Spider Steatoda Grossa - a harmless false black widow
The black widow inspires fear in many people, they are dangerous and can harm with their bites. But she has imitators. The most similar species to the black widow is the paikulla steatoda.
Content
What does paikulla steatoda look like: photo
Description of the spider false black widow
Name: False Widows or Steatodes
Latin: SteatodaClass: Arachnida - Arachnida
Squad: Spiders - Araneae
Family: Steatoda - Steatoda
 | Habitats: | dry places, gardens and parks |
 | Dangerous for: | small insects |
 | Attitude towards people: | harmless, harmless |
Spider false widow.
Paikulla steatoda is a spider that is similar to the poisonous black widow. Its appearance and shape are similar, but there are tangible differences.
Males are 6 mm long, and females are 13 mm long. They are distinguished from each other by the size and color of the limbs. The color changes from dark brown to black. The belly with the cephalothorax are of the same length, it is ovoid in shape. The size of the chelicerae is small and has a vertical arrangement.
On a brown or black belly, there is a white or orange stripe with a light triangle. The limbs are dark brown. Males have yellow-brown stripes on their legs.
The difference between a steatoda and a black widow is a light beige pattern in young animals, a red ring around the cephalothorax in an adult, and a scarlet stripe in the center of the belly.
Habitat
The paikulla steatoda prefers the Black Sea regions and the Mediterranean islands. Favorite places are dry and well-lit gardens and parks. She lives in:
- Southern Europe;
- North Africa;
- Middle East;
- Central Asia;
- Egypt;
- Morocco;
- Algiers;
- Tunisia;
- southern part of England.
Life
The spider is engaged in weaving a strong web, which has a hole in the middle. Usually the arthropod places it on an inclined surface among insignificant vegetation.
They are able to attack prey that is larger than them in size. They are able to neutralize and eat even a black widow.
Spiders don't see well. They recognize their prey by the vibration in the web. Steatoda is not aggressive. It can attack a person only in case of a threat to life. Life expectancy does not exceed 6 years.
Life cycle
During the mating period, male individuals with the help of a stridulatory apparatus (stridulithroma) reproduce a sound resembling a light rustle. The frequency of sounds is 1000 Hz.
There is an assumption of arachnologists that the effect on females occurs not only with the help of sound, but also due to the release of special chemicals - pheromones. Pheromones enter the web and are felt by the female. When pre-processing the web with ether, there was complete indifference to musical flirtations.
The spiders that appeared for the first time are with their mother. Growing up, they become independent and leave it.
Paikulla steatoda diet
Spiders feed on crickets, cockroaches, wood lice, other arthropods, long-whiskered and short-whiskered Diptera. They bite the victim, injecting poison and wait for the insides to “cook”. The arthropod then quickly eats the food.
Paikull steatode sting
The bite of this species is not dangerous to humans. Symptoms include feeling unwell for 2-3 days and having blisters on the skin. Pain intensifies in the first hour after the bite. Nausea, headache, weakness may occur.
More than 5 days symptoms do not appear. In medicine, this concept is called steatodism - a less severe form of latrodectism. Spider venom has a neurotropic effect. It has little effect even on mammals. It is often compared to a bee sting.
First aid for a bite
Although the false black widow bites very rarely, if it is pinned down or accidentally disturbed, it will certainly respond with a lunge. Unpleasant symptoms will be felt immediately, but they are not dangerous. When bitten, to alleviate the condition, you must:
False widow.
- wash the wound with antibacterial soap;
- apply ice or a cold compress to the affected area;
- take an antihistamine;
- drink plenty of fluids to remove toxins from the body.
Conclusion
Paikulla steatoda is considered one of the brightest and most original spiders. Despite the resemblance to the poisonous black widow, the arthropod does not harm humans. His bite does not lead to serious consequences.
Previous
Good afternoon!
A bold decision, although the spider is not poisonous to humans.
2 years agoThis steatoda bit my sister in Khmilnyk yesterday. She came to visit her mother-in-law, helped install the chicken net and pressed this creature to the ground. It’s a pity that you can’t attach a photo of a reddened palm, he says, as if he was shocked by the current. I anointed with ointment from insect bites and today it is almost gone. Saboteur…
2 years agoWe have these creatures in our apartment in Vladivostok, of course there are cockroaches in the house, so they harachat them. A terrible sight, poisoning with dichlorvos helps well, bit me once, as if it had been burned with nettles, and a blister came out
2 years agoFound in the kitchen. It's not pleasant, a young individual ... It's north in St. Petersburg ... Where from?
2 years agoThere is also one in the Tver region, last year they found it on the site with my daughter. Maybe they are migrating, I don't know. I heard that karakurts are also found further north than usual. But I did not meet them there, thank God. There were wolf spiders and this beauty in one copy.
1 year agoGeorgievsk, Stavropol Territory. I often meet at the dacha. They climb into the house. Unpleasant, to put it mildly. And after the descriptions of the bite, it’s not at all comfortable.
I don’t bully anyone - there are mice, ants, snails, snakes, hedgehogs - they all live nearby. But these spiders! - just darken everything, it's scary. How can you get rid of them?!1 year agoAnd I had a similar case happened, on the 1st course. I lived in Krasnodar, I found this behind the sink, near the crack between the floor and the wall. The place being viewed. I myself am not afraid of spiders, but here is such an instance. She called him Gosha. Since the winter she fed different midges (no one wanted to fly there). I thought I fed him, the tummy was rounded. And then, one fine month of heat, Gosha gave birth ... I had to evict them on a broom in a flower garden outside.
1 year agoI'm glad that this spider can eat a black widow. So let him be better than a real karakurt.
1 year agoToday, by chance, in the kitchen I discovered such a spider on a jellied bowl, not knowing what kind of spider it was, I decided to flush it down the toilet. Once I pressed the flush, I see it swims up, second, time, third. I watch a persistent spider, trying to escape and get out of the toilet.
1 year agoSo are these steatodes or karakurts? 😑 I took two small brooms out of the house in the summer, then one larger one was executed with a gas cylinder after much thought. I sat in a place where it was impossible to reach or at least see normally. They thought it was a black widow, they decided not to risk it, to burn it quickly and without torment. But the web flared up and the spider was thrown to no one knows where. Scorched all the cracks within a radius of two meters, to be sure. And now they saw it again, only not black anymore, but more brown. It's a pity to kill, but I don't want to die either. Okay, my husband and I, and the children are small😑 and it’s silly to find out if this is a karakurt or a steatoda sitting .. North Ossetia
1 year ago
Found it on the wall of my kitchen. Snapped, then slammed. Creepy creature. And this is in central Russia.