WEBVTT - How Deadly Are Black Widow Spiders?

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.440
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:11.879
<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. David Nelson, now an associate

0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.880
<v Speaker 1>professor of biology at Southern Adventist University in College Dale, Tennessee,

0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:20.200
<v Speaker 1>remembers being a PhD student sprawling on his belly under

0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.159
<v Speaker 1>the slide at the elementary school playground in search of

0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:27.280
<v Speaker 1>a tangled web of the lectri dectus hesperate, otherwise known

0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.880
<v Speaker 1>as the Western black widow spider. Hid know it when

0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:33.880
<v Speaker 1>he saw it, the sticky silk threads spun in messy

0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:38.440
<v Speaker 1>snarls characteristic of such wondrous creatures. If he nudged the

0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.920
<v Speaker 1>web in just the right place with his long pair

0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:43.960
<v Speaker 1>of forceps, he could catch the spider before it escaped

0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.640
<v Speaker 1>and tuck it into one of his plastic bags where

0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:51.320
<v Speaker 1>dozens of other black widows lay in wait. It didn't

0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:53.880
<v Speaker 1>matter to him that one bite from the shiny black

0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.560
<v Speaker 1>spider could send his muscles into painful spasms within minutes,

0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.360
<v Speaker 1>that even if he went to the emergency room writhing

0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.520
<v Speaker 1>in pain, doctors likely wouldn't have the anti venom to

0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.880
<v Speaker 1>treat him. That would have to wait out the burning, throbbing,

0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:11.039
<v Speaker 1>and involuntary muscle contractions for hours or possibly days, until

0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:16.399
<v Speaker 1>the symptoms eventually subsided. Nelson wasn't concerned because he was

0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.040
<v Speaker 1>getting to know these and I quote sexy little organisms

0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.759
<v Speaker 1>rather well. They played a starring role in his doctoral

0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:28.760
<v Speaker 1>research and he wanted to understand them better. So how

0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.360
<v Speaker 1>did the black widow spider get its name and why

0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.440
<v Speaker 1>does it have such a reputation. Nelson says he chose

0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:38.679
<v Speaker 1>the black widow for his research because quote their mysterious

0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.360
<v Speaker 1>and dangerous. Indeed, the black widow is technically one of

0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:46.319
<v Speaker 1>the deadliest spiders in the world. About black widow bites

0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:48.760
<v Speaker 1>are reported to the u S National Poison Data System

0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:52.560
<v Speaker 1>each year. But its name comes not so much from

0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.840
<v Speaker 1>the spider's ability to kill humans, but from a cannibalistic

0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:01.040
<v Speaker 1>behavior noticed the species during copulation. A science collected samples

0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.560
<v Speaker 1>of male and female black widows and stored them in

0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.440
<v Speaker 1>the same container. When they came back to check on

0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.880
<v Speaker 1>the spiders, they discovered that the female widows had eaten

0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:14.840
<v Speaker 1>the males. This so called spider cannibalism is not too

0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.880
<v Speaker 1>rare in the spider world in general. Nelson says it

0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.400
<v Speaker 1>usually involves the female eating the male before during or

0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.440
<v Speaker 1>after copulation, but it is rarely seen in black widows

0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.640
<v Speaker 1>that inhabit North America. Black widow males in nature tend

0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.320
<v Speaker 1>to escape quickly after copulating a luxury that they weren't

0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:37.720
<v Speaker 1>afforded caged together with females in the laboratory setting. Also,

0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.040
<v Speaker 1>research shows that black widows can sense chemicals and the

0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.960
<v Speaker 1>female's web that indicate whether she has recently eaten. They

0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:50.000
<v Speaker 1>know to avoid hungry females just in case. Black widows

0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:56.639
<v Speaker 1>build their tangled cobwebs in dark, dry places, woodpiles, barns, greenhouses, basements, outhouses,

0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.360
<v Speaker 1>in the chains, hollow stumps, under lawn furniture, in playground oquipment,

0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.880
<v Speaker 1>and in dense vegetation. They hide during the day in

0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.000
<v Speaker 1>tiny crevices or rodent holes, and creep out onto their

0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:10.639
<v Speaker 1>webs during the night. When they do, they usually hang

0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.959
<v Speaker 1>upside down, waiting for a fly or grasshopper to get

0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.640
<v Speaker 1>trapped in the sticky threads of their web. When an

0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.560
<v Speaker 1>insect gets caught, the widow quickly runs over and wraps

0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.919
<v Speaker 1>it in silk. Then, at meal time, the spider digs

0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.160
<v Speaker 1>its fangs into its prey, injecting the insect with digestive

0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.520
<v Speaker 1>juices until it liquefies, and then the widow sucks up

0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:35.560
<v Speaker 1>the resulting bug juice. So how can you tell when

0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.040
<v Speaker 1>you're face to face, so to speak, with a black

0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:43.360
<v Speaker 1>widow spider? Here are the identifying characteristics. Female black widow

0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.600
<v Speaker 1>spiders are about an inch and a half or three

0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.880
<v Speaker 1>point eight centimeters in length with long legs. Mails are

0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.160
<v Speaker 1>about half that size. Female black widow spiders have a

0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.920
<v Speaker 1>shiny black body with the well known hourglass shape on

0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:59.120
<v Speaker 1>their abdomens in red, red, orange, or yellow. Males are

0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.280
<v Speaker 1>lighter in color with red or pink spots, but color

0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:06.800
<v Speaker 1>variations and markings vary depending on the species. Black widow

0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.920
<v Speaker 1>spiders are generally not aggressive, though only by the person

0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.560
<v Speaker 1>if they're touched, trapped, or sat upon. There are thirty

0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.839
<v Speaker 1>two species of spiders in the Latrodectus genus, many of

0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.040
<v Speaker 1>which are considered true widows. You can find black widows

0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:24.640
<v Speaker 1>in every continent of the world except Antarctica. But again,

0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:28.760
<v Speaker 1>black widows are not aggressive. They're shy. Even if you

0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.360
<v Speaker 1>find one, there's no point in grabbing bug spray or

0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.359
<v Speaker 1>swatting it dead. They won't come after you. In fact,

0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:36.600
<v Speaker 1>they don't want to be around you as much as

0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.719
<v Speaker 1>you don't want to be around them, leave them be.

0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.440
<v Speaker 1>Nelson has found that if you pick a black widow

0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.800
<v Speaker 1>spiders webs, they'll bolt for cover. If they can't hide,

0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:49.000
<v Speaker 1>they'll play dead. If you touch them and they can't escape,

0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:53.440
<v Speaker 1>they will dig their fangs into you. But interestingly, if

0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.760
<v Speaker 1>you pull gently on one of their legs with a

0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.800
<v Speaker 1>pair of feather light tweezers, they'll reach back into their

0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.800
<v Speaker 1>spinneret and a sticky strand of silk your way. This

0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.240
<v Speaker 1>defensive silk, which Nelson describes as a looking quote just

0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.760
<v Speaker 1>like a pearl necklace, sticks to predators, drives quickly, and

0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.480
<v Speaker 1>can afford the widow extra time to get away. He said,

0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.760
<v Speaker 1>I know of no other spiders that actively protect themselves

0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.960
<v Speaker 1>with silk. Plus, black widows play an important role in

0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:25.359
<v Speaker 1>our ecosystem, feasting on many insects species, especially small, annoying

0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:30.240
<v Speaker 1>insects like mosquitoes and flies. Bites usually occur by accident,

0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.760
<v Speaker 1>for instance, if you stick your hand in a gardening

0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.200
<v Speaker 1>glove and startle one that's hiding there. Females are much

0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.479
<v Speaker 1>more likely than males to envenomate, that is, inject venom

0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.320
<v Speaker 1>into humans. The venom is pretty potent, up to fifteen

0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.920
<v Speaker 1>times stronger than a rattlesnakes. You can actually die from

0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.800
<v Speaker 1>a black widow bite, but it's unlikely. One study looking

0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.560
<v Speaker 1>at twenty three thousand, four hundred and nine cases of

0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:56.599
<v Speaker 1>exposure to black widow venom found that only one point

0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.960
<v Speaker 1>four percent of patients had life threatening symptoms and six

0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:04.159
<v Speaker 1>five percent had minor symptoms. Young children, the elderly, and

0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.880
<v Speaker 1>people with compromised immunity are at a greater risk of

0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:11.880
<v Speaker 1>serious complications. Black widow venom is so dangerous because it

0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.760
<v Speaker 1>contains neurotoxins, which are toxins that act on the nervous system,

0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:20.119
<v Speaker 1>called later toxins. If they're tiny, fangs do break your skin,

0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.559
<v Speaker 1>which will feel like a pin prick, and the venom

0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:26.760
<v Speaker 1>does enter your bloodstream, you'd know pretty quickly. Within seconds,

0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:28.960
<v Speaker 1>you would feel pain and throbbing at the bite site.

0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.160
<v Speaker 1>The area around your wound would begin to swell As

0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.760
<v Speaker 1>a venom traveled through your bloodstream, The pain, swelling and

0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:38.400
<v Speaker 1>muscle contractions would spread as well. If your diaphragm was affected,

0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.640
<v Speaker 1>breathing would become labored, your heart might begin to race,

0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:47.080
<v Speaker 1>and you might become nauseated sweat, or experienced chills. For

0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.320
<v Speaker 1>minor bites, all you need to do is wash the

0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.680
<v Speaker 1>affected area with soap and water and taken over the

0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:55.440
<v Speaker 1>counter pain medication. But if you have serious symptoms like

0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:59.480
<v Speaker 1>the ones described above, seek medical attention. Healthcare provider can

0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:02.599
<v Speaker 1>better treat pain, and if they decide that the FDA

0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.640
<v Speaker 1>proved Blackwadow anti venom is necessary, and if they have

0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.640
<v Speaker 1>it available, it's availability is limited, you'll feel better within hours.

0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.760
<v Speaker 1>It's unlikely that you'll be hospitalized and even less likely

0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:21.640
<v Speaker 1>that you'd die. Today's episode was written by Jennifer Walker

0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.160
<v Speaker 1>Joony and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.440
<v Speaker 1>months of other topics that we've spun out, visit how

0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.040
<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I

0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.880
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio or more podcasts. My heart Radio visit the

0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.800
<v Speaker 1>iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:35.680
<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows,