It marks the second time that the tropical spider has been spotted in supermarkets in western Germany appearing in boxes of bananas from the Dominican Republic
Image: district police authority Kleve/Newsflash)
Terrified supermarket workers were faced with a hairy ordeal when they uncovered a huge venomous spider with a skull on its back hiding in the store.
The tropical spider was uncovered in a box of bananas from the Dominican Republic which had been delivered to the supermarket in Germany.
Police said it is not the first time the poisonous species has been spotted in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Shop workers made the second discovery at around 7.35am on Thursday morning in the town of Rees.
Kleve District Police Department said: “An unusual operation occurred on Thursday morning at around 7.35am when an employee of a supermarket on Gruettweg discovered an exotic spider in a banana box.
“With the help of the fire brigade and police who were called in, the employee secured the animal in a glass jar and thus prevented it from further exploring the store.
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Image:
news flash)
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Image:
news flash)
“According to a first assessment, the animal was probably a venomous banana spider.
“The TerraZoo was then informed via the regulatory office, and its employees will collect the spider during the course of the morning.”
A first spider was discovered in a box of bananas in a supermarket on Monday in the city of Krefeld, which is also located in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Supermarket staff raised the alarm after finding the creepy crawly, again, in a box of bananas shipped to Germany from the Caribbean island, the fire brigade said.
Workers reportedly secured the box containing both the spider and the bananas with plastic while waiting for firefighters and an animal expert to arrive.
The spider was identified as a Heteropoda venatoria, commonly known as a ‘pantropical huntsman spider’, ‘giant crab spider’ or even ‘banana spider’, due to its occasional appearance in marketed bananas.
It is native to the world’s tropical regions and it is now also present in some subtropical regions as an introduced species.
The creature is not deadly, but its venom can result in a painful bite.
Banana spiders typically feed on insects, with a preference for various species of butterflies and moths.
Specimens are reportedly often found in people’s homes, where they often seek shelter from the cold.
The specimen found in the Krefeld supermarket was reportedly handed over to an animal rescue service.
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