In the spider world, there is a ferocious living spider described by people as " black widow ". It was intercepted by Haimen, Xiamen. It has a strong venom in its body, and its toxicity is 15 times that of rattlesnake !
On November 7, 2022, when Xiamen Customs inspected a batch of imported car containers, customs officers found that there seemed to be a spider moving in the box, and immediately took precautions to capture it. After testing and identification,
found that the living spider was a highly venomous spider, named "Spotted Spider", commonly known as "Black Widow". The black widow is one of the ten most venomous spider species in the world, and its venom comes not only from the venom gland, but also from other parts of the body.
So, how terrible is the poisonous spider "Black Widow"? If you enter my country and survive, how serious are the consequences?
Black Widow, one of the most venomous spiders
Spotted spiders are famous in the spider world, they belong to Arachnida , Arachnidae , Tarantidae , Kou spiders in Zoology genus, is a medium-sized spider.
The black widow spider looks small and almost black. In spider groups, females are generally larger than males, and black widow female spiders are about 10-14 cm long, which can be described as "tall and burly" compared to male spiders with a body length of 4-5 cm !
Legend has it that during the mating process, female spiders sometimes eat the males slowly, and the females become widows, which is why the common name "black widow" comes from.
However, among the interspotted spiders raised in the laboratory, it is rare for female spiders to prey and kill males after mating. This phenomenon needs to be further studied.
Black widow spiders are native to the Americas, live in temperate or tropical regions, and usually feed on insects (including lice, mosquitoes, and other spiders) and occasionally some terrestrial arthropods.
Black Widow's venom contains a strong neurotoxin , using its small and perforated fangs to inject the venom into the prey, the digestive enzyme in its venom will directly affect the prey's central nervous system , which can make They paralyze or die.
Because the black widow's fangs are like a pinhole, the wound after the bite is extremely small, and it is usually difficult to detect immediately even if the prey is bitten.
Black widow spiders are mostly nocturnal and prefer to inhabit dark, damp places. In the summer of 2002, there was a large-scale black widow spider bite incident in the Hami area of Xinjiang. The bitten person would gradually feel pain all over the body, chest tightness, and then sweat profusely and feel numb.
This is because the poison of the black spider invades the muscle tissue of the human body, causing severe pain all over the body. According to the memories of people who were accidentally bitten by the black widow, the unbearable pain will make you "can't breathe" when the black widow bites!
If a person is bitten by a black widow, there may be only slight swelling around the wound at first, but soon the wound will harden and the pain will spread to the whole body. If it is not treated in time, it may even be life-threatening.
At present, black widow spiders are mainly distributed in the countries along the Mediterranean Sea, and also have a small distribution in Xinjiang, Yunnan and other places in my country. Since the poisonous spider "Black Widow" exists in our country, why does the customs go to great lengths to seize it?
How terrible is it for "Black Widow" to enter my country?
The black widow spider has super reproductive ability. Female spiders can reproduce for life by mating once during the breeding season from May to August. Under good conditions, a female spider lays eggs once every 25-30 days, and can lay up to 5,000 eggs in her lifetime. The reproduction rate is quite amazing!
experts say that ecosystems are formed through long-term evolution, and the species in the system must alsoAfter thousands of years of competition, exclusion, adaptation and mutual assistance, a close relationship of mutual dependence and mutual restraint has been formed.
The black widow spider mainly feeds on insects, including some pests. At present, the native black widow spider in my country is properly controlled and will not pose a huge threat to the local ecology and public health.
However, these organisms intercepted by the customs are alien species. Once the alien species enter the country and continue to multiply and grow, after the invasion, due to the large number, wide distribution and lack of effective prevention and control measures, it will often bring serious "ecological disasters"!
my country has suffered too many "losses" due to the damage to the ecology caused by the invasion of alien species! , such as Fushou snail , is native to the Amazon River Basin in South America. After its introduction in 1981, because of its strong adaptability and fast reproduction, "human snail wars" have been continuously staged in Hunan, Guangxi and Sichuan in my country.
In order to avoid a "tragedy repeat" caused by invasive alien species, we must start from the "source".
Xiamen Customs intercepts the highly poisonous spider "Black Widow"
