Page 50 - 2020 May/June Outdoor Oklahoma

Watchable Wildlife
Potentially Deadly Spiders by Justin Veach, Education Intern

O K L A H O M A’ S
Watchable Wildlife

poteN ti ally dea dly spiders

by j usti N v eaCh, eduCatioN i N terN

Two species of spiders in Oklahoma are potentially mating process. After mating, the female will sometimes
life-threatening for people: the brown recluse, also called bite the male and consume him if she’s hungry. The male

fiddleback, and the black widow. The brown recluse is is much smaller than the female and is usually a dark
a small brown spider that gets its nickname from the brown color, not black. The male will try to mate with a
violin-shape marking located directly behind its eyes. female that has eaten recently to avoid being eaten itself.
The black widow is a slightly larger, black spider that The female black widow can bite and inject venom
is often distinguished by a red hourglass shape on the into a person, while the males and adolescents are fairly
female’s abdomen. harmless. The venom is a neurotoxin that affects a per-
Brown recluse spiders usually live up to two years. son’s nervous system. The venom is thought to be 15
Each female creates several egg sacs during the summer, times stronger than a rattlesnake’s, but they don’t inject
each containing about 50 eggs. The brown recluse is very much and most people recover. It is extremely rare

able to survive up to six months without food or water. for a black widow bite to prove fatal to a person, but it
It likes to hide in quiet has occurred.
Two species of spiders in
areas during the day, such Black widows are usu-
as cabinets, shoes, clothing ally found around man-
Oklahoma are potentially
on the floor, or under fur- made structures such
niture. At night, it comes sheds or barns. Their
life-threatening for people
out to search for food. webs are a jumbled mess
Brown recluse spiders of cobwebs. When the
are not aggressive and won’t bite unless provoked or cor- male approaches to mate, he will perform a sort of dance
nered. Most bites occur when someone puts on clothing to tell her that he is a potential mate and not food to be
in which the spider is hiding, or when a sleeping person eaten. Black widows usually mate in springtime, and
rolls over onto a spider. The bite often isn’t even felt until females can create several egg sacs during summer, each
later, and the amount of venom injected through a bite containing hundreds of eggs. The female will fiercely
can vary. Most brown recluse bites are minor, but some protect her egg sacs until the young emerge. The spi-
do cause health problems. The venom is more potent derlings are cannibalistic and will eat each other, so
than that of most venomous snakes, but the spider doesn’t many don’t survive. After a few days, the spiderlings
normally inject enough venom to threaten a person’s life. will climb off the ground and release silk into the air to

But some bites have been fatal, mostly in younger chil- allow the wind to carry them aloft. This “ballooning”
dren and people with weak immune systems. process takes them away from their competition and to
Black widows get their name from their cannibalistic their own new territory.

48 WATCHABLE WILDLIFE