Latrodectus pallidus

White widow, female on a postage stamp from Kazakhstan.

The White Widow ( Latrodectus pallidus ), also known as white steppe spider a web spider from the family of cobweb spiders is ( Theridiidae ). It belongs to the genus of the Real widows and 1872 described by Octavius ​​Pickard - Cambridge, a British arachnologists.

Description

Characteristic of the White Widow is her spherical abdomen and her thin long legs. Unlike many species of the genus of the Real widows, which are summarized as Black Widow because of the color of her abdomen, the White Widow has a very light instead of a dark color. The White Widow is the only species of its genus, which, mostly white so bright coloring or yellowish white, has. A drawing in the form of an hourglass as the black widow does not exist here also. But the White Widow has four distinct dot-like depressions on the otherwise smooth surface of the abdomen. These are almost in a rectangle, the two front points are but closer together than the two rear. While the abdomen is always colored almost white, front body and legs are variable. The cephalothorax (head chest piece ) as well as the legs can either be brightly colored, often however, they are yellowish- brown or have other browns.

The males are much smaller than the females, as in all types of Real widows.

Occurrence

The species occurs from North Africa to the Middle East and Iran to Russia and several Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan before. As of 1988, finds from the island of Sal in the Cape Verde archipelago were reported. In the area of ​​distribution, the White Widow lives in steppes and desert-like landscapes.

Way of life

The species feeds on insects. For this purpose, it spins a complex cobweb, which consists of three parts: A side of the fishing net landscaped retreat with a living chamber and a tubular access is provided by a roughly 10 inches long and just as wide connection to the net. This separated from the safety net slip angle can by its densely woven walls that are often reinforced by various plant and prey remains, perform several functions. It protects the spider and later the eggs and newly hatched young from the direct rays of the sun in the hot and dry areas where the White Widow occurs. Unlike most species of widow spiders nest is not built under rocks or in burrows, but on the low bushes that grow in this desert and steppe zones. By investing in high altitudes, in addition to the direct sun protection, convection currents are used for cooling. However, this has the disadvantage that the construction is easier by visually oriented predators, such as birds to discover. Through the incorporation of plant parts and remains of prey in the cobwebs of the shelter is additionally camouflaged and reinforced mechanically. Trials in Israel with the Northern shrike nests and the widow spider Latrodectus revivensis, which also builds their nests in bushes, have shown that the discovery will be the higher of the birds, the more additional material reinforces the nest.

However, the communication is also the day ensured the safety net over the bridge connection when the nocturnal spider not observed directly the net. The safety net is even smaller than for other types of Real widows, it is rather flat and radially arranged as the hood networks. The construction of the entire network construction takes several days to complete.

History of Research

From a visit to the former Palestine from mid-March to mid-May 1865, British pastor and spiders researchers Octavius ​​Pickard - Cambridge had brought 700 species of insects and arachnids 300 to London. An overview of 278 spider species, which he had previously determined was Pickard - Cambridge in 1872 published edition of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. More than half were still undescribed species and the work of Pickard - Cambridge has included numerous original descriptions, including the White Widow Latrodectus pallidus, which he had collected in the valley of the Jordan, from low bushes. Pickard - Cambridge ordered the spider genus Latrodectus to the immediate, of which she has since never transferred to another genus. The specific epithet pallidus is the Latin word for " pale ".

Bite accidents and toxicity

The species is not particularly aggressive and their bite is not dangerous to humans in general. Of course, the bite of this spider can hurt a man, but the poison is not as strong as in the native to North America Southern Black Widow ( Latrodectus mactans ) or the Australian redback spider ( Latrodectus hasselti ) by far. At the bite of the White Widow just infirm or children could die, otherwise there is no danger to life. Toxicological studies have shown that their venom is constructed similar to the European black widow ( Latrodectus tredecimgutattus ).