What is dangerous tarantula for humans. The tarantula is a large poisonous spider. What measures can be taken when bitten by a tarantula

Tarantula is a genus of araneomorphic spiders belonging to the wolf spider family. They live mainly in arid regions such as steppes and deserts. During the day they hide in burrows, and at night they go hunting. Spiders roam the ground in search of insects. Tarantulas, unlike many other species, do not weave nets, but use the web only to strengthen dwellings.

In the world there are more than two hundred varieties of tarantulas inhabiting places with temperate and tropical climate. Some of them also live in Russia.

Name etymology

This name comes from one of the varieties of spiders that live near the city of Taranto. According to local residents fifteenth century spiders were the cause of the disease called "Tarantism". According to legend, the bite of this spider infected with an unusual disease that led to inevitable death, and the only possible way cured was a special, very energetic dance - tarantella (known to this day). It was customary to think that the dance should draw all the strength out of the "patient" along with the disease.

Appearance description

tarantulas have a double, hairy body and two pairs of four paws. It consists of two parts - the cephalothorax and the abdomen. The spider has eight eyes on its head that allow it to look around 360 degrees. Almost all subspecies are black or brown in color (there are bright exceptions).

American tarantulas are much larger than other species, they can reach ten centimeters, the span of paws is up to thirty centimeters. Tarantulas, who lived much smaller in Europe, rarely reach five centimeters. Males are smaller than females.

Many confuse the species of tarantulas with other large spiders, for example, tarantulas (most consider them to be tarantulas). This opinion is fundamentally wrong, since the tarantula belongs to mygalomorphic spiders. Over time, the error became entrenched in society and culture.

The appearance of these beauties can be assessed in the photo.

Lifestyle

Most of the time the spider spends in a hole dug on its own. Tarantula burrows can be up to 25 centimeters deep. Inside each hole, a wall of leaves and cobwebs is cultivated. For protection from rains or before the onset of winter, the spider goes even further and closes its "hut" with the help of cobwebs and earth.

The tarantula is a predator, and therefore is often in search of prey. Spiders hunt mainly at night, sometimes during the day, waiting for a victim near their home. Almost all careless insects fall under the insidious ticks of tarantulas, among them: caterpillars, bears, crickets, beetles and others.

Tarantulas prefer to stay as close to "home" as possible, they carefully defend their territory defending itself from strangers. In cases where the spider needs to move away from the hole, he ties himself to it with a web to make it easier to find his way home. The only way to force a creature to leave home territory is mating season, at this moment the spiders forget about everything, lose their heads. As a result, they are able to go a long way in search of a suitable female.

reproduction

If the male managed to find a worthy candidate, he decides to hit her. After a brief courtship, the spiders bond. Unfortunately, this relationship was not destined to end long and happy life. At the time of mating, the male should be as careful and tense as possible, because at the end of this process the female will try to bite her "boyfriend" and dine with them. The fate of the male depends on how fast his reaction is (many manage to escape). The female, being already fertilized, continues to live alone.

Tarantula

Eggs the spider lays in her hole. At an early stage, they are stored in a cocoon, which she drags along with her throughout the entire period of "gestation". Even after birth, baby tarantulas live on the mother's back until they become more independent (learn to hunt and crawl).

Known Species

Poisonous or not?

One of the most important questions related to tarantulas is whether they are poisonous or not, are they dangerous to humans? Despite the many legends, a lot of misinformed people and confusion with other types of spiders, the tarantula is believed to be dangerous. Yes, the spider is poisonous, and its poison can kill, but only animals. A tarantula cannot harm a person, and its bite will be akin to a bee or hornet sting. Moreover, the tarantula will not look for you and attack, despite the fact that it is a predator. You can provoke him to attack only by invading his territory or destroying his house (banal self-defense).

It is important to understand that don't deliberately ask for a spider attack which is unknown to you. At certain times of the year, for example, in spring, at this time the poison of spiders is gaining strength (it is more toxic) and some individuals can lead to unpleasant consequences with their bite. An infected person may experience nausea, dizziness, and others like them (not fatal, but creepy and unpleasant).

According to the degree of danger, the poison varies depending on the season:

• Spring - at this time, the spiders wake up, have a rather weak poison;
• Summer - finally awake, the poison intensifies several times;
• Autumn - the power of the poison is again on the decline due to the approaching hibernation.

Tarantula as a pet

Tarantula is a wonderful pet. The spider does not ask for a lot of food, is quite unpretentious in terms of living conditions, is relatively safe (poisonous, but calm and docile) and interesting. They are also very beautiful, for example, the black Brazilian version. In general, these creatures are very popular, many people buy American spiders for themselves, and someone gets by with South Russian ones.

Choosing a spider preference should be given to the female because they can live much longer.

Tarantula is a generalized name for spiders that are large and covered with hair. More than 900 species belong to this family. The tarantula spider is a species of large poisonous araneomorphic insects, they belong to the large family of wolf spiders. All members of this family are poisonous to a greater or lesser extent. Before proceeding to the description of these amazing creatures, I would like to note that the simplicity in their content has led to the popularity of tarantulas as exotic pets.

Tarantula: description

The spider consists of two parts - the abdomen and the cephalothorax. There are four pairs of eyes on the head. The legs of this large insect are shaggy and long. The hairs growing on them are quite sharp; upon contact with human skin, they can injure, resulting in burning and severe itching. The tarantula spider uses these hairs to protect itself from its natural enemies. A furry predator that falls into its paws kills with fangs, the length of which is 1 cm.

Fluffy insects are very beautiful. The color can be brown or black, but there are also brown-rusty individuals of this species. The weight of the spider is about 90 g, while the females are noticeably bigger size than males.

Lifestyle

The tarantula spider lives in deep burrows that it makes in solid soil. Such a spider dwelling reaches up to 25 cm vertically in depth. At the entrance, the predator builds a vertical wall, using the remains of plants and earth as building materials. The spider lines its burrow with cobwebs. When the rainy season or molting time begins, the entrance from above is closed with cobwebs and earth. With the onset of winter, the insect closes its home with dry plants mixed with cobwebs.

The tarantula hunts mainly at night, guarding prey at the entrance to the hole. During the day, he sits in his lair and waits for a random victim there. Based on this, it can be understood that a person can suffer and get a tarantula bite only in those cases when he himself invades his territory and destroys the dwelling of a predatory insect.

Tarantulas do not go far from their home, if they have to move away a little, then they always go, tied to the mink with their web. This is how the spiders find their way home. True, there are exceptions in the marriage period. At this time, males, forgetting about caution and rules, go in search of a female, spending a long time on the road.

reproduction

When, after a long search, the male tarantula finally finds a female, he begins to care for her. "Lady" reciprocates, but you need to be extremely careful with her. After the ritual of flirting, the spiders mate, it is at this moment, after the end of the mating act, that the female can bite her unlucky "cavalier", who will instantly turn from a groom into a dinner. Therefore, males must have a quick reaction and a quick reverse in order to have time to escape in time. Here it is - a spider wedding!

The spider lays eggs in her hole, where she wraps them in a web, as a result of which a cocoon is obtained. The future parent carries it everywhere with her until the time when small tarantulas appear. But even after the birth of the spiders, for some time they ride on the back of their mother. Only having matured and learned to crawl and live on their own, the children leave parental home and begin to arrange their own home and independent life.

Why is a tarantula dangerous?

As mentioned earlier, the bite of a tarantula, no matter what species it belongs to, is still poisonous. How dangerous a tarantula is depends on the age of the predator, race, gender, season, and some other factors.

Consider the toxicity of these insects, based on the time of year:

• April- only waking up after winter, tarantulas are very inert, their poison is not too toxic.
• May- in the middle of this month there comes a period when females lay eggs. Spiders become very active, and the toxicity of the poison increases by 2 times.
• June- at the beginning of the month, mating and migration occur, the poison of predators at this time is 3 times more toxic.
• August- in spiders, especially in young females, poison is less toxic.
• September- before wintering, the toxicity of the venom of furry insects decreases by 2 times.

Why is a tarantula spider dangerous for living beings? This creature is not in vain considered a predator, its bite has a neurogenic effect on nervous system. The poison of this spider can lead to neuromuscular disorders, disorders of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. So with this cute and fluffy creature of nature, you need to be extremely careful.

Black tarantula as a pet

In a conversation about representatives of the wolf spider family, it is impossible not to mention such a handsome man as black brazilian tarantula. This is beautiful insect considered the most the best view spiders for home maintenance.

It, of course, also applies to predators, but at the same time it is distinguished by a calm and obedient character. Those who are already intimately familiar with the black shaggy fluffy can confidently recommend him as the most obedient spider. live it up amazing creation under proper conditions can up to 20 years. So for a long time a beautiful pet will be next to its owner.

Tarantulas are large venomous wolf spiders. This means that the animal is engaged in hunting, unlike relatives, most of which feed on prey caught in hunting nets. He needs a web only for arranging a nest.

For food, it catches insects and small vertebrates, which it kills with poison. Tarantula bites of any kind are poisonous, so in this case a person experiences quite strong and unpleasant sensations, some may develop an extremely violent allergic reaction.

The habitats of spiders of this species are dry deserts, steppes or wastelands, where there are stones, branches or other shelters. Sporadically found in forests and forest-steppe. The nest is arranged in vertical burrows, where they are in the daytime, and in the dark they get food.

All representatives of the genus have poisonous glands that excrete poison into chelicerae (elements of the jaw apparatus), the latter pierce the body of the victim and inject toxins. A few milligrams are released at a time. More details about the biology of these animals can be viewed on the proposed video in this article.

After wintering (at the end of April), the spiders begin sluggish activity for the first time. At this time, the poison of even a very large individual is not as toxic as in summer. Breeding starts in May.

By the middle of the month, the poisonousness doubles, and at the beginning of summer the poison becomes three times stronger. This coincides with the migration period. In autumn, toxicity begins to gradually decrease, and by the time of hibernation, spiders have the same poison as after wintering.

Tarantulas are common in Europe (everywhere), southern regions Russia, Ukraine and sporadically in Belarus. Most widespread received only two types (table).

Table. Known Species:

Features of poison and bite

For a person toxic substances, which enter the blood when piercing the skin, are very painful, but do not pose a mortal danger. In rare cases, a violent allergic reaction may develop, and even more rarely, anaphylactic shock. The poison is used to attack invertebrates and small mammals- mice, shrews, lizards and others.

When bitten, pain occurs, swelling is about two times greater than after contact with a wasp. Immediately on the skin there are two small marks from the puncture of the chelicerae (depending on the type of spider and its size, the distance between the marks from the punctures will be different - 5-15 mm). The place where the bite falls is important.

If a leg or arm is injured (according to statistics, these parts of the body account for the most spider attacks), then apart from swelling there will be no violations, but if the poison gets into the neck, then the consequences can be more serious - the voice will change, breathing will become difficult due to due to swelling, sometimes there is a chance of not being able to breathe at all, without medical attention.

It is very important to correctly understand when a person develops an increased reaction to poison. With allergies, there is suffocation, a change in the rhythm of the heart, and a strong rapid swelling. For such people, the bite site does not matter at all, and in some cases, even just getting a toxin on the skin is enough to trigger a powerful allergic reaction.

Interesting. The most popular and famous all over the world big spider- Apulian tarantula, homeland - Italy. Most often he was met in the outskirts of the town of Taranto. It was believed that his bite is unusually toxic, and in order to neutralize it, you must constantly move. For treatment, they came up with a special melody, which is now better known as a tarantella.

Symptoms of a South Russian tarantula bite

The rapidity of the body's reaction to spider toxins largely depends on the seasonality, type, size and sex of the animal, as well as the individual characteristics of the body of the bitten person (weight, sex, age, general state health, sensitivity to poison).

The standard clinical picture is as follows:

• severe pain at the site of the bite;
• swelling and redness;
• hyperemia and hyperthermia at the site of the bite;
• mild tissue necrosis (at the puncture site);
• weakness, malaise, drowsiness and subfebrile condition are evidence of increased sensitivity to poison.

If a person becomes clearly ill, breathing becomes difficult, his head is very dizzy, signs of dyspepsia or other symptoms join the general negative symptoms. negative manifestations is evidence of an allergy. In this case, you must immediately seek qualified medical assistance (deliver the patient to the toxicology department or call an ambulance).

Interesting. Previously, they tried to treat tarantula bites with an infusion of these spiders in vegetable oil, since they have an antidote to their own poison, but doctors proved the uselessness of this remedy, and if the patient claimed that he felt better, then it was most likely a placebo effect.

What to do

If hurt healthy man, then no special action is required. You can wash the wound with soap, then seal it with a bactericidal plaster. If you apply cold, this will somewhat reduce the sharp pain and slow down the spread of the poison.

You can take any antihistamine that is at hand (suprastin, diphenhydramine, edem, tsetrin and others). This will help relieve allergic symptoms. In principle, the instruction on this has been exhausted and you can continue to do your usual things, as far as the swelling allows, which, as a rule, begins to subside after a few days and soon disappears.

If a person turned out to be more sensitive to poison, then he should be provided with complete rest and plentiful drinking. In this case, it is mandatory to take powerful anti-allergic drugs, for example, tavegil or glucocorticosteroids (intramuscularly, and preferably intravenously) - dexamethasone, prednisolone and others.

It is highly desirable that a person with an allergy knows a set of correct measures that the attending physician can advise. The algorithm of actions is similar if it was bitten Small child and his condition is deteriorating. After first aid provided by one's own efforts, the victim should be transported to a medical facility.

What not to do

It is important to be aware of the misguided actions that people often take, thinking that it has some benefit, but in fact it is not.

1. Cauterize wounds or cut them with a knife. In the first case, you will only get burns that will heal for a long time. Incisions are made, as a rule, in order to better suck out the poison, but in this case, an infection can be introduced, and then the spider's venom quickly penetrates into the deeper layers, so such an operation will not be very successful.
2. Often, after a few hours, severe itching develops, but if you comb the body, the swelling increases, and the skin is damaged, and this opens the gate for pathogenic microflora.

Prevention

Spiders do not attack first and are shy, when they meet they try to leave or hide. Nests will be protected, females show the highest aggression during the period from laying eggs, and while they are surrounded by offspring. If a spider is carelessly picked up, pressed down or carelessly handled, then those that were grown at home and are accustomed to humans can also bite.

In order to avoid a bite you need:

• in nature to be in closed clothes, when collecting something, carefully monitor what you pick up;
• on a camping trip, there should not be thick cobwebs or burrows at the parking lot, it is better to clear the place and carefully examine it, remove branches and stones, close the burrows with earth;
• do not keep the tents open, carefully inspect all things before going to bed;
• everything you need for a fire should be prepared in advance during daylight hours, you don’t need to do it at night;
• keep a close eye on children, who often find various animals themselves and begin to play with them;
• in summer cottages there should be protection against insects on doors and windows;
• if a spider is found and you decide to examine it, you do not need to get too close, as it can jump and bite in self-defense;
• in the presence of spiders directly on suburban area or near it, it is recommended to get rid of arthropods with insecticides, which can be purchased at specialized stores.

Important. Tarantulas never attack first. A spider bites a person solely for self-defense.

There are about 1200 species. In practice, this family is scattered throughout the world. There are even species living in the Arctic.

The poisonousness of tarantulas has long been known, but its degree has been clearly exaggerated. Scientists suggest that many cases of severe poisoning, among which the death of people was noted, did not come from the bites of a tarantula, but from the bite of a "black widow" that lives in many southern regions of the Earth along with tarantulas.

In Italy, the tarantula has long been considered extremely dangerous. With his bites, the nervous disease "chorea" common there several centuries ago was associated. There were especially many cases of the disease in the vicinity of Taranto, which is why the spider was called "tarantula". Moreover, it was believed that the best way to remove poison from the body was through quick, swift movements. So, in Italy, the well-known tarantella dance arose: people, as they say, danced until they dropped and remained alive. This reinforced their belief in the need to move in the event of a tarantula bite. In fact, the bite of a tarantula, as a rule, represents mortal danger only for small animals.

The fact that the toxicity of tarantula venom is greatly exaggerated, says a geologist of one of the expeditions in the area Aral Sea, who himself, due to his own frivolity, was bitten by this spider. Tired of sports shoes and left barefoot, he stepped on a spider, which immediately sank its jaws into his leg. The tarantula was immediately slammed with a boot, and the victim, having read horrors about tarantulas, decided to calmly wait for death. The pain began to slowly spread through the leg, and then he suddenly felt some improvement. He listened to his feelings: the leg hurt noticeably less.

A few days later, the pain completely disappeared, only some ossified in the leg remained, but it soon disappeared. The man could not understand anything. Having mentally experienced the inevitable onset of death, the geologist only in Moscow, surrounded by literature, found out that the tarantula is indeed a deadly poisonous creature, but not for people. The idea of ​​​​a tarantula, which cost a person several difficult hours of saying goodbye to life, he developed as a result of reading the detective story "Tarantula Bite". The author of the detective, without reading the scientific literature, wrote a book that misled many readers about the poisonousness of this spider.

Tarantula venom is highly toxic to invertebrates, which the spider often feeds on. It can also kill small vertebrates. The toxin is of a protein nature. It easily penetrates into the body of animals due to the substances it contains - histamine and hyaluronylase, which increase the permeability of tissues. Tarantula venom affects smooth muscles, causing them to contract spasmodically.

In the body of vertebrates, there are striated muscles (these are the motor muscles of the arms and legs) and intercostal smooth muscles, which have a different structure. Intercostal smooth muscles line many organs, that is, they are located where slow and smooth contraction is needed.

Poisons of a tarantula of one of the species living in South America, have a strong effect on the tissue surrounding the bite site. Possessing a high local effect, poisons cause deep cell damage - necrosis at the site of the bite and around, and the person almost does not feel pain when bitten. Necrosis in Greek means "death". Under the action of toxic substances, tissue cells are destroyed, where the poison has penetrated. The area of ​​necrosis has a whitish-grayish color. The tissues lose their structure and are a shapeless mass.

Going to places where constantly warm climate, you have to be very careful. Representatives of such flora and fauna can be dangerous to humans, including the tarantula. This is an arachnid representative, which has a rather awesome appearance.

Often there are cases when spiders protect their own offspring and attack people by biting them. Therefore, you need to know what to do when bitten by this arachnid creature.

Tarantulas live in warm regions. The maximum number of poisons has an alpine species, which is common in Italy. A female individual can reach 8 cm in length.

The South Russian tarantula is distributed on the territory of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Its size is approximately 1.5-3 cm. This type not so poisonous, but meeting with him can also be quite unpleasant.

Tarantulas belong to the group of wolf spiders. They do not weave webs to catch their prey. Their hunting resembles that of many predators.

Tarantulas initially look out for their prey, after which they rush at it and inject poison into the body of the caught victim. The food of these arthropods is animals small size and insects.

The breeding season is May-June. During this period, the poison of the tarantula is the most dangerous. A pregnant female makes a web in her own hole, after which she lays eggs in it. The cocoon, along with all the eggs, is attached to the belly of the tarantula. After the appearance of small spiders, they are still on the mother's body until they learn to eat themselves.

These arthropods bite very painfully, but their bite is not particularly dangerous for human life.

Females may attack humans in order to protect their own brood. In my own way appearance the tarantula looks a bit like a tarantula spider, but the second one is much larger in size.

Especially dangerous bite tarantula is for children, for the elderly, as well as for people who are prone to developing allergic reactions.

After a bite, a person shows the following symptoms:

• In the area where the tarantula bit, 2 small punctures are visible to the naked eye;
• The bite site becomes red, there is swelling of the skin;
• At the site of the lesion, severe burning and itching appear;
• The pain of a spider bite can be compared to that of a hornet or wasp;
• A person's body temperature may rise, but very quickly it returns to normal.

You need to know that for a person, the bite of this arthropod is dangerous if an allergy appears.

In this case, the symptoms are more pronounced and various complications may be present:

• Bubbles appear;
• The bite site is very swollen;
• Severe pain is felt, which does not decrease and does not go away even after a while;
• A person's body temperature can greatly increase, which does not go away with time;
• There are severe headaches;
• Nausea develops, a person may vomit;
• A bitten person becomes weak, his head begins to spin;
• The heart rate increases, and blood pressure decreases;
• Respiratory function is difficult;
• There is a feeling of numbness initially in the legs and arms, and then throughout the body;
• The person may lose consciousness.

Important! In the presence of any allergic reaction, you need to act as soon as possible! The injured person should be taken to the hospital very quickly, where he can be provided with qualified assistance.

After a tarantula bite, in no case should you let things take their course. The person who was bitten this insect need urgent first aid.

The affected area should be washed with soapy water at room temperature, and then treated with any antiseptic. It could be .

To reduce soreness, a cool compress should be applied to the affected area. It can be ice or just a bottle (heater) with cold water.

When the pain decreases, you need to lubricate the affected area of ​​​​the epidermis with an ointment, which contains an antibiotic, or an ointment that eliminates inflammation. If you have an antihistamine medication at hand, then you must definitely give it to the bitten person.

The limb where the bite was can be slightly raised up so that the swelling does not accumulate in one place. It is strictly forbidden to scratch the place where the bite was, because this can cause an infection.

To reduce the itching that has arisen, you need to apply a special gel from insect bites to the affected area. It will cool the skin. The patient must be carefully monitored, as soon as serious allergic manifestations appear, urgently see a doctor.

Attention! A place bitten by a tarantula should not be burned with anything hot. Also, the bitten place should not be dissected. The poisonous substance, therefore, cannot be removed, but the infection can be introduced.

Bite Prevention

To avoid such a nuisance as a tarantula bite, it is important to follow some rules:

• If you need to stay for the night in an open area, then avoid options where there is a large accumulation of stones and dry branches. Downed trees can also harbor tarantulas.
• If you are in an area where tarantulas live, be sure to wear closed shoes.
• Be sure to close the tent for the night tightly.
• Before going to bed, check for spiders in the tent.
• Before you put on your shoes or get dressed, carefully review and shake out your belongings.
• Be sure to explain to the children that it is forbidden to catch and play with the spider they see, that it is dangerous. If you tease a spider, it can jump up and bite.
• If it was not possible to avoid a bite, then you should try to crush the tarantula and smear the affected area with its blood. There is an antidote in their blood.