Poisonous spiders swarm Indian town

A festival in Sadiya, a town in northeastern India, was swarmed by an unknown species of aggressive spiders resulting in several bites and the deaths of two residents. The spiders had never been seen in the area, and scientists still don’t know why there was a swarm of them.

Scientists from Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University have not been able to identify the spiders, which resemble tarantulas but may be a new species altogether. Ratul Rajkhowa, a professor of zoology at Cotton College in the city of Guwahati, told the Times that the spiders could be black wishbones, a species native to Southern Australia. If that’s the case, the spiders’ venom would not be deadly but could, in some individuals, cause severe allergic reactions that may result in death. The individuals who died after being bitten by the mysterious spiders were reportedly cremated before autopsies could be performed, and scientists have yet to test the toxicity of the spiders’ venom.

The Times of India article, upon which the Time.com post is based, is amazingly sensationalistic, and worth a click just to see how this type of story should be written.

This was the exact best blog post to write right before bed. (via, well, @LanceBass, who states aptly, “I. Die.”)