Deadly surprise found lurking in a bunch of supermarket bananas
AN office worker found one of the world’s most deadly spiders in a bunch of bananas – which had travelled 5,000 miles from Brazil.
Neil Langley bought the fruit from an Asda superstore in Tipton but did not notice the venomous intruder until he got to his office at Five Ways, in Birmingham, the next day.
Colleagues helped him pass on the spider to the RSPCA, who have found a home for it in Bristol Zoo.
The RSPCA identified the creepy-crawly as being a Brazilian wandering spider.
Named after their habit of moving across the jungle floors, the arachnid’s bite can kill in hours, though they are rarely found outside their natural forest habitats in South America.
Mr Langley, 52, bought the surprise package last Wednesday evening, with the stowaway tucked inside the open fruit bag until after he turned up for work at the Department of Work and Pensions.
“I bought a bunch of four or five bananas at Asda and put them in a bag, but I didn’t notice the spider until I was at my desk the next day,” he said. “It was in one of the clear bags you use for fruit and it must have just woken up.
“I was lucky it hadn’t crawled out at home or in my work bag.
“I first saw something moving out of the corner of my eye and it wasn’t a normal grey spider you get in this country, it was quite big.
“I put it in a plastic bag and had a discussion with colleagues about what to do with it. We even discussed flushing it down the toilet. Eventually a colleague who is an animal lover put it in a cereal box and gave it to the RSPCA, who took it away. It must have made a difference to the cats and dogs they usually get called out to.”
Mr Langley added: “The RPSCA confirmed it was a Brazilian wandering spider in a phone call about an hour-anda-half later.
“Some of the effects of its bite are quite horrific. It can be deadly, depending on your reaction.”
The administrative officer, from Bilston, does not feel Asda is to blame and has not been put off his lunchtime fruit.
“I don’t think you can put too much blame on Asda,” he said.
“The bananas are imported from places like Costa Rica and South America and the supermarkets buy them from wholesalers. I told the manager at the store and he promised to look into it.”
The supermarket chain has said in the past that such incidents are extremely rare.
Some of the effects of its bite are quite horrific. It can be deadly, depending on your reaction Shopper Neil Langley