Latest Latrodectus Stories
A Seattle family said a black widow spider they found in a bag of red grapes has found a new home at the city's Woodland Park Zoo.Iris Hagemann, 34, said she was washing grapes for her 7-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter when she spotted the spider, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Monday.Hagemann said her son, Timothy, was the first to recognize the spider as a black widow but it was not until her husband, Stuart Rabin, 44, examined the arachnid that they believed the young boy.Sue...
A deadly black widow spider survived a trip from California in a bunch of grapes and ended up in the kitchen of a startled Canadian veterinarian. Tina Chivers, wife of Dr. Jeremy Chivers, said she began screaming Saturday as she washed the seedless red grapes and left them to dry in a sink in St. Catharines, Ontario, northwest of Niagara Falls. She told the St. Catharines Standard that when she spotted the spider's telltale red hourglass marking, she let out a scream that brought her husband...
Big males outperform smaller ones in head-to-head mating contests but diminutive males make ten times better lovers because they're quicker to mature and faster on their feet, a new study of redback spiders reveals.Published in the current online issue of Journal of Evolutionary Biology, the study shows the importance of maturation in defining mating and paternity success. In field enclosures, researchers simulated two competitive contexts favoring the development of differently sized male...
Scientists say that certain exotic species of spiders are making their homes in the UK.Due to the UK's increasingly mild climate, arachnids arriving in imports of food and plants are now able to survive and spread.A species of false widow spider have been confirmed and some believe the deadly black widow could be the next to invade.The conservation group Buglife wants import rules to be strengthened to stem the tide of alien species invasion."Other countries in the world take great care...
By DYKES, Mervyn Beach strollers, if you come across a strange-looking object made from black, corrugated roofing material and labelled with red or yellow tags saying "Dept. of Conservation", leave it alone - there could be poisonous kapito spiders lurking beneath. DOC has enlisted the help of 11 spider-friendly and committed volunteers to launch a year-long survey of red katipo spider populations. Red katipo, or Latrodectus katipo, are endangered endemic widow spiders that were once...
By The Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A tiny Australian hospital is closing temporarily because of an infestation of poisonous spiders. The Baralaba Multi Purpose Health Service will close for 24 hours starting Thursday morning so officials can fumigate the building to get rid of redback spiders that have been found in large numbers in the main part of the hospital. Three or four patients will need to be moved to another hospital while the building is closed, according to a...
NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana bug experts say the poisonous brown widow spider, a cousin to the well-known black widow, is increasingly being spotted in Louisiana.The spiders are generally found in tropical areas but were reported along the Mississippi Gulf Coast last year.Entomologists with the Louisiana State University AgCenter say the spiders likely migrated from Florida through commercial imports of plants, food, building materials, or furniture.LSU entomologist Dennis Ring is advising...
Latest Latrodectus Reference Libraries
The Redbacked Jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni) is one of the largest and most common jumping spiders in the western parts of North America. It is not to be mistaken for the highly venomous and unrelated Redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti). The Redbacked Jumping spider may inflict a painful bite in self defense if threatened, although there are not any serious medical consequences. Adult Redbacked Jumping spiders are usually about 0.4 inches in length. Although the female has an...
The Biting Spider or False Black Widow (Steatoda nobilis) is a species of arachnid native to the Canary Islands. It was accidentally introduced to England around 1870 through imported bananas that were sent to Torquay. It is also found in continental Europe and Africa. Its range is extending northwards and is expected to someday be prominent in the United Kingdom. This spider resembles the black widow and is sometimes though to be one when spotted. It has a round, over-sized abdomen which...
The Triangulate Cobweb Spider (Steatoda triangulosa), also known as the Triangulate Bud Spider, is a species of common house spider that is found throughout the world. It is found along the coasts in North America, in southern Russia, in New Zealand, and in Europe. It is largely believed to be native to Eurasia. This spider is well known for the triangle-shaped pattern on the upper side of its abdomen. The adult female is 0.13 to 0.25 inches long. It has a brown-orange cephalothorax...
The Dark Comb-footed Spider (Steatoda grossa), also known as the Cupboard Spider, Brown House Spider, or False Black Widow (several other species are generally known by these names as well), is a species of arachnid found throughout the world, including the coasts of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. One North American spider ( Steatoda borealis), is a closely related species of Steatoda grossa. There are recent reports of this spider breeding in the United Kingdom as well....
The Black Cobweb Spider (Steatoda capensis), also known as the Brown House Spider and Cupboard Spider, is a species of arachnid commonly found throughout southern Africa. It has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand it is commonly known as the false katipo. This small spider is mostly shiny black and may have a small bright red, orange, or yellow patch near the tip of the abdomen. There may also be a crescent shaped band near the front of the abdomen. The bite of...
