A little boy who was desperate to become Spider-Man let a black widow spider bite him believing it would transform him into his hero.

The eight-year-old from Bolivia found the arachnid under a rock while he was playing near a river, according to Ernesto Vásquez, who is head of the Zoonotic Diseases Programme of the Oruro Departmental Health Service.

Mr Vásquez said: “The child, without thinking of the risks, picked it up and, according to him, put it on the back of his palm where the spider bit him.”

The youngster collected the spider and took it home, but a within hours of being bitten he started to feel muscle cramps and aches in his bones.

At first he was reluctant to tell his mum what he had done, but he eventually told her after some cajoling.

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Frantic with worry, she took her son to a health centre in the Bolivian town of Vinto from where he was transferred as an emergency to the General Hospital San Juan de Dios in Oruro.

Doctors at the hospital called in Mr Vásquez to evaluate the boy and he confirmed the lad had been stung by a black widow.

Medics then gave the boy antidote serum and he stabilised within half an hour.

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Mr Vásquez told news website abc.es: “It is striking to us that he would have picked up the arachnid for a simple purpose – he wanted to become a Spider-Man.”

He added black widow spiders are “very striking for children” because of their red and black colours, which in part mirror those of the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

In the story, orphaned teenager Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and a result gains superhuman strength.

The boy’s mum told doctors her son is a fan of Spider-Man and likes to watch the movies.

Mr Vásquez warned: “These black arachnids with red backs are black widows that do not allow you to become Spider-Man. On the contrary, they are putting their lives at risk.”

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