Brazilian wandering spider - also known as soldier, runner, wandering spider, . Belongs to the runner family Ctenidae. Reads 8 types. The natural range covers South and Central America. Found throughout the world as a pet. In 2010, it was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most poisonous.

Description of appearance

The Brazilian wandering spider grows to a size of 15 cm, which is equal to the size of an adult's hand. Ranked with. The color is varied - gray, brown, black, red, brown. The body is divided into the abdomen and cephalothorax, connected by a thin bridge. Long powerful 8 pieces. Well visible mandibles. The photo is located below.

The entire body is covered with small, dense hairs. Legs serve as instruments of movement and are organs of smell and touch. On the head, providing a broad outlook.

On a note!

The wandering spider sees in different directions, but does not have good vision. Perceives silhouettes, shadows, and responds well to movement.

Lifestyle

The Brazilian runner spider got its name because of its vital functions and certain qualities. The animal moves quickly and jumps well. Lives in trees, most of them bananas. The bur does not stand; it constantly moves from one place to another in search of food.

On a note!

The Brazilian spider forms powerful trapping webs. The diameter of the largest reaches 2 m. The threads are so strong that they freely hold birds, lizards, snakes, and small rodents. Fishermen put them in several layers and use them to catch fish.

The Brazilian wandering spider often crawls into residential buildings in search of food. Hides in cabinets with dishes, things, shoes, in the corners of rooms. Since in such conditions it does not spin a web, it does not reveal its presence in any way.

Nutrition

The main diet is insects, snails, small caterpillars. Often the victims are small birds, rodents, lizards, and snakes. The soldier spider lies in wait for its victim in a shelter. When she sees her, she takes a characteristic pose - she rises on her hind limbs, lifts her front limbs up, pulls her middle ones forward, and spreads them to the side. He waits for the right moment and rushes to attack.

Interesting!

The runner spider injects venom and saliva. The first substance paralyzes the victim, the second turns the insides into a liquid mass, which the predator then drinks. Insects die almost immediately, frogs, rodents, snakes after 15 minutes. The Brazilian soldier spider hunts at night, during the day it hides away from sunlight under stones, in crevices, and tree leaves.

Reproduction

Runners lead a solitary lifestyle and gather in pairs at the time of mating. The male appeases the female with food. Such manipulation is necessary so that the spider does not simply eat it. After fertilization, the “suitor” must immediately hide, since the hungry female may begin her hunt.

After some time, the wandering spider lays eggs in a cocoon formed from a web or on bananas. The cubs are born after 20 days and scatter in different directions. Up to a hundred small spiders are born at one time. An adult lives on average 3 years.


Danger to humans

The British wandering spider is one of its huge family. The toxic substance disrupts the functioning of the nervous system and causes spasms. Possible consequences of a bite:

  • abdominal pain;
  • nausea;
  • weakness;
  • vomit;
  • diarrhea;
  • dizziness;
  • temperature change;
  • arrhythmia;
  • headache;
  • increased blood pressure;
  • difficulty breathing, shortness of breath.

Redness, swelling, pain, and burning appear at the site.

The situation is especially dangerous for young children, people with weakened immune systems, the elderly, and people with allergies. The venom of the Brazilian wandering spider can kill a child in 15 minutes and an adult in half an hour. Alarming symptoms develop within 20 minutes after a predator attack. However, with the provision of qualified assistance, the condition returns to normal. You should call an ambulance immediately if you experience difficulty breathing.

Poison in high concentration leads to muscle failure, heart function is disrupted, and breathing becomes difficult. Death occurs as a result of suffocation. There is an effective antidote - Phoneutria. When it is administered, nothing threatens a person’s life.

Benefits of the Brazilian wandering spider

The animal is kept as a pet all over the world. Attracts an unusual appearance, large size. In artificially created conditions, the runner lives up to 3 years, reproduces, and feeds on insects.

The poison contains a powerful neurotoxin PhTx3, which is used in medicine in strictly dosed concentrations. The substance has a beneficial effect on male potency. Effective medicines are made from the poison.

Brazilian wandering spider

The Brazilian wandering spider is the largest spider in the world. At just 13cm across, it's very small, but don't be fooled by that. According to some researchers, this is the deadliest spider on the planet; it is also very aggressive and territorial. It is sometimes also called the Banana Spider because many of these spiders have been found in bunches of fruit. This is a critter that definitely needs to be avoided.The Brazilian wandering spider - actually the common name for eight species of spiders that belong to the genus Phoneutria - means killer in Greek. It runs everywhere at night, actively searching for prey. It does not wait in ambush and does not spin webs like other spiders. The idea that rainforests can contain giant spider webs accumulated over the years is a misconception.

Many spiders don't bother with webs at all, preferring to always be on the move to catch food. This species can be recognized by the scarlet-red fur that covers their paws. A good indicator is also a defensive posture when the spider stands on its hind legs, raises its front legs and sways from side to side. This spider is not afraid of people and will actively attack anyone if it feels threatened, making it very dangerous to approach.

Two of the eight species of Brazilian wandering spiders are responsible for the majority of bites and are found in densely populated areas of southeastern Brazil and the Amazon. Most bites occur because the spider wanders around at night and then hides during the day in something accessible, this could be leaves, plants or logs in the forest, or shoes, clothing and boxes in people's homes. However, recent studies have shown that these spiders inject no venom in 30% of their bites, and only a small amount of venom in the other 30%. This means that the same bites still sometimes occur. Bites may differ in consequences from simple punctures of the skin, i.e. simple trouble to complete poisoning. The Australian spider, which is a related species, spins funnel webs by injecting venom each time, and may therefore be considered more dangerous, although the venom of any spider can result in a medical emergency.

In 2007, the Brazilian wandering spider was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most poisonous spider and responsible for the most human deaths due to a spider bite. It is believed that this species includes spiders that have the most powerful neurotoxic venom of any other spider. Just 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) of poison is enough to kill a mouse, not much more is needed to kill a person.

This large brown spider is similar in appearance to the North American wolf spider. Its bite is the most painful due to its large fangs and the high level of serotonin contained in the venom. This is one of the most excruciatingly painful bites of any spider. This poison has also been found to increase nitric oxide levels. The effect on the male victim will be the same as swallowing Viagra - a prolonged and painful erection when it is least needed.

While the venom can certainly be deadly, no human deaths have been reported since the invention of the antidote in 2004. And yet, encounters with any large spider, the danger of which is as obvious as the danger of the Brazilian wandering spider, should be feared.

Still, people sometimes encounter similar types of spiders when unpacking fruit that has been shipped from abroad, but you are unlikely to ever encounter such spiders unless you are hanging around in South America. However, it is worth knowing what danger spiders can pose if an attack does occur. They are officially the most dangerous spiders on Earth. Be careful.

For residents of Ukraine, Russia and neighboring countries, local spiders do not pose any particular danger, since even poisonous individuals cannot kill a person. However, there are more terrifying species in the world, a representative of which is the Brazilian wandering spider, which will be discussed further.

Appearance, color and size

The Brazilian wandering spider is a relatively large arthropod, whose body length often exceeds 10 cm. The head and chest are small, but the belly is thick, which is explained by the constant consumption of food. The massive legs are covered with hairs, which largely gives the spider its terrifying appearance.

The color of the arthropod varies depending on the specific living conditions. Most often it is dark brown with light patches on the legs and back, but it can have a brown color with reddish hues or even black.

It is also easy to recognize a spider by its behavior: in a moment of danger, the arthropod stands on its hind legs, raising its forelimbs upward. For this feature he was nicknamed "soldier". During such a “ritual,” the spider can sway from side to side, and its jaw becomes crimson-red.

Did you know? The spider's web is so unique that it has not yet been possible to reproduce it in the laboratory. In addition, it is very light, therefore, according to preliminary calculations, only 340 g of such “yarn” would be needed to cover the globe.

Where does it live?

The main habitats of the “Brazilian wanderer” are Central and South America, where arthropods live mainly in tropical forests. Sometimes they can be found in private houses, where they climb in search of food or shelter.
Spiders crawl into shoe boxes, bags of clothes, and even things scattered on the floor, which only increases the danger to humans. During the day, they can hide in cool basements or dark closets, and at night they actively move around the house.

This behavior is also typical in forest conditions: during the day the spider sits out under stones or in cool holes, and at nightfall it quickly moves around the territory, for which it is also called a “runner”.

On the territory of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus, the “Brazilian wanderer” can only be found in terrariums, but has not yet been recorded in open nature. True, this does not mean that there is nothing to be afraid of: there are many poisonous varieties that are common in our country (for example, the “black widow”).

What does it eat?

The diet of the Brazilian spider is quite wide and includes:

  • small insects;
  • small lizards;
  • other spiders, and even weaker representatives of their own species;
  • sick birds, even if they are larger than him.

When attacking its prey, this small predator sinks its teeth into it and injects poison into the body, paralyzing the animal in a few seconds. This allows him to start eating calmly.

In the absence of such food, he does not disdain some fruits, especially bananas. Because of its love for them, the arthropod received the name “Brazilian banana spider.”

Important! In banana boxes they travel very long distances. There are cases when a spider ended up on another continent, endangering the local population.

Reproduction

Brazilian wandering spiders are dioecious creatures. The color of the female is much brighter than the color of the male, but the size of the male individual exceeds the size of the female, and the males also have an additional pair of limbs (used during mating).

To attract the attention of his chosen one, the male performs a kind of dance, while simultaneously offering her the caught food.

After sexual intercourse, the female often eats her partner, and after a few weeks she lays eggs and guards them until the young emerge. After this, the female’s maternal mission is completed: the young individuals crawl along the paths in search of food.

Why is a spider bite dangerous?

The Brazilian wandering spider was included in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most poisonous creatures of its order. This attitude of people is explained by its aggressive behavior and powerful neurotoxins that are part of the poison.

In a healthy adult, they cause a strong allergic reaction, but with timely consultation with a doctor, death can be avoided. The “wanderer” poses a great danger to children and people with weakened immune systems, among whom the percentage of deaths is much higher.

During a bite, a person feels sharp pain, difficulty breathing and swelling of individual parts of the body. Over time, complete paralysis of the respiratory muscles occurs and the victim suffocates. Depending on the condition of the body, death occurs within 2-6 hours after the bite.

How is poison used in medicine?

The venom of various animals has always been the subject of study by scientists, because this is the only way to develop an antidote and save a large number of people. However, the poison of the “Brazilian wanderer” is interesting not only for this.

Did you know? The most notable representative of large spiders is the goliath tarantula. With a body size of up to 10 cm, the span of its limbs reaches 30 cm.

It contains the toxin TX2-6, which helps increase erection in males. And although there is no cure for erectile dysfunction using it yet, developments in this direction are still underway. It is likely that the world will soon learn about a new cure for impotence.

As you can see, a wandering spider is an interesting object for detailed study, but if you happen to encounter one in the wild, it is better to avoid the predator without putting yourself in danger.

Wandering spider, runner spider, banana spider - these are all names of the most dangerous arthropod killer on the planet.

A fatal outcome after a bite from this warrior occurs in less than an hour in 85% of cases, which gave him first place in the Guinness Book of Records and the title of the most poisonous and dangerous of his family.

Description of the spider

Appearances can be deceiving

This spider has won first place in the list of the most dangerous spiders from itself, so let's find out what this fearsome animal of South America looks like.

Let's start with the fact that the Brazilian soldier spider never weaves webs and generally loves to constantly change its place of residence, which is why it is sometimes also called wandering.

The Brazilian soldier spider belongs to the genus Phoneutria, a family of running spiders that includes the most venomous members in the world. Fortunately, it has a fairly limited distribution.

Due to the constant movement of the spider, its habitat also changes, which affects its color. The most common spiders are sand-colored, which allows them to easily camouflage themselves in the ground. To attract and intimidate the enemy, the area near the chelicerae has a bright red tint.

The spider's long hairy legs allow it to reach a size of 15 centimeters, and this is the length of the palm of an adult!

Brazilian jungle storm

It is most widespread in the tropical forests of Central and South America, but often likes to climb into human homes, and therefore is a frequent guest in the mansions of Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian soldier spider loves secluded places, so it is often found in boxes of clothes or in wardrobes.

And the wanderer has a family

Like all spiders, the Brazilian soldier spider is dioecious. Males are smaller in size compared to females and often have a slightly brighter color. They are also characterized by the presence of pedipalps - an additional pair of limbs used in the process of fertilization of the female.

If the male spider is ready for the mating process, then he demonstrates this to the female by performing a dance.

Banana-loving arthropods

The main diet of the Brazilian soldier spider differs little from the menu of other spiders from this family. They prefer to feast

  • small insects;
  • their weaker relatives;
  • small lizards;
  • birds accidentally falling into range.

The Brazilian soldier spider has been noted to have a penchant for bananas, which is why it is often found in boxes of this fruit. Because of this, it received its second name: the Brazilian banana spider.

Record-breaking lethality

The Brazilian soldier spider acquired its reputation as the most dangerous spider on the planet, not least thanks to its aggressive behavior. As soon as a situation arises that it identifies as dangerous, the spider takes a special stance on its legs, stretching threateningly upward and pointing its front legs towards the enemy.

The indicative aggressiveness of the Brazilian soldier spider is associated with its focus on active hunting. While pursuing a victim, it can develop a running speed decent for a spider, and is also capable of jumping a considerable distance.

Since the spider loves to enter people's homes in search of a calm, quiet place, its meeting with in humans - this is a fairly common occurrence. Unfortunately, they often have a tragic outcome. The impact of the venom of the Brazilian wandering spider on older people is especially dangerous.

The content of a powerful neurotoxin in the poison causes the victim to experience total muscle paralysis, leading to fatal suffocation. A person bitten by this spider feels terrible pain throughout the body and complete numbness. As a rule, the subsequent muscle paralysis causes death. From the time of the bite to death can take from 2 to 6 hours.

If you are bitten by a Brazilian soldier spider, you should immediately seek help from a medical facility. Currently, there is an antidote for the bite of this spider, although it is extremely toxic to the body.

Sand wasps are capable of digging deep holes in the sand. You can find a full description of the insect at this link.

Good from a killer

But the reputation of a killer did not prevent scientists from finding practical benefits for humanity in him, especially for his stronger half. The reason is that its venom contains the Th2-6 toxin, which promotes a powerful, albeit extremely painful, erection. Experiments conducted to date have confirmed that the use of this toxin in medicine can provoke the development of a drug that cures erectile dysfunction.

So, perhaps the Brazilian soldier spider will again get into the Guinness Book of Records, but now for his contribution to the development of drugs for impotence.

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Clients will also be able to order transport with loaders, but if the driver works alone, he will not receive such orders. Yandex.Taxi promises “special bonuses for some partners and drivers” who subscribe to the new tariff.

The most poisonous spider in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is considered “ Brazilian wandering pau To". This spider got its name because it does not sit in one place and does not weave webs, but actively moves in search of food. Another extremely dangerous spider is the Black Widow, which can be found in the Caucasus and Crimea.

Brazilian wandering spider ( Phoneutria) - fast, very active and most importantly - poisonous. Brazilian name of the animal: aranha armadeira, aranha de bananeira (aranha armadeira, aranha de bananeira) - armed spider or banana spider.

This spider deservedly received its self-explanatory name: it does not weave webs, like most spiders, because it does not need it. The wandering spider never lives in one place, but always wanders. What is unpleasant for a person is that sometimes he enters houses. In South America, these spiders are often found in clothes or in boxes with clothes and food.

The wandering spider is found only in America, and even then most often in tropical and subtropical regions. There are two types of Brazilian wandering spiders - jumping spiders, which pursue their prey with jerky jumps, and running spiders. The latter run very fast, but are nocturnal, and during the day they sit under stones or hide in some other place, including in people's houses.

The Brazilian wandering spider loves to feast on bananas and will not miss the opportunity to climb into a box with this fruit. For its addiction, this spider received another name - the banana spider. But the main food for him is still not fruits. It hunts mainly other spiders and insects, and it also happens that it attacks birds and lizards that are larger than it.

He himself is a rather small predator - only about 10 cm. But his small size does not prevent him from being an excellent hunter and a serious problem for people, and all because he is capable of releasing a solid dose of toxic poison when biting, which is formed at the ends of the chelicerae. in the channels of the poisonous glands.

Maybe it's poison wandering spider less dangerous than snake venom. It is unlikely to kill an adult healthy person - it will only cause a serious allergic reaction, which modern medicine can quickly cope with. But if a Brazilian wandering spider bites a sick person or a small child, the poison can take effect faster than an ambulance can arrive. Some specimens of this spider are so dangerous that human death can occur within 20-30 minutes if immediate help is not provided.

Fortunately for the people of Russia, wandering spiders they do not live here and are unlikely to ever appear: the climate is not entirely suitable. But you still need to remember to be careful when handling these arthropods, in case you still have to meet them.

By itself, the wandering spider does not attack humans. It bites only in self-defense. But the problem is that these spiders like to hide and are very difficult to notice. If you find a wandering spider, try to quickly take it out of the house and look through all the boxes and cabinets to see if there is another one in them. If possible, you need to be as careful as possible and under no circumstances pick up the spider.

Karaku?rt(from the Turkic “kara” - black and “kurt” - worm, insect; lat. Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) or steppe spider - a type of poisonous spider from the genus of black widows.

Karakurt- a medium-sized spider (female 10-20 mm, male 4-7 mm), black with red dots on the abdomen. Distributed in the desert and steppe zones of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Crimea, as well as in Iran, Afghanistan and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Favorite habitats are virgin wormwood, wastelands, banks of ditches, slopes of ravines, etc.

Only female spiders are dangerous to humans and farm animals. The female's bites can be fatal to humans and animals such as camels and horses. The male, having a much smaller size, does not pose a danger to humans, since he cannot bite through the rather thick human skin. It does not pose a danger to animals to the same extent as the female. Mature females are the most poisonous. The poison of the karakurt is not only 15 times stronger than the poison of one of the most terrible snakes - the rattlesnake, but is generally one of the most poisonous substances of organic origin on Earth.

The frequency of bites in some years increases sharply due to the massive reproduction of karakurt. The number of victims increases during periods of migration of female spiders - in the summer months.

Karakurt poison neurotoxic, causes an extremely intense release of acetylcholine at neuromuscular synapses, as well as acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine and alpha-aminobutyrate at the synapses of the central nervous system, as well as intense release in the sympathetic-adrenal system.

The cause of the bite is most often the crushing of a spider that accidentally crawled into the victim’s clothes or bed. In most cases, people sleeping or resting in shaded areas are bitten. Lesions predominate in rural areas and field conditions. In cities, karakurt bites are extremely rare.

Karakurt often attacks a person unexpectedly. Particularly active in summer at night. The bite is not painful and is often not felt by the victim. The local reaction to the poison is absent or very weakly expressed - around the bite site there may be a zone of pale skin (several centimeters in diameter), surrounded by a rim of weak hypermia. In most cases, there are no local changes and it is extremely difficult to find the bite site. Sometimes the bite feels like a needle prick. Due to the low pain of the bite (unlike stings by scorpions and wasps), many victims, especially those bitten at night during sleep, do not associate their sudden illness with the bite of a poisonous insect, and seek medical help due to the general manifestation of intoxication.

General toxic phenomena are developing quickly, 5-30 minutes after the bite, and progress rapidly. The severity of poisoning varies from relatively mild, rapidly transient forms to extremely severe, sometimes fatal cases. Severe forms are characterized by excruciating muscle pain, combined with paresthesia in the limbs, lower back, abdomen and chest. Patients are excited, often covered in cold sweat, fear of death is expressed, the face is tense, hyperemic, sclera " poured"Blood, poor facial expressions, pained facial expression. Watery eyes are often observed. Soon after the bite, severe muscle weakness develops, especially in the lower extremities, as a result of which patients have difficulty moving or cannot stand on their feet at all. Excruciating pain syndrome (aching, pulling and tearing pains of different localization) is combined with severe muscle tension.

The abdominal muscles are often very tense, which, together with a dry tongue, intestinal paresis (weakened peristalsis, no gases), severe leukocytosis and an increase in body temperature to 38 C and above, imitate the picture of an acute abdomen (cases of erroneous surgical intervention for karakurt bites are possible). Nausea and vomiting may also occur. However, the correct diagnosis is easy to make when other symptoms are taken into account. Tension and dysfunction of the muscles of the limbs, back, occipital (thrown head back, positive Kernig syndrome), their tremors and convulsive twitching, dysfunction of the respiratory muscles (saccade breathing), spasm of the sphincters - narrow pupils, urinary retention with an overstretched bladder, increased blood pressure (toxogenic Karakurt hypertension) - create a very characteristic picture of the disease and allow you to make the correct diagnosis.

In extremely severe cases excitation gives way to apathy, depression, confusion (sometimes with psychotic reactions), collapse and progressive shortness of breath with symptoms of pulmonary edema (crepitus and moist rales, foamy sputum).

Some sick A rose-colored rash appears on the skin. The acute phase of intoxication is especially characterized by the phenomenon of layering of pain of different nature and localization on top of each other, combined with a feeling of fear, excitement, severe muscle weakness and tension of various muscle groups, disturbances of peristalsis and urination, increased blood pressure and body temperature. In mild forms of poisoning, the painful phenomena stop by the end of the first day; in moderate and severe forms, they can last 3-4 days.

Immediately after the bite ( but no later than two minutes later) you can burn the bitten area with a flammable match - the heating destroys the poison that has not had time to be absorbed. This method is indispensable when away from medical care. In other cases, urgent hospitalization is required. Otherwise, the bite can lead to the most disastrous results.