Spider whose bite leaves victims with erection

Nature never ceases to amaze. Did you know that there is a Brazilian wondering spider, whose bites kills victims in two hours? The strange bit, however, about the creature, known as critter and officially world’s most venomous spider, is that male survivors of its deadly bite experience a painful four-hour long erection!

The spider’s venom can also cause cramps, hypothermia, vertigo, blurred vision, intense sweating and convulsions after a bite. The spider can grow to have a six-inch leg span and can be identified by the distinctive ‘dance’ it performs before it lunges for its prey (It alternately stands on its back legs as if to dance before it strikes).

Now American scientists have figured out the chemical that seems to be responsible for the penis boost. “The erection is a side effect that everybody who gets stung by this spider will experience along with the pain and discomfort,” said study team member Romulo Leite of the Medical College of Georgia. “We’re hoping eventually this will end up in the development of real drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.”

Kenia Pedrosa Nunes of the Medical College Georgia, Leite and colleagues separated the different components of the spider venom and ran tests on rats to eek out the erectile enhancer. The good news is that the rats got an erection and the scientists are now burning midnight oil to try and see if the venom from the spider can be used to make a more efficient erectile-dysfunction drug for patients who don’t respond to some of the popular ones like Viagra, Cialis and Levtra.