第 0630 號，共 1 402 號

Southern black widow

Latrodectus mactans

需要看醫生很少致命，但被咬了需要看醫生。

咬吃：肉

The southern black widow is a venomous spider that lives in North America. Mature females are shiny black with a red hourglass mark on their underside. Its bite can cause pain and other symptoms, but it is rarely fatal to healthy people.1

分布在

Native to North America, mainly the southeastern United States. Also found in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and established in Hawaii (USA).1

北美洲

首頁

It builds tangled, three-dimensional cobwebs and waits in a retreat near them. One way it has reached Hawaii is through imported produce.1

長度

8 mm 到 1,3 cm (0,3 in 到 0,5 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,98 km/h（0,61 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It eats a variety of insects, and also woodlice, millipedes, centipedes and other spiders. When prey is caught in its web, it rushes out, wraps the prey tightly in silk, and bites it. It then releases digestive enzymes into the wound and carries the prey back to its retreat to feed.1

Southern black widow 的照片 — Southern black widow。照片：unknown。 CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Mature females are shiny black, with a red hourglass-shaped mark on the underside of a very rounded abdomen.1
Many females have an orange or red patch on the top of the abdomen, just above the spinnerets.1
Mature females have a body length of 8–13 mm, not counting the legs. Males are 3–6 mm.1
Juveniles look very different. They have a grey to black abdomen with white stripes across it, spotted with yellow and orange.1
Males are either purple, or look more like the juveniles.1

常被誤認為： It is often confused with the false widows (genus Steatoda) and with the closely related northern (L. variolus) and western (L. hesperus) black widows.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 contains alpha-latrotoxin, a neurotoxic venom that attacks the nerves. It causes pain and other symptoms, which are collectively called latrodectism.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。

Deaths in healthy adults are exceedingly rare. No deaths were reported among 23,409 documented Latrodectus bites in the US from 2000 to 2008, though about 2,000 bites happen each year. Only mature females can bite people.1

好消息：醫生有藥（抗毒血清）或治療方法。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

Southern black widow 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)

Southern black widow 大約 0,98 km/h (0,61 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

In 1933, Allan Blair let himself be bitten by one of these spiders to study its venom in humans and to convince sceptics that it could be dangerous.1

Females will occasionally eat their mates after reproduction.1

Only mature females can bite people. Their hollow, needle-like mouthparts are about 1 mm long, which is long enough to inject venom into people.1

The brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus) competes with black widows for territory. In areas where they share space, it can displace them.1

Males live only about three to four months, while females can live for up to three years.1

破解迷思

迷思： A black widow bite is usually fatal.

真相： Black widow bites are rarely fatal to healthy people. No deaths from the US species were reported among 23,409 documented bites from 2000 to 2008.1

給毒液專家

學名: Latrodectus mactans
類群: 蜘蛛
家人: Theridiidae2
排序: Araneae
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: A female can produce four to nine egg sacs in one summer, each holding about 100–400 eggs, which she guards in a silken container.1
壽命: 大約 3 年1
對人的危險: 3 / 5: 嚴重3