Latrodectus mactans Traditional Cache

Description

Spiders can elicit fear and loathing due to their venomous seduction of prey, and yet, can inspire awe and wonder at their masterful weaving of silk webs. Florida is home to many varieties of spiders, including fishing spiders, crab spiders, widows, orb weavers, house spiders, wolf spiders, and jumping spiders. With the exception of widows and the brown recluse, Florida spiders are not considered dangerous to humans.

Latrodectus mactans, The black widow spiders are perhaps the best-known members of the genus.The injection of neurotoxic venom Latrotoxin from these species is a comparatively dangerous spider bite, resulting in the condition Latrodectism which is named for the genus. The female black widow's bite is particularly harmful to humans because of its unusually large venom glands.

Not all adult female black widows exhibit the red hourglass on their abdomen—some may have a pair of red spots or have no marking at all; but any markings that are present are bright red. Adult male black widows are a quarter the size of the female, are usually gray or brown rather than black and, while they may sometimes have an hourglass marking on their abdomen, it is usually yellow or white, not red. The bite of a male black widow is not considered dangerous to humans; it is the bite of the adult female black widow from her much-larger venom sacs that has given this spider its dangerous reputation. While there is great variation in specifics by species and by gender, any spider exhibiting a red hourglass on the abdomen and having a shiny black body is an adult female black widow.

This cache has been placed with permission for the CREW Trust and
the South Florida Water Management District

Good luck!