It's not so much a field of dreams as a field of nightmares: A 10 kilometre floodplain infested with 25,000 tarantulas.

Arachnologist Dr Robert Raven thinks the discovery of this Northern Territory tarantula mega cluster is a good thing for the remote community of Maningrida, 500 kilometres east of Darwin.

He says the tarantulas' venom - powerful enough to kill a tiny animal and certainly strong enough to induce nausea and vomiting in humans - could be exploited for medical research: "Pharmaceutical applications could apply across a broad spectrum."

Dr Raven said that such a high concentration of spider was "so far off the scale, it's unbelievable. Normally, I find two or three hundred spiders in one spot."

The causes of the tarantula population explosion remain a mystery.

"Presumably, something is missing that would hammer them or there is something good [like a food source]," Dr Raven said. "It's one of the beauties of science, being able to say 'I don't know.'"

Fortunately for the inhabitants of the small town of Maningrida, tarantulas are not fatally poisonous to humans.

"One of the traditional owners was bitten in eastern Australia and had six to eight hours of vomiting," Dr Raven said. "These are not shallow bites. Long fangs can potentially do damage by ripping tissue."

Nevertheless, local schoolchildren filmed by ABC News on an excursion to the tarantula field did not seem too alarmed. Locals were even filmed patting the spiders.

Discovered in 2006, this species of tarantula is yet to be given a scientific name. The burrow-dwelling spiders are known as diving tarantulas, as they cannot be drowned. They create air bubbles to survive when the plain is underwater during the wet season.

But Dr Raven is now looking for someone to take over his work with the hairy, eight legged creatures.

Researchers wanting to study the Maningrida tarantula may need to take some factors into consideration.

"Someone who is based out in Darwin [should apply]," Dr Raven said. "You'd need a serious degree of understanding and empathy with the local indigenous community."

Asked why he doesn't want to further the research himself, Dr Raven said, "Someone young can take over, you'd need to be able to run."

Not from the tarantulas, though.

"There's buffalos and pigs."