THE Guangdong Inspection and Quarantine Bureau detected and destroyed 100 poisonous spiders sent from Thailand, the Information Times reported today.

The package was mailed into the province through Guangzhou Baiyun Airport via EMS, the report said.

Experts from Zhongshan University's School of Life Sciences said that the spiders, which were not mature, were most likely Ornithoctonus huwena. The species mainly lives in Vietnam, Myanmar, as well as China's Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Hainan, the report said.

It is a burrowing, large tarantula that is sometimes referred to as an earth tiger spider in China due to its coloration and temperament. In the West, it is called a golden Chinese tarantula.

Bureau officials found the package's EMS detail bill didn't contain the item names. They opened the package and, much to their surprise, found 100 giant spiders in it, the report said.

Each spider was packed in a round, transparent plastic box, the report said.

However, the receiver failed to gain quarantine approval so the bureau destroyed the poisonous spiders, the report said.

(Shanghai Daily, November 27, 2007)