Black Widow Spiders Spotted In GTA
Posted July 22, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Arachnophobics beware – the notorious black widow spider is in town.
In the past year, the l. variolus has turned up in a Mississauga garage and a Bolton-area cottage.
And while a Royal Ontario Museum entomologist says it’s likely there are more where those came from, she also notes the risk of being bitten by one is very low.
“You’re not likely to come across them. If you do, they’re not going to bite you because you’re not an insect. They’re not going to go out of their way to try and get you,” explains the ROM’s Antonia Guidotti.
Although their venom can be fatal to small children, the elderly or those with weak immune systems, the spiders are not aggressive and attack humans only in self-defense. In healthy adults, bites may produce swelling, muscle aches, nausea and breathing difficulties, but usually the reaction is minor.
Insects, on the other hand, can become incapacitated by the neurotoxins in the venom – as can male black widow spiders which are sometimes killed and eaten by females after mating.
Over the past few decades, the northern black widow has been spotted in Barrie, London, Grand Bend, the Bruce Peninsula and on some Georgian Bay islands.
Image credit: Photo Munki via Flickr
