on that body...
I think I know
why you've heard of Canaima.
This was Jerry Manley's home town.
- Manley the photographer?
- Yeah.
I think one of your Venezuelan spiders
hitched a ride here in Manley's coffin.
The fangs, the injectors,
are disproportionately large.
Three poison sacs.
Now, let's test the venom.
The nature of the toxin and the amount
injected determine the effect of the bite.
And, of course, the place
where the subject is bitten.
It can lead to paralysis or death.
I'm no expert, but I'd guess this toxin
is fatal at a fraction of that dose.
I'd agree.
No sex organs.
That would make them drones.
Or soldiers.
That's typically seen in highly organised
insect societies - bees, ants -
but we've never seen it in spiders.
- I have.
- Venezuela, right?
Right. This is the descendant.
Somehow that South American male
has mated with a domestic house spider
and created a very deadly strain.
But if it has no sex organs,
it can't reproduce, right?
True, and the accelerated growth rate,
combined with the specialisation,
suggests a short life cycle.
We've already seen a dead one.
- That could be the good news.
- Now let's discuss the bad.
In their own ecosystem,
the species I discovered in South America
live at the top of the food chain.
The spread out from a central nest in a
web-like pattern and dominate the area.
But in their original habitat, geography
contains them. That isn't true here.
So the original male's
the grandaddy of them all.
And he's acting like a general
sending his troops to battle.
Excuse me.
Professor? This is our town exterminator.
McClintock, infestation management.
Always nice to meet a colleague.
He believes he came across one of the
offending spiders a couple of hours ago.
Might you have brought it with you?
Actually, he's probably still
on the bottom of my shoe.
You really can't tell what it is any more.
In this first generation,
the original male also produced a queen.
Together they will construct a primary nest,
which the queen will guard.
But eventually she will create
reproductive offspring of her own.
When that happens, this town is dead.
And the next town, and the next town.
And the next one and so on.
Irv owns the mortuary
where it must have originated.
- If we go in and destroy the original male...
- And the primary nest.
- I'll call the Department of Agriculture.
- There's phones in the office.
- I'll see you later at the mortuary.
- Sheriff, you'll give me a ride.
I am not a chauffeur.
- Shut up.
- Damn, it's busy!
Irv and Blaire always take the phone off
the hook during Wheel Of Fortune.
Let's get the hell over there.
Blaire, real butter or fake butter?
Fake.
- Irv, hurry.
- Buttery, hot and delicious!
He needs to buy a vowel.
Buy a vowel.
Delbert!
What's this nest?
What's it gonna look like?
You'd know it if you found it.
The area would be dark, warm, moist.
It'd be kind of a musty smell
and you'd probably see an egg sac.
Like your basic egg sac.
White, cocooned, pulsating,
about the size of a softball.
Of course, there'd be
no other spiders around.
What do you mean?
Spiders are cannibals, so she wouldn't
want any others near her offspring.
Yes, tell them exactly what I've told you.
Even if it is interrupting a dinner party.
Sheriff?
Where is this?
It's the old Daniels place.
Jennings bought it.
Take me there.
Hey, Irv!
Ross.
Canaima welcomes you.
Irv, we have an emergency!
I'll get us into the mortuary.
Ross!
We've found it.
Please go back to the mortuary and round
up my assistant and that exterminator.
All right, I'll do that.
Meanwhile, just stay here, sir, because
I'm not going to be responsible for...
Fine.
The killings have been so arbitrary.
Maybe there's more than one nest.
No, there's just that one.
What was it Atherton said?
They radiate out from a central nest.
You got a map of this town?
- Thinking about buying here?
- Just get a map, please.