1:15:02
I'm no expert, but I'd guess this toxin
is fatal at a fraction of that dose.
1:15:06
I'd agree.
1:15:14
No sex organs.
1:15:17
That would make them drones.
1:15:20
Or soldiers.
1:15:23
That's typically seen in highly organised
insect societies-bees, ants -
1:15:26
but we've never seen it in spiders.
1:15:30
- I have.
- Venezuela, right?
1:15:32
Right. This is the descendant.
1:15:35
Somehow that South American male
has mated with a domestic house spider
1:15:39
and created a very deadly strain.
1:15:41
But if it has no sex organs,
it can't reproduce, right?
1:15:44
True, and the accelerated growth rate,
combined with the specialisation,
1:15:48
suggests a short life cycle.
1:15:50
We've already seen a dead one.
1:15:53
- That could be the good news.
- Now let's discuss the bad.
1:15:57
In their own ecosystem,
1:15:58
the species I discovered in South America
live at the top of the food chain.
1:16:03
The spread out from a central nest in a
web-like pattern and dominate the area.
1:16:09
But in their original habitat, geography
contains them. That isn't true here.
1:16:13
So the original male's
the grandaddy of them all.
1:16:17
And he's acting like a general
sending his troops to battle.
1:16:21
Excuse me.
1:16:23
Professor? This is our town exterminator.
1:16:26
McClintock, infestation management.
Always nice to meet a colleague.
1:16:29
He believes he came across one of the
offending spiders a couple of hours ago.
1:16:33
Might you have brought it with you?
1:16:36
Actually, he's probably still
on the bottom of my shoe.
1:16:39
You really can't tell what it is any more.
1:16:44
In this first generation,
the original male also produced a queen.
1:16:48
Together they will construct a primary nest,
which the queen will guard.
1:16:53
But eventually she will create
reproductive offspring of her own.
1:16:57
When that happens, this town is dead.