Although we tend to associate the image of dangerous predators with large and well-known carnivores such as tigers, lions or snakes, niles and ribbed crocodiles, as well as Komodo dragons and great white sharks, not only the vertebrates of the animal world have a terrifying piercing. Predators. A small arthropod, the Australian black widow, belonging to the arachnid family, easily kills prey, mice, lizards and even much larger snakes.
It bites large parts of its paralyzed victim
the Earth roar A video recently uploaded to the portal captures moments of rarely seen drama, once an unsuspecting snake is spotted in an Australian black widow (Latrodectus hassselti ) into his web from which he can no longer escape.
As you can clearly see in the video embedded below, the snake struggles in vain, but is unable to free itself from the imperceptibly thin but powerful spider’s web.
The Australian black widow – which is also referred to as the red spider due to the bright red stripe on its abdomen – first injects venom into its helpless victim, and then, after paralyzing the snake, with the help of its powerful claws, begins to bite off large chunks of its prey. which is powerless.
The Australian black widow’s “menu” often includes smaller vertebrates,
Including mice and other rodents, but as we saw in the video embedded above, even small snakes can’t feel safe from small arthropods.
There is no escape from the little killer’s web
The red-backed spider or Australian black widow – as its name suggests – is primarily a species of spider native to various regions of Australia, but smaller populations are also found in New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The Australian black widow belongs to small spiders, the larger females reach a length of 1 centimeter, and the smaller males reach a maximum length of 4-5 mm.
Despite its small size, the red spider is a dangerous predator.
Which paralyzes its victims with its powerful and complex venom.
It also happens that it first injects its large animals of prey with a substance similar to “superglue”, which glues the limbs of its victims together, immobilizing the prey. The Australian black widow then weaves its prey with spider silk, causing galactorrhea. .
The spider lets the animal of large prey, which it sees as danger, wriggle in its web for a long time, and only makes a bite – even a few times – after the victim is completely exhausted. The Australian black widow usually preys on arthropods and other spiders, but will also attack much larger prey if caught in its web.
Their bite is also potentially dangerous to humans
The Australian black widow is one of the few spider species
Their sting can also be dangerous to humans.
The red-backed spider has caused many serious accidents in Australia, as it loves to attack residential buildings.
Spider venom is mostly considered a neurotoxin Latrodectis syndrome causes in humans. It begins with pain around the site of the bite, which usually worsens quickly and moves up the limb that was bitten. Symptoms causing severe pain can last for more than 24 hours, and wetting can sometimes be detected in the localized area of skin with the sting.
Common symptoms of an Australian black widow bite are nausea, vomiting, severe headache, and confusion. People with circulatory diseases are rarely bitten by a redback spider, but it can be fatal if they don’t seek medical attention in time. Serum against the venom of the Australian black widow has been available since 1956.
