The vast majority of spiders avoid confrontation, while the male Australian funnel-web spider, which is considered one of the most dangerous spiders in the world, will attack and try to bite whatever threatens it, and will cling to the victim, stinging it repeatedly to make sure it is given a full dose of its venom.

This spider has proven powerful in stings, is very aggressive, and has an amazing array of powerful fangs, which can penetrate shoes and nails, and by using this destructive mechanism, the spider injects an appropriate dose of a powerful toxin that affects the nervous system, especially in primates, within minutes.

And recently, a group of Australian researchers studied the venom of the web-funnel spider, and found that this type of spider gained the ability to kill humans by chance, and that the fast-acting and highly toxic male venom likely evolved as a defense against predators.

The results of the study were published in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)" on September 21, and featured an article by two of the research participants published on the Conversation website.

Find the female

About 15% of all animals use poison for various reasons such as killing or immobilizing prey, self-defense or gaining an advantage over competitors during the breeding season, and when the animal matures and changes its activities, its poison changes.

The Australian Network repressive spiders are among a small group of spiders whose venom can kill humans, however, all of the previously reported deaths occurred prior to the introduction of the antivenoms in 1981.

This toxin is deadly because it contains a type called "delta-hexatoxin". This toxin can kill humans by attacking the nervous system, and straining nerves by making them always "busy" firing nerve signals.

Scientists have proven that when the male repressive web spiders are young, their venom is mainly strong for the insects that eat them, but as soon as the male starts looking for a female, he must leave his safe burrow, and its venom in this case becomes strong for vertebrates such as reptiles and mammals, Including humans.

The Australian Network Funnel Spider is one of a small group of spiders whose venom kills humans (Pixabay).

Very baffled

Scientists have always been very puzzled as to why these toxins are so deadly to humans, while we and other primates have never been prey to funnel-web spiders throughout history.

Scientists were also confused about why most of the bites to humans occur during the summer mating season of spiders, and that the venom of males is more deadly than the venom of females, and it causes death.

The researchers set out to solve this mystery by using molecular analysis of the toxin. Despite official recognition of 35 species of repressive spiders, the Australian network has identified 22 types of delta hexatoxin toxins from only 10 of them, and obtaining this data helped paint a much clearer picture. For the bewildering poison story.

The researchers examined the genetic sequences of all "delta hexatoxin" toxins of reticulum spiders, and found that the female venom only remained effective against insects, but over time the venom of adult males evolved to be potent against vertebrates.

Researchers have found that a fast-acting and highly toxic male venom may have evolved as a defense against predators (Pixabay).

Protection against predators

The researchers believe that it is all due to natural selection, as the genes responsible for this success are preserved and passed on to subsequent generations. When repressive spiders evolved the network millions of years ago, their venoms targeted their natural prey from insects such as cockroaches and flies.

Leaving the males for their burrows after they had matured sexually and wandering long distances to find a female contributed to a change in the venom of adult male spiders, because it placed them in the path of vertebrate predators, which can include reptiles such as lizards, geckos and mammals such as mice and birds.

The researchers intend to exploit this new knowledge after they are armed with a better understanding of genetic sequences, and how "delta hexatoxin" toxins evolved, studying the effect of spider venom on the human body, which is crucial to improving antivenoms, and designing new treatment strategies for victims of bites.

Scientists also hope that studying the evolution of toxins will lead to new types of pesticides that are less harmful to non-target insects, and have wide-ranging effects.