Black widows

Steve Marak (SAMARAK@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU)
Mon, 26 Jul 93 09:53:31 CDT

My former teacher, the spider venom researcher, also mentioned that in most
locales, the incidence of black widow spider bites dropped dramatically
conincident with the arrival of indoor toilets.

He had some footage of a victim (who had the venom reach the bloodstream)
suffering the characteristic muscle twitches and spasms ("fasiculations", if
I remember rightly - it's been a long time). I gather that though most people
don't die, the process is very painful and full recovery may be slow.

BTW, although most black widows have the red mark, not all do - I've seen
slides of specimens ranging from totally black and unmarked, to mostly covered
with red markings. Kinda like rattlesnakes appearing in a variety of color
forms, I guess.

Steve
SAMARAK@UAFSYSB.BITNET or SAMARAK@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU