Spiders: Alive & Deadly will give visitors an up close and personal view of 400 real spider specimens

A NEW exhibition at the Australian Museum is enough to send those suffering from arachnophobia to an early grave.

IF YOU suffer from arachnophobia, you had better stop reading this immediately.

The Australia Museum in Sydney has a new exhibition celebrating a wide array of eight legged creatures.

Spiders: Alive & Deadly will give visitors an up close and personal view of 400 real spider specimens including live tarantulas, deadly funnel-webs and giant water spiders — does anyone else think giant water spiders sounds like a B-grade horror film?

“At the Australian Museum’s major new exhibition you’ll discover why spiders are the most successful animals on the planet and just how dangerous (or not) they really are,” the website reads.

“Spiders: Alive & Deadly will ignite your curiosity, conquer your fears and leave you seeing spiders in a whole new light.”

So what exactly is there to do at a spider exhibition?

Anna Forster, Live Exhibits Officer milking venom from a Social Huntsman at the Australian Museum ahead of their Spiders- Alive and Deadly Exhibition.

VENOM LAB

If you have ever wondered how venom is extracted from spiders, your question will be answered.
Twice daily, professional spider wranglers will perform live venom milking at the Venom Lab.

The venom extracted is then sent to the University of Queensland’s venom library, where it is used to create pain medication and pesticides.

DOME SPIDER

Want to scare yourself and learn some amazing facts along the way?

The exhibition will allow you to be completely surrounded by live Dome Tent-web Spiders and their large dome-shaped webs in a viewing sphere.

Common in north and northeastern Australia, these spiders can grow as large as a child’s hand. Eek.

Tasmanian cave spider, still by Tasmanian cinematographer Joe Shemesh from the documentary Sixteen Legs (Pic credit Joe Shemesh)

TASMANIAN CAVE SPIDER

It’s a world rarely seen by humans, but thanks to technology you can now view the world of the Tasmanian Cave Spider.

Using a virtual torch to shed light on the mysterious home of these spiders, people can interact with these Australian web weavers.

SPIDERS MIXED REALITY APP

Spiders are amazing creatures that can spin webs, climb, swim, dance and parachute.

Some species can even drop a limb when threatened and grow it back.

A new app will allow guests to bring spiders to life on their mobile device.

Spiders: Alive & Deadly will open at the Australian Museum on October 29. Tickets can be purchased online.