An Austrian supermarket has been evacuated over fears of a banana-loving spider sighting that is capable of causing permanent erections in men.
The Penny shop in Krems an der Donau, a town 45 miles west of Vienna, has been closed since Tuesday after the store manager spotted an enormous four-inch black and red spider and called the fire brigade. Emergency services fear the spider, still at large, may have been a highly venomous Brazilian Wandering Spider, which reaches Europe when it is tucked into bunches of bananas.
The arachnid is one of the planet's most venomous and if it bites can kill in hours after causing hypothermia, blurred vision, convulsions and in some cases, erections. An exterminator has been called and helpers have sealed all the banana crates in the store, but reports say the store will likely remain closed until next week. A spokesperson for the Rewe retail group said that "comprehensive cleaning and disinfection measures" are now underway to prepare the store for reopening.
"The erection is a side effect that everybody who gets stung by this spider will experience along with the pain and discomfort," Romulo Leite of the Medical College of Georgia told Live Science. "We're hoping eventually this will end up in the development of real drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction."
The size and colouring of the unidentifiable spider led authorities to believe it was a Brazilian Wandering Spider, capable of emitting a deadly neurotoxin. Authorities said that despite an extensive search, no spiders have been found. Some 4,000 people are bitten by the arachnid each year, with 0.5 per cent of bites leading to death. In recent years, much has been done to develop an effective anti-venom, reducing the likelihood of death.
The Brazilian wandering spider appears in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's most venomous arachnid and its scientific name, Phoneutria, is Greek for murderess. They are known as the wandering spider because they do not build webs, but instead walk the jungle floor at night looking for prey.
In 2016, a family in the UK had their home fumigated due to an infestation of spiders they say arrived in a bunch of bananas from their local Asda. Ashley Gamble, from Leicester, told the Sun that dozens of the creepy-crawlies emerged from a cocoon on the fruit. Matthew Holden, from the Nottingham Reptile Centre, told the BBC their venom could cause an "extremely painful" erection. However, he added that the "spiders in fruit stories" could be "blown out of proportion" as they were probably more likely to be harmless and from the UK.