Five rare spider species found in Dantan village of West Midnapore

Kolkata: A fresh scare of Tarantula spider gripped the villagers of Dantan in West Midnapore on Sunday, after five rare species of spider having similarities with Tarantula were recovered from the village.

Locals are, however, suspecting that the spiders found at Dantan are of Tarantula species.

The forest department officials have recovered the spiders and are yet to confirm their species. It was learnt that some more spiders were found at Salboni in the same district. The forest department has started an extensive search from the areas the spiders have been recovered.

Sanjay Dey, a resident of Manoharpur village under Dantan block 1 on Sunday morning found five spiders among which three were beaten to death by the locals, while one managed to flee. The villagers confined one spider inside a glass jar. Some of the locals have expressed their anxiousness after one spider disappeared from the spot.

It may be mentioned that tension spread among the villagers of Debra in West Midnapore after a woman was bitten by a rare species of spider.

The victim, Mamata Patra Santra, a resident of Raghunathpur village was admitted to Debra Super specialty hospital after she was stung.

Locals, however, claimed that a Tarantula spider had bitten the victim. After being informed, the forest department officials reached the spot and recovered the spider. The insect had stung her hand following which it had swollen. Scare of Tarantula spiders reached the city as a woman was admitted to a private nursing home in Garia after being bitten by a spider.

Tarantula is a species of spider that is commonly found in South America and Africa. Senior officials from the district health and forest department on Sunday visited the district to assess the situation.

The forest department officials have started an investigation to identify the insect that had bitten the villager and where it had come from.

The district administration suspects that the insects are coming from the adjacent areas of the Kasai river.

Though, the forest department officials are yet to identify the insect, it has already brought back the fear of Tarantula in the villages of West Midnapore district. They suspect that this could be a poisonous spider. According to the villagers, the insect that stung the victim is furry and looks almost like Tarantula.

The patient has been given antibiotics. According to a forest department official, there is no fear of death in such cases.

There are 100 types of Tarantula in the world. They are found Africa, South America, some parts of Asia and Australia.