Belly of the Beast

PENTAX Optio WP

ƒ/6.6

6.3 mm

1/30

…found her in the garage.

These cannibalistic spiders use a powerful neurotoxin that causes constant painful muscle spasms (from acetycholine release). While their numbers are still small relative to other urban threats, these spiders kill more people worldwide than any other. Unfortunately, the anti-venom is more lethal than the neurotoxin itself. (from wikipedia)

10 responses to “Belly of the Beast”

Jonathan Urrutia

Jul 22, 2006 at 4:16 pm

Eeek, I hate those things! When I was 5yrs old I had one crawl across my hand. They’ve haunted my nightmeres ever since.

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fotogail

Jul 22, 2006 at 4:20 pm

most people don’t die.. they may just have permanent nerve damage in the area around the bite and sometimes a weird flesh shrinkage. so i have heard. these babies have a less obvious cousin – the brown recluse – who also can be found here. undercover black widow – even more scary!

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The Rocketeer

Jul 22, 2006 at 4:22 pm

When I was around 6, I found one of these under an end table in our living room. I didn’t know it was a black widow at the time, nor did I know it was female, so I named it "Herman".

Nice tags, btw…

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jurvetson

Jul 22, 2006 at 4:41 pm

hmmm…. maybe it’s a rite of passage…. This one was also discovered by a 6 year old…

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Vanita

Jul 22, 2006 at 6:07 pm

*wraps own 7 year old in cotton-wool and kitchen mitts*
To no avail.
*sigh*

I think the kids find them because they are short and closer to the ground where the spiders own are.

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plamenp

Jul 25, 2006 at 6:41 am

Wow! Superb shot! Great work!
Macro 1-2-3

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BenODen

Aug 1, 2006 at 12:40 am

Ooop! I’ve seen one or two in my life, never bitten, thankfully. Very nice shot.

The Wikipedia spiders section seems to be churning quite a lot. The the serum sickness is now in the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectism#Treatment section for those looking for it… Extreme allergies to serum more common than dieing from spider bites. Now that’s a non-intuitive effect.. I wonder if recent increases in the incidence of allergies has changed the risk balance…

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ndemi

Sep 28, 2006 at 2:48 pm

Well you have nice pet in your garage…

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ComputerHotline

Sep 7, 2007 at 6:46 am

This photo should be used in class, at school !

Please add your photo to Photos pour l’école / Photos for school
Read the group rules first.

Reply
alnirob2015

Aug 10, 2021 at 12:10 pm

Can i use your photo for my project?

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Belly of the Beast

10 responses to “Belly of the Beast”

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