Bite Basics
The same time each year here in Arkansas we all have to start watching were we walk, reach and sit because the Latrodectus mactans, but many know it as the black widow. This highly venomous species is a native of the USA and its usually the female who sends people across the country to the ER, as the male counterpart almost never bites and when he does is hardly as potent as the female widow. Seeing as the male will become food for his mate after the impregnation of his female, he is somewhat on the short end in the defence of himself. Johan Christian Fabricius worked primarily with arthropods and was a specialist on insects, classifying many spiders including the black widow, which he described in 1775 and placed in the genus Aranea. He was professor of natural history, economy and finance at the University of Kiel from 1775.
The weigh in
The mature female stats is around 1.5 in long and 0.25 in in diameter. The female is very shiny and deep black in color, with a red marking in the shape of an hourglass on the ventral (under) side of her perfectly rounded abdomen. There is a plethora of sizes the female come in, particularly in egg-carrying (gravid) females. The abdomen of a gravid female widow can be larger than 0.5 in. in diameter. Quite a few female widows also have an orange or red patch right above the spinnerets on the top of the abdomen.The male is either black, or closer to the look of the juveniles in color, and is alot smaller with a body smaller than 1/4 in. Juveniles have a very different appearance to the adults, the abdomen is gray shaded to black and white stripes running around it and is spotted with yellow and orange. These spiders are not extremely large, their venom is ridiculously potent, compared to many other species of spiders. Their chelicerae, mouth, are not large or even powerful.The mature female, the hollow, con caved shaped part of each chelicera, the part that penetrates the skin, is approximately .04 in. long,enough to inject the venom to a place where it can be harmful. The males, much smaller, inject alot less venom with smaller chelicerae. The amount injected, even by a mature female, is extremely small in physical volume. When this minuscule amount of venom is absorbed through the body of a healthy human it usually doesn't amount to a fatal dose. Deaths in healthy adults from Latrodectus bites are somewhat rare in terms of the number of bites per thousand people. Sixty-three deaths were reported in the United States between 1950 and 1959.
Here comes the pain!
So your staring at a bite wound and have know idea what sunk it's teeth into you. Was it a black widow? Well twenty minutes after a widow bite the symptoms will arrive. Localized severe muscle aches, abdominal, weakness, and tremor. Large muscle groups (such as shoulder or back) are often affected, resulting in considerable pain. In severe cases, nausea, vomiting, fainting, dizziness, chest pain, and respiratory difficulties might ensue. People rarely die from a black widow's bite. Life-threatening reactions are usually seen in small children and the elderly.
Is there a doctor in the house?
The treatment for reactions to a black widow spider's bite will be beyond the ability of a doctor office or ER. Pain relief may require the use of narcotics and antivenin (antitoxin to counteract the effects of the spider venom). The decision to get emergency care should be made very early. If the person that was bitten by a black widow spider has more than minor pain or has full-body symptoms, seek out care at a ER. If symptoms are severe, call 911 for emergency medical transport so that diagnosis and treatment can start en route to the ER.
