On the territory of the Odessa National Natural Park “Tuzlovsky Estuaries” there is a significant increase in the number of female karakurt spiders, also known as “black widow.”
This information was presented by the UNIAN press service, reports URA-Inform.
Rapid population growth
According to the park administration, recent studies have shown that in some areas of the coastal zone of these reservoirs one can find from 2 to 3 female karakurt per square meter. This phenomenon became especially pronounced after a long period when there was no information about karakurts. Abnormal weather conditions, such as hot and dry summers, contribute to a sharp increase in the number of these spiders, since such conditions are ideal for their reproduction.
Dangers and features
Karakurt poses a serious threat, as its poison has a toxic effect on the central and peripheral nervous system, which can cause systemic poisoning and be fatal. In Ukraine, there is one type of karakurt, which is common in Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Lugansk regions and Crimea.
The bite of this spider is 50 times more poisonous than the bite of a tarantula. Karakurts live in thickets of weeds, where they weave their nests from cobwebs, attaching them to the grass. They have eight eyes arranged in two rows, and legs with many bristles, but without large spines. The spider's abdomen is usually round, sometimes spherical. The females, which can reach 2 cm in diameter and are velvety black in color, are covered in red spots during breeding. Males are smaller in size and often become victims of females after mating, which gives the spider its second name, “black widow.”
Tips for preventing bites
Experts emphasize that karakurt spiders attack only when threatened. The most common cases of bites occur when people put on old shoes without checking them first, since females can build nests in such places.
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