In November 2022, Xiamen Customs intercepted a live smuggling spider " black widow ", which attracted widespread media attention, because "black widow" is a notorious poisonous species in the world, and its toxicity is 10 times that of rattlesnake . Do you know how terrible the consequences of invading our country are?
It is understood that this "Black Widow" spider is apparently a stowaways, secretly hiding in the corner of the car container, and came to my country across the sea. Fortunately, it was discovered by the careful customs officers of Xiamen Customs. After the container was closed and disinfected, it was captured alive at the scene.
Subsequently, experts carefully identified the spider and determined that it was undoubtedly a "Black Widow", which made domestic biologists break a cold sweat. "Black Widow" is not an ordinary species.
The scientific name of "Black Widow" is Interspotted Spider. "Black Widow" is the nickname people give to it, because like the mantis, the female eats the male directly after mating, in order to ensure adequate pregnancy. Nutritious, quite ruthless, that's why she got the nickname "Black Widow".
The most typical features of "black widow" are dark brown skin and a prominent red spot on the abdomen. The female spider is about 13 mm long and the foot span is about 38 mm long, while the male is much smaller than the female. Only half the body weight of female spiders, or even smaller.
Don't look at a "Black Widow" spider weighs only 1~3 grams, we can easily kill it with just one finger, but in fact, whether it is a female spider or a male spider, all of them are cruel characters , is terrifying, because its poison is extremely potent, 10 times that of a rattlesnake, and a single bite can be fatal.
Especially female spiders, the venom gland is extremely powerful, the venom contains the neurotoxin , which causes the "inactivation" of neurotransmitters, and the venom also contains gibberellin , causing erythema, tingling, and blurred vision , Convulsions, nausea and vomiting, severe muscle pain, myocardial damage, dyspnea, , tachycardia.
"Black Widow" spiders are widely distributed all over the world, in Africa, Europe, South America, North America and Asia. In the United States, about 2,200 people are bitten by black widow spiders every year. event.
In July 2022, a 63-year-old man in Foshan, Guangdong was accidentally bitten by a black spider the size of his thumb while working in the field. heart.
On the second day, the man had abnormally swollen arms, shortness of breath, and poor mental state. After being sent to the hospital, he fell into a coma. After several days of effective treatment, he returned to normal. The black spider the man encountered should be a black widow. spider.
But what makes people more puzzling is that "black widows" are mainly distributed in Xinjiang and Yunnan in my country. How can there be black widow spiders in Foshan, Guangdong? So some people suspect that it was either brought from Xinjiang and Yunnan, or came from abroad, that is, the smuggling spider "Black Widow".
Since there are black widow spiders distributed in my country, why stop the invasion of alien black widow spiders? According to the World Spider Catalogue, there are as many as 31 species of black widow spiders, but there are only two native black widow spiders in China, the Chinese spider spider and the interspot spider.
The black widow spider intercepted by Xiamen Customs is still unclear what kind of species it is, but it is definitely not the black widow spider species in my country.
There are no black widow spiders in Xiamen, Fujian. If alien black widows invade Xiamen, it will inevitably cause damage to the existing ecosystem. For the ecosystem, alien species are unfamiliar and have not been integrated into the ecological food chain. Keep hunting other small animals.
The black widow spider mainly uses small animals such as flies, moths, barley bugs , crickets , cockroaches, mosquitoes, cotton worms, etc.Food, from a certain point of view, black widow can control the number of mosquitoes and cotton bugs, it can be regarded as a beneficial insect .
Black widow spiders are highly venomous and have few natural predators, but in the American West, alligator lizards, western fence lizards, and western geckos (Sceloporus occidentalis) prey on black widow spiders because they have compounds in their bodies that neutralize or rapidly Removes black widow venom, which my country does not have.
Therefore, once the alien black widow spider successfully invades our country, there will be an explosive increase in the number of spiders. Female spiders only need to mate once in their life to lay eggs continuously. Once the number of eggs produced exceeds 5,000, they will melt into small spiders in three months. In the absence of the influence of natural enemies, the number will reach the point of flooding in a few years.
Exotic black widow spiders also have reproductive communication with native black widow spiders. Genetic differences may lead to genetic mutations, and the emergence of more virulent black widow spider species may seriously damage the ecosystem.
Just like the transgenic mosquito , many experts worry that transgenic mosquitoes may have genetic mutations, resulting in super mosquitoes, such as the infamous killer bee , which has killed more than 1,000 people. It is a hybrid of the Brazilian bee and the African bee. . Therefore, the consequences of the invasion of alien species are very dire, especially the highly venomous species of black widow spiders. Interesting and informative scientific content, please pay attention to the only WeChat public account: Interesting exploration
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