, was short-lived due to local extermination efforts.

## History

### Evolutionary history

“*It was potentially a new species of spider, isolated and unchanged for millions of years. And all you could do was squash it.*”
—Dr. James Atherton[src]
The species evolved in the rainforests of the Amazon basin, acquiring such traits as animal intelligence, eusociality, and highly neurotoxic venom. Isolated within the sinkhole of a remote tepui, they succeeded in dominating the local ecosystem and its native species. In this remote, inescapable habitat, they remained unchanged in their prehistoric state for millions of years.

At some point in the past, the native human inhabitants of Venezuela encountered the species. This contact left the locals fearful of their domain and unwilling to associate any further with the sinkhole. Legends then arose that men who ventured into the "rain desert" never returned.

### Encounter with mankind

The species was first discovered by civilization when Dr. James Atherton of California Polytechnic Institute conducted an expedition to the spiders' native tepui. There, the entomologist fumigated a tall tree at the floor of the sinkhole, causing several drones to fall into his collection equipment. After the expedition's photographer, startled by a live specimen, panicked and crushed it, Atherton was able to collect others both dead and alive.

Before the research team left, however, a fertile male individual of the General caste concealed itself inside of the explorers' supplies. At his base camp, Atherton was able to study his specimens' apparent dronelike nature, observing their lack of reproductive organs and enormous venom sacs. Shortly thereafter, the concealed General covertly bit and killed Jerry Manley, the photographer, and then hid in the latter's casket for continued sustenance.

### Introduction into Canaima

The casket was then delivered to Manley's family in the small town of Canaima, California, where the specimen exited and mated with a common domestic house spider. The General then busied himself constructing a web inside of the Jennings barn (which was later moved to the wine cellar), producing a Queen of his own and hundreds of hybrid drone offspring. These hybrid spiders joined the size of the domestic house spider with the deadliness of the Venezuelan specimen. The General immediately deployed his drones into the town, radiating from his nest in a weblike pattern. Eventually, the Queen born of this first generation would be able to generate offspring of her own that could reproduce, further propagating the species beyond Canaima.

Although the spiders were initially successful in claiming the lives of many hapless residents, the invasion ultimately proved unsuccessful. The entirety of the drone offspring were eradicated in the ensuing panic by Delbert McClintock, and the Venezuelan specimen and its Queen were killed through the efforts of Dr. Ross Jennings. The spiders that survived their efforts later died off on their own due to a short lifespan resulting from the crossbreeding.

## Behind the scenes

### Scientific plausibility

It almost goes without saying that virtually every aspect of the Venezuelan spider depicted in *Arachnophobia* is fictionalized. Their size is depicted in excess of even the Goliath Bird Eater tarantula, the most massive spider known to modern arachnology. Their deadliness is even more fictionalized; no extant spider is capable of the extraordinary lethality depicted on-screen.

While no species of spider is eusocial to the extent described by Dr. Atherton, there do exist relatively few species of social spiders. Most prominent among these is *Anelosimus eximius*, which displays such social traits as shared brood care, large, collective webs, and a skewed gender ratio to support biological fitness. Further, while no spider displays the level of cognitive awareness depicted in the film, the jumping spider species *Portia fimbriata* exhibits unique hunting patterns and is considered the most intelligent of the spiders.

## Appearances

1. ARACHNOPHOBIA (first appearance)
2. ARACHNOPHOBIA novel
3. ARACHNOPHOBIA: Official Movie Adaptation
4. ARACHNOPHOBIA video game
5. *Know Your Eight-Legged Enemy: The Authoritative Guide on Spider Eradication* (mentioned only)

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 See Taxonomy and classification for a discussion
2. ↑ No taxonomic or common name for the species is given in the material. The spider is variously referred to as "Venezuelan spider" and "South American spider" in the film and related media.
3. ↑ A promotional television spot for *Arachnophobia* states that the spider was nearing extinction before its discovery and importation to the United States. In the *Arachnophobia* video game, the United Nations commissions exterminator Delbert McClintock to eradicate the species in South America. However, it is not directly stated in any source that the species was entirely extinguished.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The spider's length is based on figures for the Goliath Bird Eater tarantula (Big Bob) which portrayed the General. The *Fangoria* article, cited *infra*, reproduces a quote from special effects artist Chris Walas that the "normal-sized" animatronic model used for the General had a legspan of 10 inches, or 25.4 cm.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 *Know Your Eight-Legged Enemy: The Authoritative Guide on Spider Eradication* at p. 7
6. ↑ ARACHNOPHOBIA novel at p. 90
7. ↑ ARACHNOPHOBIA novel at p. 12
8. ↑ ARACHNOPHOBIA novel at p. 14
9. ↑ ARACHNOPHOBIA video game