Spiders as the Most Significant Part of the Arachnid Kingdom - Essay Example

? of the Spiders Spiders are a kind of insects which are usually eight-legged creatures. These insects have the ability to produce silk through an organ at the back of their bodies. Spiders are known as the most significant part of the arachnid kingdom. Moreover, Scorpions and Ticks have also known to originate from the same family of insects. One of the main characteristics which are usually common in almost all spiders is the ability to bite. Most of them have fangs through which venom is secreted. Almost all kinds of spiders are poisonous to some extent. To date, 40,000 species of spiders have been recorded. It has been said that there might be thousands more which have yet to be discovered. These types have been found in all parts of the world except for Antarctica. According to Carl Alexander, author of’ Spiders, volume 8 (1929)’, the kingdom of spiders is Animalia, the phylum is Arthropoda, the class is Arachnida, and the order is Araneae. (8) According to James H. Emerton, author of ‘The common spiders of United States (1961)’, the most interesting types are mouse spider and black widow spider. Mouse spider is discovered first in Australia, is not harmful to human, and its bite is dry. The black widow spider is found around the world, has a large body, and excretes poison secretion that is harmful to human nerve (25). The scientific name given to the black widow spider is ‘Latrodectus Hesperuses’. This spider is mostly found in the United States, mainly, North America. The spider got its name from the fact that the female spiders usually eat the male spiders after mating. This characteristic of the female black widow spider makes a male spider to approach the female carefully and gradually. In order to mate, the male spider would vibrate the female spider’s web in a certain way so that the female recognizes it and allows it to mate with her. The male spiders are not as venomous as the females as their main purpose is to mate; hence, they spend their entire lifetime searching for mates and even stop feeding. The female black widow spider have been known to be quite venomous, however, it is not life threatening as it secretes only a small amount of poison when bites. The body structure of a female black widow spider and a male are very different. The females have a shiny black body which is relatively longer. Moreover, there is a red marking just below the abdomen. The females are poisonous than the males. The males, however, are almost half the size of females. They have longer and leaner legs and most of them have red and yellow marks at the back. Both males and females body is parted in two. Their jaws are strong which support poisonous fangs. They have a hard, long exoskeleton. According to Donald M. Tuttle and Edward W. Baker, authors of ‘Spider mites of the United States’, spiders have about six holes underneath their abdomen called eyes. The silk goes out from these holes to expose to the air, then, it converts to thread. Spider’s female form its web from an extremely thin elastic silky thread. They use the glands that are in the lower part of their abdomen to form the web (34). According to Maggie Daley, author of ‘Illinois insects and spiders’, spiders have eight legs, eight eyes, and they do not have wings or chewing organs. Moreover, their bodies consist of two parts, the chest and the external part. The chest part is consists of the head with the brain and eyes, the stomach, legs and the mouth. The external part consists of lungs, heart, liver, reproductive organs and the glands that play important role in producing the silk. (14) The black widow spider is further categorized into three main types, the Northern Black widow Spider, the Western Black Widow Spider and the Southern black Widow Spider. The Northern black widow is mostly found in the north east parts of USA and south east Canada. The Western Black Widow is mainly found in the western parts of USA, Canada and some parts of Mexico. Furthermore, the Southern Black Widow Spider is found from Florida till New York. The western black widow spider is found almost everywhere in California. They can even be found inside houses and places of clutter and garbage. The most favorite place of inhibition can be the garage where they can make webs easily amongst the clutter. They usually prefer a place where they can find other insects to feed on. Homes might not be a very suitable habitat as people would keep the insides clean and free of insects. These spiders are mostly found in the wooden areas, like, under ledges. Moreover, they also inhibit under the coolness of rocks, plants, waste bins as well as in public toilets. They weave their webs with silk in places which are nearer to the ground and gloomy. The black widow does not get entangled in its own web as its legs are non sticky. This gives the spider an edge over its prey. The black widow spider preys on a number of other insects, however, they have also said to prey on other arachnids and woodlice may at times. The black widow quietly waits for its prey to get trapped in the silk web; it then wraps it up in the web and bites its prey. The venom, however poisonous, takes about ten minutes to affect the prey; hence, meanwhile, the prey is trapped tightly in the silk web. When the venom has completely affected the prey and it loses consciousness, digestive enzymes are released by the venom into the wound of the prey. The black widow then carries the prey to a place where it can feed on it. The toxins released by the venom of a black widow spider are contagious as it shuts down the nervous system of the prey. However large the prey is, it is quickly paralyzed by the strong venom. This makes the black widow devour its prey without any hassle or struggle. Furthermore, the venom turns the body of the prey into a liquid substance which can be easily consumed by the black widow spider. This small spider secretes a dangerous form of venom which is said to be more potent than of a cobra snake. A human, when bitten by the black widow spider, will experience extreme nausea, aching muscles and labored breathing. Nevertheless, swelling of the muscle around the wound has also been seen in many cases. The number of human deaths caused by spiders is mostly by the black widow spider. This is because it’s the only kind of spider which inhibits in an immensely wide geographical area. According to G.B Edwards, taxonomic entomologist at Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, ‘Bite symptoms are systemic, spreading through the lymphatic system, and usually start about 1-3 hours after the bite. The most common symptoms are intense pain, rigid abdominal muscles, muscle cramping, malaise, local sweating, nausea, vomiting, and hypertension.’ (Edwards) The black widow spider is not extinct. Nevertheless, these spiders are feared by humans because of the dangerous, poisonous venom it secretes, hence, people attempt to kill this insect at first sight. However, the black widow spider has a shy nature. It tries to hide in nooks and corners, away from human activity. The females tend to bite only when there is a mishandling of the creature. The spider prefers to prey on other insects and pests only. Therefore, it shouldn’t be feared. The red widow spider, however, belongs to the same family and is said to be in extinction. The web of the black widow spider does not really have a distinct pattern. It is a common web like many other kinds of spiders. However, the spider builds vertical threads where it sits and waits for its prey. It is built in such a way that the lower threads signal the spider about presence of a prey. The widow spider usually looks for seclusion near the ground level as its main base. This makes it easier for the spider to catch both flying and crawling insects. In some cases, these spiders might build seclusion well above the ground; they would then build the web ten or more feet below it. The spiders tend to emerge at night. Whole day they tend to bring improvements and renovation to their web in order to make catching easier. After the work, they find a suitable place to sit on the web and wait for their prey. Furthermore, if the spider feels that there is a large prey insect on the web which it feels unable to handle, it retires to seclusion. The silk produced by a mature black widow is said to be very hard and strong; If you run a finger through the web of a mature spider, it would make a sharp, ripping sound. The silk was heavily used to make crosshairs for gun sights during the World War II. According to Charles Hannum Jr., ‘Widow Spiders are typically not affected by general pesticide applications (baseboard sprays) because they avoid the treated areas. Individual widow spiders can be killed by direct application (to the spider itself) with a labeled pesticide.’ (Hannum) Work Cited Alb. Tullgren, “Clerck, Carl Alexander”,  Spiders, vol. 8 (1929). Emerton, James H. The common spiders of the United States. New York: Dorver, 1961. Print. Tuttle, Donald M., and Edward W. Baker. Spider Mites of the United States. N.p.: Library of Congress, 1968. Print. “Daley, Maggie”. Illinois Insects and Spiders. Chicago: n.p., n.d. Print. 444-422 Charles Hannum, Jr., Graduate Student, Entomology, Virginia Tech; Dini M. Miller, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Entomology, Virginia Tech G. B. Edwards, GB.Edwards@freshfromflorida.com, Taxonomic Entomologist, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry Read More