7 facts about the black widow spider with pictures
The black widow spider is not dangerous, but it certainly has a venomous bite. The black widow spider also has an incredibly strong web, and a strange courtship ritual. It is also strange that the male black widow spider emits special vibrations on the web of the female spider to avoid being prey and to tell her It is there to mate, not eat.
1- The black widow spider is more than just being black:
The black widow spider belongs to the genus Zoa, which includes 31 known species of black widow spiders and is found on all continents around the world except Antarctica. While the three common species in North, South and Western America are black, some of them are black. Light brown to dark brown, such as the brown widow spider called gumtrick, and some species, but not all, have some sort of distinctive marking on the abdomen, which is red in color.
2- The venom of female black widow spiders is strong, but rarely fatal:
The venom of a black widow spider is undoubtedly powerful, and has been classified as being approximately 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake, but a single bite does not mean death, and the bite will result in muscle pain along with a variety of other symptoms, including difficulty breathing, nausea, and numbness around the area. The bite, and these symptoms may become severe if the person is not a child or someone who is already sick or has a weak immune system, is rarely fatal, and only black widow spiders that are female will poison a human because there is a part of the mouth that resembles hollow needles long enough It is enough to inject venom into humans, and in addition, a black widow spider is unlikely to attack you in low-threat situations, and may not even use its venom if it bites you.
3- The black widow spider does not eat its mate often:
Aside from the black widow spider's distinctive appearance and venomous bite, the female black widow spider is known for killing and devouring her mate after mating. This bad reputation for the female black widow spider is generally undeserved, as the female has never been recorded eating her mate after mating. In the wild when it comes to most species of spiders in North America, according to the Burke Museum, it has only been observed in laboratory settings where the male cannot escape. This does not mean that it does not occur with other members of the genus other spiders, but it is not the norm.
4- The male black widow spider does his best to avoid eating it:
Although animal eating the flesh of its own species is rare among black widow spider species, males do their best not to become a snack after marriage. A study published in 2014 in the Journal of Animal Behavior found that black widow spider males search for virgins from... Females are well-fed for mating, and in both controlled field studies and in the wild, researchers have observed that males prefer these powerful females over other females due to the pheromones they release, in addition to avoiding being eaten by a hungry female. Researchers believe that male black widow spiders They think that obese females will lead to more and healthier offspring.
The male black widow spider will also send vibrations to the female's web indicating that he is there to mate and not to be eaten. According to a 2014 study published in the journal Frontiers in Zoology, the pecking of the female's web by males differs greatly from that of prey.
5- Male black widow spiders destroy the house:
As in most of the animal kingdom, competition for mating can be fierce, so male black widow spiders often resort to all sorts of artful tactics to ensure that their genes are the ones that are passed on. In the case of the western black widow spider, this seems to involve the destruction of... The female, black widow spider's webs are chaotic threads unlike the organized spider webs we often see.
When they are ready to mate, the females deposit pheromones on the webs, and the males will destroy the web, reducing the female's pheromones and making the web less attractive to other males. For their part, the females do not seem to care about the destruction of their property. Researchers believe this because it reduces the potential harassment they experience while Mating periods, and in fact, lowering the mesh appears to make females more receptive to mating.
6- Black widow spider webs are as strong as steel:
This particular black widow spider's web is known for its strength, so much so that researchers are doing their best to replicate the properties of the web. However, attempts to do so have not yielded materials with the same strength or properties. A 2018 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has addressed this issue. However, using the latest imaging techniques, researchers took a closer look than ever at the protein gland where spider web silk is created. There they discovered a much more complex protein assembly process. Being able to replicate this process artificially could lead to stronger materials to make... Bridges, better materials for plastics and more durable fabrics for military personnel and athletes.
7- The black widow spider heads north:
Another sign of the times of climate change is the northern black widow spider's range extending to a cooler climate. Canadian researchers, identified in a 2018 article based on citizen science data, showed that the species' northernmost range has increased by about 31 miles (50 km) between 1960 and 2016, and the black widow spider infiltrated eastern Ontario and Quebec.