Published: Thursday, 15th May, 2008 09:25
Banana surprise
By Steve McElroy
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SHOCKING INGREDIENT: The dead spider in its cocoon.
A HELENSBURGH man bagged more than just a bunch of bananas when he went shopping.
Simon Groves got a nasty shock when he opened a bag of bananas — and found a cocoon, complete with spider.
Stunned Simon had just returned from buying his weekly shopping — and it was while he was unpacking that he found the unusual specimen in the pre-packed fruit.
Simon said: “I bought a multipack bag of bananas at Morrison’s supermarket in Dumbarton, and it wasn’t until I got home and unpacked them that I saw something at the top, where the bananas are stuck together.
“When I opened them up and looked a bit closer I could see something between them and it appeared to be a cocoon with a spider still inside. It was a bit of a surprise to say the least.
“The cocoon was quite big and split and I could see the spider inside — it looked as if it had big teeth.”
He said he tried to coax the insect out to see what it looked like but “it was reluctant to move.”
Simon added: “I managed to prise open the cocoon but found the spider dead inside.”
Intrigued, Simon contacted the London-based Natural History Museum to see if they can help shed any light on his unusual stowaway.
Bosses there asked him to send photographs of it, but he is still waiting to hear more.
The bananas are thought to have come from Columbia in South America — home to a wide variety of spiders, including tarantulas — which form cocoons in the fruit plant.
Experts say that in past years, when bananas were transported as large bunches on stalks, tarantulas — the world’s largest spiders — were often accidentally imported, but since they began to be shipped in small bunches, encounters are more rare.
The tarantula’s association with banana plants was famously immortalised in Harry Belafonte’s hit ‘The Banana Boat Song’.
The incident marks the second time that a Helensburgh shopper has unearthed an exotic species in tropical fruit.
Earlier this year, a scorpion was found in kiwis bought by a Burgh mum at another Dumbarton supermarket.
A supermarket spokesperson urged Mr Groves to contact them so that they can investigate further.
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