Revealing mistake: When Jerry Manley gets bitten by the spider in the tent in South America, the others come to look at his corpse, you can see clearly see his neck pulsating, when he should be dead. (00:15:35)
Arachnophobia (1990)
Plot summary
Directed by: Frank Marshall
Starring: John Goodman, Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, Harley Jane Kozak
Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) and his family have moved to the small town of Canaima, California to become its resident physician. Things go wrong for them as residents begin to die and evidence points to an infestation of poisonous spiders.
Doctor James Atherton: In this first generation, the original male also produced a queen, and together they will construct a primary nest which the queen will guard. But eventually, she will create reproductive offspring of her own. And when that happens, this town is dead... and the next town... and the next town... and the next one, and so on.
Trivia: Near the start of the film, when Atherton is examining the spider after returning from the valley, several butterflies are seen pinned up in front of him. Several of these are not South American butterflies - the top left one (blue with long tails) is Papilio Ulysses, a species of tropical Australia, and the big green-and-black one near the bottom right is Ornithoptera priamus or O. euphorion. Whether this qualifies as a mistake, I don't know - Atherton is supposed to be an expert, so they may not be the most geographically accurate 'colourful' butterflies to use.
Question: Are the small spiders in the movie an actual type of spider? If so, what are they called?
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Answer: The small spiders are Avondale spiders from New Zealand. They are totally harmless to humans.
Hamster ★