THE Guangdong Inspection and Quarantine Bureau detected and
destroyed 100 poisonous spiders sent from Thailand, the
Information Times reported today.
The package was mailed into the province through Guangzhou
Baiyun Airport via EMS, the report said.
Experts from Zhongshan University's School of Life Sciences said
that the spiders, which were not mature, were most likely
Ornithoctonus huwena. The species mainly lives in Vietnam, Myanmar,
as well as China's Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Hainan, the
report said.
It is a burrowing, large tarantula that is sometimes referred to
as an earth tiger spider in China due to its coloration and
temperament. In the West, it is called a golden Chinese
tarantula.
Bureau officials found the package's EMS detail bill didn't
contain the item names. They opened the package and, much to their
surprise, found 100 giant spiders in it, the report said.
Each spider was packed in a round, transparent plastic box, the
report said.
However, the receiver failed to gain quarantine approval so the
bureau destroyed the poisonous spiders, the report said.
(Shanghai Daily, November 27, 2007)