第 0634 號，共 1 402 號

Redback spider

Latrodectus hasselti

名字的由來： It is called the redback because of the distinctive red stripe along the top of its abdomen.1

需要看醫生很少致命，但被咬了需要看醫生。

蜘蛛

咬吃：肉

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The redback spider is a highly venomous spider. It is thought to come from Australia, but it now also lives in Southeast Asia, Japan and New Zealand. It often lives close to people, in warm, sheltered places in and around homes, so it matters a great deal for safety.1

分布在

Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan and New Zealand; established colonies also in the United Arab Emirates1

澳洲與大洋洲

首頁

It lives in warm, sheltered places, commonly near or inside human homes and other buildings. Food scraps and lights attract the insects it hunts, which brings the redback closer to people.1

長度

1 cm (0,4 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,92 km/h（0,57 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It mainly catches insects, but also spiders, small lizards and occasionally even snakes or a mouse that become caught in its web. It squirts sticky silk over the prey, bites it repeatedly, wraps it in silk, then sucks out its liquefied insides back at its retreat.1

Redback spider 的照片 — Redback spider。照片：Paul Whitington。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

The adult female has a round, shiny black body with a red stripe on the top of the abdomen.1
Underneath, she has an hourglass-shaped red or orange streak.1
The female's body is about 1 cm long, with slender legs.1
The male is much smaller, 3 to 4 mm long, light brown with white markings on the upper abdomen and a pale hourglass marking underneath.1
Its web is an irregular, untidy tangle of strong silk, usually in a warm, sheltered spot.1

常被誤認為： The false redback spider (Steatoda capensis) has a similar build but is uniformly black or plum-coloured, and it has no red stripe on its abdomen.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

The venom is neurotoxic to vertebrates, meaning it attacks the nerves, and it causes a condition called latrodectism. Pain starts around the bite and typically becomes severe, spreading up the bitten limb and lasting for over 24 hours. Localised sweating in patches of skin is highly indicative of latrodectism, and nausea, vomiting, headache and agitation may indicate severe envenomation.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The redback is one of the few spider species that can seriously harm humans. Because it often lives in buildings, it is responsible for a large number of serious spider bites in Australia.1

好消息：醫生有藥（抗毒血清）或治療方法。1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

Its bright scarlet markings may serve as a warning to potential predators.1

如果牠咬人

清洗咬傷處，用冰敷袋冰敷止痛。如果很痛、疼痛擴散或傷者覺得不舒服，要就醫。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

小到可以坐在你的指甲上

Redback spider 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Redback spider 大約 0,92 km/h (0,57 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

A male redback can successfully mate with a female katipō, a related New Zealand spider, producing hybrid offspring.1

Males often mate with a female who may then eat them, a behaviour called sexual cannibalism that many arachnids show while mating.1

In laboratory tests, redbacks survived an average of 100 days, and sometimes over 300 days, without food.1

After mating, a female can store sperm for up to two years and use it to fertilise several clutches of eggs.1

Spiderlings and larger females steal food from other spiders' webs, and spiderlings sometimes eat their less active siblings.1

給毒液專家

學名: Latrodectus hasselti
類群: 蜘蛛
家人: Theridiidae2
排序: Araneae
各大洲: 澳洲與大洋洲
寶寶: Each clutch averages 250 eggs, housed in a round white silken egg sac. Spiderlings hatch after about 8 days, though cooler temperatures can greatly slow this.1
壽命: 大約 3 年1
對人的危險: 3 / 5: 嚴重3