The difference between a female karakurt and a male. Karakurt spider (photo): poisonous and very dangerous. A karakurt bite - how dangerous it is, and what to do if the “kiss” did take place

One of the most poisonous creatures on our planet is a representative of the order of arthropods - the karakurt spider. It is believed that its bite is much more dangerous than the bite of any, even the most poisonous snake that exists in nature. For example, it is known that the venom of a female karakurt is fifteen times more dangerous to life than the venom of a rattlesnake.

If you look at a photo of a karakurt, the first thing that catches your eye is its black color. Due to its terrifying appearance and aggressive behavior, the karakurt is also called the black widow. Scientifically speaking, black widows are a genus of spiders that live all over the world. Karakurt is just one species from this genus. A species called the black widow spider, a relative of the karakurt, lives in North America.

The peculiarity of its behavior is that the female spider eats her male after mating. This arthropod predator is also dangerous because it is very difficult to notice it on the ground or in the grass. In addition, the karakurt weaves a web differently than its other relatives, which makes it extremely difficult to notice, but very easy to get into. Once you touch a spider or otherwise disturb its peace, a bite from a formidable predator will not take long to arrive.

Appearance

To get a more visual idea of what the karakurt spider looks like externally, you should refer to the photos, of which there are a huge number on the Internet. In words, a spider can be described as follows.

Its body is smooth and, like other arthropods, consists of an abdomen and cephalothorax. It has four pairs of limbs attached to its abdomen and two pairs of jaws. The abdomen consists of segments and an anal cavity. The female also has additional jaws, the so-called chelicerae, where special glands that produce poison are located.

On the back of the spider there are reddish dots, around which white lines stretch. It was their presence that served as the basis for such an unusual name as “karakurt”. Translated from Latin, this word sounds like “thirteen points.” This species is characterized by molting. The female is several times larger than the male. For example, if the body length of a male reaches seven millimeters at most, then the size of a female varies from one to two centimeters.

Photo of a male and female karakurt

Since karakurt females are dangerous to humans, especially during the breeding season, you need to be able to distinguish them from males.

Habitats

Karakurt prefers areas with a warm climate. This representative of the order of arthropods is especially widespread in such regions as North Africa, Central Asia, the southern part of Europe and Ukraine, Kazakhstan, areas located near the Mediterranean Sea, Crimea, etc. Due to recent warming, the range of this species has expanded significantly. Now karakurt can be found in the Novosibirsk region, and in the Moscow region, and in Altai, as well as in other previously unusual places.

To build a nest, the spider chooses dark, inconspicuous holes, crevices, small depressions and even the walls of old houses. Karakurt especially loves steppe terrain, various ditches, wastelands, and pits. They are mainly attracted to rocky surfaces. Moisture and intense heat repels the spider, and karakurt also does not like dense vegetation.

Adult karakurt without dots from Krasnodar.

Reproduction

It is worth noting that these animals are incredibly prolific. Peak reproduction for this species of spider begins in the summer, in particular in July and August. The female lays eggs on the web. They lie like this for about a week, wrapped in a cocoon. Soon newborn spiders emerge from them, but they leave the cocoon only after the winter, in the spring. Young spiderlings emerge from their shelters and are carried by the wind throughout the area. At the beginning of summer, spiders reach adulthood and are ready to reproduce. On hot days, spiders look for reliable places to build a nest and mate.

Danger to humans

In this case, the main danger is the female karakurt, since, unlike males, it is able to bite through a thick layer of human epidermis. But most importantly, only females have poisonous glands. These spiders are especially aggressive during the breeding season, that is, in the second half of the summer season. Karakurt venom is extremely toxic and is ultimately fatal unless medical intervention occurs. To help the victim, it is necessary, first of all, to cauterize the bite site, and then inject the serum within the first ten minutes.

The species from the family of web spiders enjoys a not entirely deserved sad reputation. The karakurt spider has become so famous for the reason that there are much more dangerous and poisonous species of arachnids. But in the Soviet Union it was considered for a long time. There were no developed means of communication then and people knew little about the fauna of other continents and countries.

Description

The karakurt spider (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) belongs to the genus. The name is of Turkic origin and is used in the CIS and adjacent countries of Central Asia. The first part of the word “kara” does not cause any discrepancies and means “black”. The second part is usually translated as "worm". And here doubts arise. Depending on how the first letter of the word “kurt” is written in Latin: k or q, the meaning of the word changes. In addition to "worm", it can mean "beetle" or "wolf". The last two names are more suitable for the spider.

Note!
In Europe, tracing paper from the Latin name is more popular: thirteen-point widow. This name is based on the appearance of the Asian karakurt.

Area

Karakurts are steppe spiders that prefer dry areas with warm winters. The territories where karakurts live occupy the entire dry belt of the Eurasian continent: from Spain to the steppe part of China.

In Russia, the northern limit of distribution of karakurts is indicated as 50° N. w. But in hot summers these spiders were also found further north. They even came across on the shores of Lake Onega.

Interesting!
With a high degree of probability, arthropods did not penetrate to the north on their own, but with the help of humans. They cannot take root there and die in winter.

In Central Asia, 3 types of karakurts live on the same territory:

thirteen-spotted (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus);
Dahl's karakurt (Latrodectus dahli);
white (Latrodectus pallidus).

Thirteen-spotted is divided into 2 subspecies: Asian and European. The second name of the latter is European widow.

Appearance

Karakurts are medium-sized spiders. The body of the female is from 1 to 2 cm long. The male is only 4-7 mm in size. The female has a very large, almost spherical abdomen and long legs protruding from under it. In the photo of the karakurt spider you can see that the longest ones are the first and last pair. On the back surface of the abdomen there are arachnoid warts through which the silk thread is released into the external environment.

The cephalothorax appears very small compared to the body. But the spider has very powerful chelicerae, designed to bite through the chitinous shell of large locusts.

Internal structure

In this regard, karakurt does not stand out among others. In the cephalothorax are located:

poison gland;
esophagus;
sucking stomach;
gastric growths;
anterior aorta.

The spider's heart is located in the abdomen, like all other organs:

liver;
ostia;
posterior aorta;
intestines;
arachnoid gland;
trachea;
ovaries of a female.

The genital opening and spermatheca are located on the underside of the abdomen, closer to the cephalothorax.

Color

The European and Asian subspecies of Latrodectus tredecimguttatus differ from each other in the color of the spots on the abdomen. The Asian has 13 large red spots. Sometimes these spots are outlined by a white border. The European subspecies has faint white spots. Both subspecies coexist in the same territory and often interbreed.

In Central Asia, Latrodectus tredecimguttatus shares its habitat with two other species: Dahl's karakurt and white karakurt. The photo and description of these spiders coincide almost completely. The exception is color. Dahl's Karakurt is black without any markings. The white karakurt is the only light-colored representative of the black widow genus and the color of its abdomen is truly white. The cephalothorax is light brown.

Note!
White karakurt is the least poisonous representative of the black widow genus.

Lifestyle

Karakurts can hunt both at night and during the day. Its shape is not regular, like , but a disorderly accumulation of catching threads. The web is also oriented not like other web sites - vertically, but in a horizontal plane. The main prey of spiders are locusts and grasshoppers. These invertebrates usually move on the ground. A web located horizontally near the habitat of arthropods is better suited for catching such game. The karakurt itself can wait for the victim, located in a shelter above the web. For housing, the karakurt chooses rodent burrows or openings in ventilation systems.

Note!
Karakurts are prolific. The female can lay 1000-1300 eggs per year. Once every 10-20 years, an outbreak of arthropod populations occurs.

The lifespan of karakurts is less than a year. The young hatched from eggs in April become capable of reproduction in June. At this time, spiders begin to migrate, looking for secluded places protected from the heat. In shelters they weave temporary mating nets.

After fertilization, the female eats the male and goes in search of a suitable place where she can lay eggs. Having found a suitable shelter, the spider hangs 2-4 cocoons with eggs in it. In April, the young hatched into new habitats.

In the same habitat, that is, throughout Eurasia, spiders live that are similar to the karakurt in appearance and size. These are web spiders from the same family Theridiidae as karakurts. But they belong to the genus Steatodes. Since steatodes look almost like karakurts, they received the unofficial name “false widows.”

Note!
The large steatoda (Steatoda grossa) has pale light spots on its abdomen, similar to the color of the European subspecies of karakurt.

The color of the abdomen in steatodes can be:

with beige or white spots;
with a thin red line extending along the abdomen;
with a yellow stripe down the back;
with small red spots.

Because of the latter, the steatodus are mistaken for the poisonous karakurt spider. But steatode is not so poisonous and does not cause serious consequences. According to the initial signs: increasing pain, sometimes nausea and headache - the effect of the poison of steatoda and karakurt is similar. This also makes it difficult to distinguish one spider from another. But the body can recover from the poison of steatoda on its own in a few days.

Bite symptoms and first aid

The male karakurt is not dangerous to humans, as it is not able to bite through the skin. The female bites to a depth of 0.5 mm. The venom of these arthropods rarely leads to death, especially after the appearance of anti-karakurt serum, but the victim is guaranteed a lot of unpleasant sensations.

Females are not aggressive and attack only when threatened. But they may consider accidental brushing against a web to be a threat.

Note!
Camels and horses are especially sensitive to poison.

But sheep can be used as an anti-karakurt weapon. They are insensitive to poison and trample spider nests in pastures.

Symptoms

The effect of the poison is immediate. A burning pain appears at the site of the karakurt bite, which spreads throughout the body within 10-15 minutes. Very severe pain appears in the chest, abdomen and lower back. A spasm of the abdominal muscles occurs. There are signs of general poisoning of the body:

rapid pulse;
heartbeat;
dyspnea;
vomit;
tremor of the limbs;
pallor or, conversely, the face turns red due to the influx of blood;
heaviness in the chest area;
dilated pupils;
uncontrolled movement of the eyeball;
priapism is possible in men;
bronchial spasm.

Note!
Later, you may notice a delay in urination and defecation. In the later stages, nervous excitement gives way to severe depression. Delirium and clouding of consciousness may occur. Fatal outcome is rare, but it cannot be ruled out.

Treatment and first aid

Treatment is carried out in a hospital setting. In the absence of antikarakurt serum, novocaine, magnesia and calcium chloride are administered intravenously. The victim still needs to be taken to the hospital, and for this you need to know what to do if you are bitten by a karakurt somewhere far from civilization.

First aid can only be provided within the first 2 minutes. The affected area is cauterized with a burning match. Under the influence of high temperature, the poison is destroyed. But even in this case, the victim must be taken to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Living in the lands of the former Soviet Union, the karakurt (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) and the tropical black widow (Latrodectus mactans) belong to different species of the same spider genus - the Black Widow. Perhaps that is why the generic name stuck firmly to much less ferocious domestic individuals.

Geography of Black Widows

Representatives of the genus have gained a bad reputation as the most poisonous arachnids. The statement is true for arthropods inhabiting the islands of Oceania, Australia and North America. The natives would rather step on a rattlesnake than a black widow with its powerful poison(15 times superior to the snake).

Karakurts live in the steppes and deserts of Afghanistan, North Africa, Iran and southern Europe, including certain regions of the Mediterranean.

Local black widows are well known to residents of neighboring countries:

Central Asia.
Kazakhstan.
Southern regions of Ukraine.
Caucasus.

Karakurts reached the south of the Urals, biting people in areas bordering Kazakhstan: in Orsk (Orenburg region), Kurtamysh (Kurgan region).

These spiders are dispersed throughout the Southern Federal District, including Crimea, Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov regions, and Krasnodar Territory.

Arthropods were seen in the Moscow region, Saratov and Novosibirsk regions, as well as in the Altai Territory.

Appearance and reproduction

The male is two or even three times smaller than his female. Some females grow up to 20 mm, while male specimens barely reach 7 mm. It is not surprising that after a successful sexual intercourse, the female without regrets devours the male, like waste material.

The general color of the rounded body (including 4 pairs of tentacles) is black, with a characteristic tint. Red spots of various configurations, bordered by narrow white stripes, are often observed on a black background.

A person with poor eyesight can easily confuse a spider with its legs tucked in for a black currant.

Karakurts reach sexual maturity in June, beginning to look for secluded places to weave temporary nets intended for mating.

After copulation, the females again go in search, but now for a protected shelter for their offspring. Spider eggs have to survive the winter in cocoons hung (2-4 pieces each) in the nest. Young spiders will emerge in April to fly off into adulthood on their webs.

Karakurt habitats

The spider makes its home among stones, dry branches, in the top layer of soil, often in other people's burrows, closing the entrance with trapping nets of randomly intertwined threads.

He likes to settle on untouched lands, including virgin lands, slopes of ravines, wastelands, and banks of irrigation ditches. Haymaking, plowing of steppes and cattle grazing sharply reduce the number of karakurt.

Adult spiders also die from insecticides used to pollinate farmland. True, chemical reagents do not affect cocoons: they can only be burned with fire.

With the onset of autumn, black widows, who prefer a nocturnal lifestyle, move closer to warmth - to basements, sheds, cellars, outdoor toilets, houses and apartments.

In its quest for comfort, the spider climbs into shoes, linen, bed, and kitchen utensils. And this is a direct threat to human life.

Spider activity

Its peak is recorded from July to September. During the migration of females (June/July), the number of people and animals affected by their “kisses” increases sharply.

Outbreaks of mass reproduction of karakurt are recorded once every 25 or once every 10 years, while the main danger is posed by adult females.

Our karakurt, of course, cannot compare with the real black widow in terms of the strength of its poison, but its bites sometimes end in death.

So, in October 1997, karakurts bit 87 residents of the Kherson region: all of them were treated in a hospital, but one could not be saved.

Then zoologists suggested that the massive attack was provoked by rainfall, which drove the spiders out of their shelters.

Along the way, it turned out that in the post-war years the karakurt felt like the master of the Don steppes and disappeared for a long time due to their active development.

The revival of the black widow population began with the collapse of the USSR: they are actively breeding in abandoned fields and farms.

Second favorable factor- global climate change, in which the arid zone is moving north. This plays into the hands of spiders, who avoid heavy rainfall, which is disastrous for their burrows.

Extraction of karakurt

They become both insects and small rodents, whose living space the killer occupies without remorse.

The spider paralyzes the victim, allowing the poison, which acts as a digestive secretion, to spread throughout its tissues. Once the insect is soft enough, the black widow will stick its proboscis into it and begin sucking out the contents.

During a meal, the spider can be distracted by other activities, move away from the “table” and return again, turn the victim over, sucking it from different sides.

A hole covered in cobwebs signals danger. The spider will not attack without a reason, which could be any careless intrusion into its private space.

Effect of poison

A barely noticeable red dot from a bite will trigger a chain reaction throughout the body: after a quarter of an hour, a burning pain will engulf the entire body (especially in the chest, abdomen and lower back).

Characteristic symptoms will appear:

tachycardia and shortness of breath;
redness or paleness of the face;
dizziness and tremors;
headache, vomiting and sweating;
heaviness in the chest or epigastric region;
bronchospasm and priapism;
inhibition of defecation and urination.

Later, intoxication turns into a depressed state, clouding of consciousness and delirium.

Antidote

The most effective drug was considered to be antikarakurt serum produced by the Tashkent Bacteriological Institute.

Good results were obtained with the administration (intravenous) of calcium chloride, novocaine and magnesium hydrogen sulfate.

If the person bitten is away from the medical center, it is recommended to cauterize the affected area with a lit match head within the first two minutes. It is believed that the poison, which does not have time to penetrate deeply, is destroyed by exposure to high temperature.

Karakurt spider especially dangerous for small children. If help is late, the child cannot be saved.

Animals die from close “contacts” with the black widow, among which camels and horses are considered the most vulnerable.

Breeding karakurt

Only very self-confident and fearless people can keep these arthropods at home. If you are able to distinguish a male from a female, create a spider union to observe the breeding.

Yes, and do not forget to protect the male: the spider will regularly encroach on his life.

For an artificial lair you will need:

terrarium or aquarium;
sand mixed with gravel;
moss, twigs and dry leaves.

You will have to catch flies and cockroaches in order to throw them immobilized into the web for your pets. In winter, there is no need to feed spiders - they sleep, but they need to be slightly warmed (with an electric lamp or warm air).

The terrarium will require cleaning in the spring. Send the karakurts to the jar and get rid of the debris in their nest.

Black widow spider as a business

On the Internet rumors are circulating about a low-cost and fabulously profitable business - breeding karakurts to obtain poison.

Those interested are explained in their fingertips what milking poisonous arthropods looks like, assuring them that this is a simple and safe process that can be mastered on their own.

In fact, the extraction of poison is carried out by specially trained people, in industrial conditions and using expensive equipment.

To do this, they purchase a special gas (for euthanizing karakurts) and an “operating table” installation with electrodes necessary to deliver a discharge to the chelicerae so that the poison is released.

The most expensive part of the scheme(several tens of thousands of dollars) - a unit for drying poison, which should turn into crystals.

500 karakurts from one milking yield 1 g of dry toxin, which costs up to 1,200 euros on the black market.

Undoubtedly, a profitable business, but it is not for self-taught people, loners and amateurs.

Appearance

Photo of a male and female karakurt

Since karakurt females are dangerous to humans, especially during the breeding season, you need to be able to distinguish them from males.

Habitats

Adult karakurt without dots from Krasnodar.

Reproduction

Danger to humans

Who in the world is scarier than a rattlesnake? This is not a huge bear or a scary tiger - this is a small spider, the very name of which makes you shiver! Karakurt is from the family of black widows... its bite is 15 times more poisonous than the bite of a rattlesnake! Look at the photo of the karakurt spider and remember so as not to fall into its “web”...

The name of this eight-legged creature comes from the Turkic words “kara” (black) and “kurt” (worm). The scientific name of karakurt is Latrodectus tredecimguttatus. This bloodthirsty creature belongs to the order of spiders, the family of web spiders and is classified by scientists as a genus of black widows. This animal is considered one of the most poisonous spiders in Crimea. Having met him on a hot afternoon, it is better to run away from him, otherwise he will certainly want to get to know you better. By the way, the same applies to other animals of Crimea, for example -.

How to recognize karakurt among other spiders?

Adults of these poisonous arachnids are of average size.

Females are much larger than males. Compare for yourself: if the body length of males ranges from 4 to 7 millimeters, then females grow up to 2 centimeters!

The body color of karakurts is black. But there are a great many black spiders, you say, and not all of them are deadly poisonous! Karakurts have one distinctive feature - their spots. These inclusions are red in color, sometimes they are bordered by white rims. It is noteworthy that when the spiders become fully sexually mature, sometimes these spots disappear altogether... therefore, when vacationing in the Crimea, avoid all black spiders, just in case!

Where do karakurts live?

These dangerous creatures can be found in Asia, for example, in Kazakhstan. Karakurts also live in Europe, in particular in Ukraine. In our country, you can meet karakurt in Crimea. North Africa is also included in the habitat of these poisonous creatures.

Karakurt lifestyle

For comfortable living of these representatives of the black widow genus, warm autumn and hot summer are needed. But when temperatures rise above normal in the summer months, karakurts can migrate to more northern areas.

Steppe areas are especially welcomed by these spiders. Karakurt likes to settle in wastelands, slopes of ravines, ditches, ruins, and salt marshes.

This black spider builds its home in animal burrows and cracks in the earth's crust.

What does karakurt eat?

Insects such as grasshoppers and locusts can get on the “dinner table” of this predator. Sometimes karakurts feed on other invertebrate animals.

Reproduction of karakurts

Karakurt, from the black widow family, is a real predator.

The breeding season for karakurts is July – August. The female lays eggs, “packed” in a cocoon, on the woven web. After a week, small spiders appear from them. It is noteworthy that young spiders never leave the cocoon until the spring of next year. They overwinter in this very cocoon.

Enemies of Karakurt - who are they?

These arachnids are attacked by ichneumon beetles. In addition, herds of sheep often trample, without knowing it, entire clusters of karakurts.

A karakurt bite - why is it dangerous, and what to do if the “kiss” does take place?

If you are bitten by this poisonous spider, you may not even feel it right away. The feeling of pain comes only after 10 – 15 minutes. Severe pain instantly spreads throughout the body, and if timely assistance is not provided, such an unpleasant “surprise” can result in death for a person. The poison of one small karakurt is quite enough to kill an adult.