HIGH VENOM RATING
N.Z. Katipo Spider
(Special Crspdt. N.ZJP.A.) SYDNEY. December 6.
The venom of New Zealand’s katipo spider is more lethal in equal quantities than that of any other poisonous creature, according to Australia’s Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (C.S.L.). A booklet just published by the C.S.L. says a minute quantity injected by a katipo’s bite can kill a child or send a robust adult to bed for days, or even weeks.
The katipo is known in Australia as a redback or jockey spider, and is related to Ameria’s dreaded black widow spider, according to Mr J. R. Garnet, a leading Australian naturalist, who wrote the booklet.
Mr Garnet says each female katipo or redback can produce up to 1000 eggs, and enough of these survive to ensure the species’ wide distribution throughout Australia. Mr Garnet’s booklet is entitled “spiders, insect and man.”
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 7
Word Count
142HIGH VENOM RATING Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 7
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