What International Students Must Know About Black Widow Spider When Travelling To North America?

Many students are travelling to North America and Australia for advanced studies. These students prepare for a lot of stuff when they head to these countries. Yet there is one thing not everyone is aware of, and it can be quite threatening if people don’t prepare for it.

The threat is from the infamous black widow spider. Its species is known as Latrodectus, and they can be found throughout the US. They can be trouble for students travelling from outside to study there. Even though their bites are not that harmful, they can pose quite a threat if the symptoms are not treated in the early stage. On average, almost 2500 Americans are bitten by it every year.

The Skin Injectors:

There are many types of spiders in this world. Most of the spiders bite with their teeth and inject venom into someone’s body. But it is not the same case with the black widow spider. The black widow spider injects poison in someone’s body with their skin itself.

So that means even if a person gets in contact with one of these spiders, they will be poisoned. One of the other interesting facts about this spider is that black widow spiders are one of the rare species of spiders whose bite or contact can poison a human body. But one of the noteworthy things about these spiders is that only the female black widow spiders are harmful to humans. 

How to Identify Female Spiders?

Identifying the female black widow spiders is no tough job. Any of the female black widow spiders can be identified by the hourglass pattern on their body, and they also have a black abdomen. Whereas the male black widow spiders are comparatively much smaller in size and lighter in colour. 

Where Can a Person Usually Find these Spiders?

Black widow spiders can be easily found in the garages, or the heaps of trash, or in the building on which no one lives or have become old and prone to different kinds of insects. Very rarely are they found in places in which people come and go regularly or a place which is very clean and tidy for someone to live.

One of the key things to note is the venomous bites that these spiders can produce does not necessarily happen if they are on your body. They will only bite a person out of defence. When they are disturbed or feel threatened by someone, they will bite them. So a person can stay still if they see one of these spiders crawling over their bodies and wait until the spider is gone. 

What are the Symptoms of the Bites?

The bites can be harmful to some people. The bite can result in one of the most severe pains anyone has ever gone through, and people have also stated that they have experienced muscle cramps and abdominal pain and at times even back pain and hypertension after being bitten. 

What to do When Bitten?

Like in any other medical condition, go to a doctor. Americans have been able to develop an antivenin for the bite successfully. There are also some of the cases where patients were given this antivenin, and they felt at ease after some time.

But then there are also some cases where the antivenin did not work in the way it is supposed to. Still, the pain and symptoms go away in a day or two. It is not a life-threatening venom or bite, but it can surely cause a lot of drama for a brief period in a person’s life if bitten. 

Since these spiders are not found in very clean and heavily occupied places, a person can make sure that they are in living in such conditions to be safe from the black widow spider.

But even though if one spider comes into contact in such a place, there is no need to panic. Any person who is still and makes the spider feel comfortable will be safe from its bite. The spider does not necessarily bite everything that comes on the way.