Banana Spider

I bought some bananas and after I put them on the banana rack I saw this yellow and black spider. And I killed it instantly. Could this be a banana spider? It was hanging out by the bananas. Can they accidentaly be shipped with the bananas? Does anyone know any information on all of this?

Here is what I could find on the subject:

The banana spider is a common name used for two entirely different species of spiders, the argiope of North America, and the phoneutria of Central and South America, the latter of which can be deadly.

The phoneutria or South American banana spider is a large, aggressive spider with a body length of about 1.3" (3 cm). This banana spider primarily makes its home in the rain forests but can also be found in cities, where, between 1970 and 1980 it was reportedly responsible for the hospitalization of some 7,000 people in southeastern Brazil.

The South American banana spider's venom is neurotoxic, or acts on the nervous system, and is similar to the venom produced by redback spiders, also known as black widows. A phoneutria banana spider's bite will cause immediate pain, a cold sweat and irregular heartbeat. Antivenin does exist and the bite can be deadly so immediate medical attention is necessary.

Other names for the dangerous phoneutria banana spider include: bananenspinne, kammspinne, and wandering spider.

The argiope banana spider of North America possesses venom similar in nature to the venom of the black widow, but far less potent, making it quite harmless to humans. A bite from a North American banana spider will not result in much more than a welt that will pass within 24 hours. Link

Is this what you saw? There are two types of banana spider, one is south american and is deadly the other is north american and is not. You can probably guess which one is which by the photos below.

My mum works in a shop and they found one of these spider's in the banana's.
They must live were they get the banana's from...

Originally posted by wildcat
Can they accidentaly be shipped with the bananas?

I think some spiders like going into a bundle (or whaterever the bunch of bananas is called) like the banana spider and laying there or whatever. Before they ship the bananas they spray them with pestisides to kill any spiders that may be in them. Well not actually in the bananas but in the "bunches" . So I guess some of them may not die and are shipped with the bananas.






-tts

Yeah, it was about that same size and same colors. Good thing I noticed it before putting my dish in the sink because it was crawling in that direction.

mod edit: removed un-needed huge quote, please only quote if you need to

[edit on 22-11-2006 by UK Wizard]