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The southern black widow spider is glossy black and has
a complete hourglass marking on the underside of the abdomen. The
northern black widow, L. variolus Walchenaer, has the same
general appearance but has two red triangles resembling an hourglass,
and a row of red spots on top of the abdomen. The southern black widow
is usually found outdoors in protected places, such as under rocks and
boards and in and around old buildings. The bite of the black widow and
other widow spiders usually feels like a pin prick. The initial pain
disappears rapidly leaving local swelling and two tiny red marks.
Muscular cramps in the shoulder, thigh and back usually begin within 15
minutes to three hours. In severe cases, pain spreads to the abdomen,
the blood pressure rises, there is nausea, sweating and difficulty in
breathing. Death may result, depending on the victim's physical
condition, age and location of bite. Death seldom occurs if a physician
is consulted and treatment is prompt. Black widow spiders are very aggressive they will
attack at the slightest sign of movement. |
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The red widow spider has a reddish-orange head, thorax
and legs with a black abdomen. The top of the abdomen usually has a row
of red spots with yellow borders. This spider lacks a complete hourglass
on the underside of the abdomen and instead usually has one or two small
red marks. The red widow constructs its web in palmettos and has been
found primarily in sand-pine scrub habitats in central and southeast
Florida |
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The brown widow spider varies in color from light gray
to light brown to black. The abdomen has variable markings of black,
white, red and yellow. The underside of the abdomen has an orange or
yellow hourglass. It is found most often south of Daytona Beach, Florida
along the coast. It usually makes its web on buildings in well lighted
areas.
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The physical bite of the brown recluse
is fairly painless with maybe only a slight stinging sensation being
felt. In contrast, the venom is ultimately quite destructive. The
symptoms from the venom appear about six to eight hours after the bite.
Local reaction includes redness of the skin, tenderness and possible
blistering. About 12-24 hours after being bitten one may feel malaise,
chills, fever and nausea. The venom contains the enzyme
sphingomyelinase which is a necrotic substance. The localized cell
death from this enzyme can result in large open wounds that take a long
time to heal. The poison also destroys red blood cells (hemolytic) and
may cause death by liver and/or kidney failure. If you are bitten by a
spider, kill (with minimal smashing) the spider and bring it with you
for identification when you seek medical attention.
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Crab spiders are no active hunters. They make more use
of the camouflage techniques than other spiders and catch their prey
with their front legs. The color of the spider is adapted to the hunting
terrain they use and is mostly extravagant. They remain unmoved until
the prey arrives and catches it. With a poisonous bite (not dangerous to
humans) they kill their prey and suck it dry. They can be found on
flowers or leaves of plants. Often the crab spider remains for days,
even weeks at the same spot. The front two legs, that are often larger
and stronger than the other six, are held sideways, ready to catch the
prey immediately. Because they sit on easily spotted places they are
also easy to catch by the predators. When they spot a possible enemy
they move quickly at the other site of the flower or leave. Their
eyesight is excellent developed |
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.The
main reason why spiders can "walk" on water and we can't is because
their bodies have tiny, little hairs on the bottom of their legs and
feet. Their body weight is so minute that it only creates a dimple in
the water's surface which allows the insect to literally "walk on
water." Our body weight is too much for the cohesive forces of the water
and we break through the invisible film that the tension creates.
Another reason is because some spiders use the hairs on there feet and
others use some form of wax on there feet.
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the giant wood spider can be found from Japan all the
way down to Australia and west to India. In part of Papua New Guinea
tribes people considered it a tasty snack. In Japan there called
"O-jyorou gumo","gumo" means spider, "O" means big and "jyorou" means
"femme fatale". the large yellow spots under the legs are a
distinguishing characteristic of this species. |
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In Florida and other southeastern states, the golden silk spider a
large orange and brown spider with the feathery tufts on its legs is
well know to most native southerners. It is particularly despised by
hikers and hunters, as during late summer and fall the large golden webs
of this species make a sticky rap for the unwary. However, as is typical
with most spiders, there is little real danger from an encounter with
the golden silk spider. The spider will bite only if held or pinched,
and the bite itself will produce only localized pain with a slight
redness, which quickly goes away. On the whole, the bite is much less
severe than a bee string. Typically, the webs are made in open woods or
edges of dense forest, usually attached to trees and low shrubs,
although they may be in the tops of trees or between the wires of
utility lines (Krakauer 1972). Prey consists of a wide variety of small
to medium-sized flying insects, including flies, bees, wasps, and small
moths and butterflies (Robinson and Mirick 1971). We have also seen them
feeding on small beetles and dragonflies. These spiders are not usually
found in row crops, due to requirements of web support, but they were
one of the two most common orb-weavers in citrus groves (Muma 1975) and
have been recorded from pecan (Whitcomb unpublished). Small, immature
instars occasionally make webs between rows in soybean fields (Whitcomb
and Edwards, unpublished). |
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This super aggressive and fast
tarantula has been imported since the mid Œ80s and
has been a common import until recent years. It is a
medium-sized, velvety-black burrowing species with
black chevron markings on a grayish-black abdomen.
It has a whiteish-tan trim around the carapace. This
species doesn't "brown-out" prior to its next molt
and will keep the nice velvety-black appearance most
of the year. H. minax doesn't like to be under
bright light or in the open. It is a "secretive"
tarantula that likes to stay in its burrow except
for a few hours a night when it may come out to wait
for prey to pass by its burrow. This is not a
beginner's species as they are nervous and quick to
bite |
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The grass spiders are members of the genus
Agelenopsis family. They weave sheet webs that have a
funnel shelter on one edge. The web is not sticky, but
these spiders make up for that shortcoming by running
very rapidly. They may be recognized by the arrangement
of their eight eyes into three rows. The top row has two
eyes, the middle row has four eyes, and the bottom row
has two eyes (spaced wider than the ones on the top
row). They also have two prominent hind spinnerets, and
somewhat indistinct bands on their legs.
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Pholcids are fragile spiders, the body being 2 to 10 mm in length
with legs which may be up to 50 mm long. Pholcus and Smeringopus have
cylindrical abdomens and the eyes are arranged in two lateral groups of
three and two smaller median contiguous (together) eyes. Spermaphora has
a small globose (round) abdomen and its eyes are arranged in two groups
of three and no median eyes. Pholcids are gray to brown with banding or
chevron markings. Curiously, the shape of the Pholcus and Smeringopus's
body reflects that of a peanut shell. |
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This spider certainly exists, but is far less menacing
than our urban legends promote. The Violin Spider is one of several
species of spiders in a group called Loxosceles, and they are
characterized by a rather distinct "violin" shaped marking on the top of
their thorax. This also gives them another common name of "fiddle back"
spiders, and the most notorious of the group, Loxosceles reclusa, also
goes by the name of the Brown Recluse Spider. This describes the habit
it has of hiding when possible, hunting for food at night by wandering
around the structure and hiding in the daytime.Many other kinds of
spiders are similar in appearance. They may be the same size, brown,
long legged, and even have the vague outline of a violin on top.
However, the one way you absolutely can identify the Violin Spiders is
by using a magnifying glass and looking at their eyes. They have six of
them, arranged in 3 pairs in an arc across the front of their head. No
other kinds of spiders have eyes arranged in this manner.
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The animal which most biologists call Daddy-long-legs, is a spider,
Pholcus phalangioides, which belongs to the spider family
Pholcidae, order Araneida, class Arachnida. It has two parts to the
body, separated by a narrow waist. It has eight eyes and eight very
long thin legs. Pholcids often live in webs in the corners of
houses, sometimes in bathrooms. Daddy-long-legs spiders (or pholcids)
kill their prey using venom injected through fangs. Digestion is
external, with fluids being squirted onto the prey item and the
resulting juices sucked up by the spider. There is no evidence in
the scientific literature to suggest that Daddy-long-legs spiders
are dangerously venomous. Daddy-long-legs have venom glands and
fangs but their fangs are very small. The jaw bases are fused
together, giving the fangs a narrow gape that would make attempts to
bite through human skin ineffective. However, Daddy-long-legs
Spiders can kill and eat other spiders, including Redback Spiders
whose venom can be fatal to humans. Perhaps this is the origin of
the rumour that Daddy-long-legs are the most venomous spiders in the
world. The argument is sometimes put that if they can kill a deadly
spider they must be even more deadly themselves. However this is not
correct. Behavioural and structural characteristics, such as silk
wrapping of prey using their long legs, are very important in the
Daddy-long-legs' ability to immobilise and kill Redbacks. Also, the
effect of the Daddy-long-legs' venom on spider or insect prey has
little bearing on its effect in humans.
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The Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria spp.) is regarded by some
as the most dangerous spider in the world. It is highly venomous and
kills some 5 people across the world annually. [citation needed] It is
named as such because it was first discovered in Brazil, though this
genus is known to exist elsewhere in South and Central America. This
spider is a member of the Ctenidae family of wandering
spiders.Phoneutria spp. is actually a genus with five known similar
species whose members are highly venomous and not reluctant to attack
people who appear threatening. However, recent studies possibly indicate
(but not with any irrefutable proof) that these spiders only inject
venom in approximately one-third of their bites and may only inject a
small amount in another third. The problem with this theory are the
inaccuracies involved with absolute definitive identification of a
particular subspecies. Thus the effects of the bites from these spiders
are hard to determine when based on sketchy information or inaccurate
identification of a subspecies. However, the effects are reported to
range from only a couple of painful pinpricks to a full-blown
envenomation. In either case, one must assume that when bitten by a
Phoneutria or any Ctenid that it is possibly life threatening and must
seek out immediate emergency treatment. The Phoneutria fera and
nigriventer are the two most commonly implicated as the most virulent of
the Phoneutria spiders. The Phoneutria not only has a potent neurotoxin,
but is reported to have one of the most excruciatingly painful
envenomations of all spiders due to its high concentration of serotonin.
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