If you search for Black Widow, you can probably see the third option that reads "Latrodectus" which is the scientific genus of a Black Widow. They were discovered at around 1959 by an Arachnologist (spider expert) called Herbert Walter Levi.
When we talk about Black Widows, we have to question the origins of it's name and this one is interesting enough to explain since you will go all 'oooh'. Unless, you've already known.
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| pix11.com |
The term 'Black' obviously comes from it's dark brown to shiny black abdomen with a unique touch of an hourglass pattern on it's ventral abdomen to serve as a warning. The term 'Widow', on the other hand explains the 'sexual cannibalism' that occurs between all female and male Black Widows after mating. The females- which are bigger in size- will consume the males right after mating simply because they can. How much more bad-ass can they be?
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| www.dailystar.co.uk |
Now, let's talk about their bites. The male Black Widows makes harmless venoms while the females focus on making a fatal and strong enough venom to kill a person. Though, most of the times, their venoms are not life-threatening and can easily be treated. (No offense.)
But never underestimate the power of the dark side-I mean, venom. A Black Widow's venom is 15 times more potent than that of a Rattlesnake, which is a very impressive comparison. Me, being a snake lover, knows the poison level of a Rattlesnake and this analogy awed me. The only thing that lowers the fatal risk of a Widow's venom is the amount of liquid injected while attacking/biting. Rattlesnakes inject more liquid on a strike than the Black Widows which injects a very small amount of venom on a single bite.
Symptoms of a Black Widow's bite includes local pain, sweating, reddening of skin and bristling of hair around the attacked spot. If you feel these symptoms one day, would you think it's a spider bite? I would. And I will definitely bolt to the hospital.
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