BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE daughter of a Taylors Extension couple may have been hospitalised in serious condition, but because of her abnormal fear of spiders she narrowly escaped being bitten by a Black Widow Spider.
Shenariah Warner of David Tyrell Avenue, Taylors Extension was on Sunday (Mar. 28) told by her mother Jessica to put an empty can of insecticide spray into a garbage receptacle that is within an enclosed area on the family’s premises.
However, when she opened the door to the area where the receptacle is kept, she saw a spider and immediately ran into the house and told her brother about it.
“Yesterday [Sunday] there was an empty can of Bop on the table and I told my daughter to throw it in the garbage bin. Shortly after going outside she ran back in the house and told her brother that she saw a spider. You see, she has a phobia of spiders.
“So, the brother, being an individual who likes to study animals and has been dissecting many insects since he was small, ran outside. He saw the spider and he told me that it looks like a Black Widow. I did not believe him, and after I saw it I immediately told him to bring the other can of Bop that was in the house.
“I sprayed it with the Bop and my son told me that he wanted a small container to put the spider in. I told him to leave it alone, but on close examination he told me that it was a Black Widow because it had all the characteristics including a red hour hourglass under its abdomen. He then put it in a small plastic container and said that he was going on the internet and research to ascertain the species,” Jessica said.
The mother said that she tried to contact an individual she knows working at the Agriculture Department but was unsuccessful in her attempt. She therefore told her son to preserve the spider by putting it at the bottom of the fridge until the following day when contact could be made with someone from the department.
“The first thing this morning (yesterday) I called the Agriculture Department and they told me that no one was there to address my concern. So I told them that it was an urgent matter and they put me on to Dr. Henry, who told me that if I have any ‘trans’ I could take it to the Agriculture Department. I however told him that I had no ‘trans’ and he asked me for directions to my home. I gave him and he promised to visit us this afternoon.” Jessica added.
Speaking with the children’s father, Elvis, he noted that many parents and guardians are afraid of their children surfing the internet and watching television because of some of the images and programmes they might access.
He however stated that his children, especially the boy, were advised to view only educational programmes on the television and to research people, notable events and things of interest on the internet.
“My children often watch National Geographic on TV and also the History Channel. We do not deprive them of knowledge, and they used these two mediums to broaden their horizon on educational programmes. It is for this reason my son was able to immediately identify the spider as a Black Widow.”
On arrival at the Warners’ residence, SKNVibes was shown the spider, which showed signs of life when touched. However, because of its size, the camera was unable to reproduce a clear picture of all the characteristics, including the red hourglass under its abdomen. This particular characteristic and the shiny globular abdomen identified the spider as a female Black Widow scientifically known as Latrodectus Hesperus.
According to a National Geographic article, of the 30 000 types of spiders, the Black Widow is probably the one best known and feared. They are found in temperate regions around the world and their bite is much feared because their venom is reported to be 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake’s.
In humans, bites produce muscle aches, nausea, and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult; however, contrary to popular belief, most people who are bitten suffer no serious damage - let alone death. But bites can be fatal - usually to small children, the elderly, or the infirm. Fortunately, fatalities are fairly rare; the spiders are nonaggressive and bite only in self-defense, such as when someone accidentally sits on them.
The body of an adult Black Widow is approximately half an inch long and they are commonly found in woodpiles, rubble piles, under stones and rocks, hollow stumps, rodent burrows, privies, sheds and garages. They are also found indoors, especially in cluttered areas in basements and crawl spaces.
There is a common belief that the name ‘widow’ originated from the females who sometimes eat the males after mating.
This may have been the first Black Widow Spider found in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. But some of the questions that urgently need to be answered are: “From where did it originate, how it got here, and are there any more such arachnids in the Federation?”
