Australian
funnel-web spider
Spider-venom
biopesticide
one day control pests without killing or harming pollinators (7).
This research was completed by
Erich Nakasu and his colleagues at
the University of Newcastle. The
team chose to focus on venom produced by the Australian funnel web
spider as a potential biopesticide as
it has previously been shown to be
deadly to pest insects. They combined the toxic molecule taken from
the spider venom with a second
“carrier” molecule. This allowed the
spider venom to be delivered to the
pest orally, by spr ^Z[