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Some redback males have been observed using an alternative tactic that also ensures more of their genetic material is passed on. Juvenile female redbacks nearing their final moulting and adulthood have fully formed reproductive organs, but lack openings in the exoskeleton that allow access to the organs. Males will bite through the exoskeleton and deliver sperm to the organs without performing the somersault seen in males mating with adult females. The females then moult within a few days and deliver a clutch of fertilised eggs.<ref>{{cite conference | author=Biaggio, M. D.; Andrade, M. C. B. | title=Breaking an Entry: Male Redback spiders Inseminate Juvenile Females by Ripping through their Exoskeleton | booktitle=Animal Behaviour Society meeting | date=12–16 August 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Milius|first=Susan|title=Underage Spiders: Males Show Unexpected Interest in Young Mates|journal=Science News|date=26 August 2006|volume=190|issue=9|page=133|url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/7690/description/Underage_Spiders_Males_show_unexpected_interest_in_young_mates}}</ref>
Some redback males have been observed using an alternative tactic that also ensures more of their genetic material is passed on. Juvenile female redbacks nearing their final moulting and adulthood have fully formed reproductive organs, but lack openings in the exoskeleton that allow access to the organs. Males will bite through the exoskeleton and deliver sperm to the organs without performing the somersault seen in males mating with adult females. The females then moult within a few days and deliver a clutch of fertilised eggs.<ref>{{cite conference | author=Biaggio, M. D.; Andrade, M. C. B. | title=Breaking an Entry: Male Redback spiders Inseminate Juvenile Females by Ripping through their Exoskeleton | booktitle=Animal Behaviour Society meeting | date=12–16 August 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Milius|first=Susan|title=Underage Spiders: Males Show Unexpected Interest in Young Mates|journal=Science News|date=26 August 2006|volume=190|issue=9|page=133|url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/7690/description/Underage_Spiders_Males_show_unexpected_interest_in_young_mates}}</ref>


Once the female has mated, the sperm is stored in one or both of her spermathecae.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Snow|first=L. S. E.|coauthors=Andrade, M. C. B.|title=Multiple Sperm Storage Organs Facilitate Female Control of Paternity|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=7 June 2005|volume=272|issue=1568|pages=1139–44|doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3088}}</ref> The sperm can be used to fertilise several batches of eggs, over a period of up to two years (estimated from observations of closely related species),<ref name=Andrade2002/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kaston|first=B. J.|title=Comparative Biology of American Black Widow Spiders|journal=Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History|year=1970|volume=16|issue=3|pages=33–82 |url=http://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_125679_comparativebiologyofamericanbl1905/comparativebiologyofamericanbl1905}}</ref> but typically restarts the female's pheremone production advertising her sexual availability about three months after mating.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Perampaladas|first=Kuhan|coauthors=Stoltz, J. A.; Andrade, M. C. B.|title=Mated Redback Spider Females Re-Advertise Receptivity Months after Mating|journal=Ethology|date=1 June 2008|volume=114|issue=6|pages=589–98|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01513.x}}</ref> A female spider may lay four to ten egg sacs,<ref name="Species bank"/> each of which is around 1&nbsp;cm (0.7&nbsp;in) is diameter and contains on average around 250 eggs,<ref name="Amo-Redback"/> though can be as few as 40 or as many as 500.<ref name="Species bank"/> She prepares a shallow concave disc around 3&nbsp;mm (1/8 in) in diameter before laying eggs into it over a period of around five minutes before laying more silk to complete the sac, which becomes spherical, the whole process taking around one and a quarter hours.{{sfn|McKeown|1963|pp=190–91}} She can produce a new egg sac as early as one to three weeks after her last.<ref name="Amo-Redback"/>
Once the female has mated, the sperm is stored in one or both of her spermathecae.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Snow|first=L. S. E.|coauthors=Andrade, M. C. B.|title=Multiple Sperm Storage Organs Facilitate Female Control of Paternity|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=7 June 2005|volume=272|issue=1568|pages=1139–44|doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3088}}</ref> The sperm can be used to fertilise several batches of eggs, over a period of up to two years (estimated from observations of closely related species),<ref name=Andrade2002/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kaston|first=B. J.|title=Comparative Biology of American Black Widow Spiders|journal=Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History|year=1970|volume=16|issue=3|pages=33–82 |url=http://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_125679_comparativebiologyofamericanbl1905/comparativebiologyofamericanbl1905}}</ref> but typically restarts the female's pheremone production advertising her sexual availability about three months after mating.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Perampaladas|first=Kuhan|coauthors=Stoltz, J. A.; Andrade, M. C. B.|title=Mated Redback Spider Females Re-Advertise Receptivity Months after Mating|journal=Ethology|date=1 June 2008|volume=114|issue=6|pages=589–98|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01513.x}}</ref> A female spider may lay four to ten egg sacs,<ref name="Species bank"/> each of which is around 1&nbsp;cm (0.7&nbsp;in) is diameter and contains on average around 250 eggs,<ref name="Amo-Redback"/> though can be as few as 40 or as many as 500.<ref name="Species bank"/> She prepares a shallow concave disc around 3&nbsp;mm (1/8 in) in diameter before laying eggs into it over a period of around five minutes before laying more silk to complete the sac, which becomes spherical, the whole process taking around one and a quarter hours.{{sfn|McKeown|1963|pp=190–91}} She can produce a new egg sac as early as one to three weeks after her last.<ref name="Amo-Redback"/>They eat the easter bunny


==Distribution and habitat==
==Distribution and habitat==

Revision as of 01:39, 17 October 2013

Redback spider
Adult female
Adult male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Araneae
Family:
Theridiidae
Genus:
Latrodectus
Species:
L. hasseltii
Binomial name
Latrodectus hasseltii
Thorell, 1870
Synonyms[1]
  • Latrodectus scelio (Thorell, 1870)
  • Latrodectus scelio indicus (Simon, 1897)
  • Latrodectus indicus (Pocock, 1900)
  • Latrodectus hasselti indicus (Pickard-Cambridge, 1902)
  • Latrodectus ancorifer (Dahl, 1902)
  • Latrodectus hasselti aruensis (Strand, 1911)
  • Latrodectus hasselti ancorifer (Kulczyński, 1911)
  • Latrodectus cinctus [rejected] (Gerschman & Schiapelli, 1942)
  • Latrodectus mactans hasselti (Chrysanthus, 1975)

The redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii), also known as the jockey spider, is a species of venomous spider indigenous to Australia. It is a member of the cosmopolitan genus Latrodectus, the widow spiders. The female is easily recognised by her black body with a prominent red stripe on the upper side of her abdomen. Females have a body length of about 1 centimetre (0.4 in), while the male is smaller, being only 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long.

Primarily nocturnal, the female spider lives in an untidy web in a warm sheltered location, preys on insects, spiders and lizards that it entraps, and can live for over 100 days without food. It is preyed upon by other species of spider and parasitoid wasps. The redback is one of few arachnids which usually display sexual cannibalism while mating. The sperm is then stored in the spermathecae, organs of the female reproductive tract, and can be used up to two years later to fertilise several batches of eggs. Each batch averages 250 eggs and is housed in a round white silken egg sac.

The redback is one of the few spider species that can be seriously harmful to humans. It has a widespread distribution in Australia, and colonies have also been established in other countries. It is especially found co-located with humans and is responsible for the large majority of Australian spider bites with serious medical consequences. Its venom is neurotoxic to humans, with a small fraction of bites causing latrodectism which includes severe pain, often lasting over 24 hours. An antivenom injection has been available since 1956, and no deaths directly due to redback bites have been formally recorded after its introduction.

Taxonomy and naming

Common names

The common name "redback" is derived from its distinctive red stripe along the dorsal aspect of its abdomen. Other common names include red-striped spider,[2] red-backed spider,[3] red-spot spider, jockey spider,[4] Murra-ngura spider, Kapara spider and the Kanna-jeri spider.[5]

History

Before DNA analysis, the history of classifying the Latrodectus genus is of fluctuations reflecting the difficulty of using the shape and appearance of these spiders to determine subdivisions. Substantial interest in their taxonomy was most likely prompted by the medical importance of these venomous spiders.[6] Swedish arachnologist Tamerlan Thorell described the redback spider in 1870,[7] from specimens collected in Rockhampton and Bowen in central Queensland.[8] He named it in honour of colleague A.W.M. van Hasselt.[9] In the same paper, he named a female from Cape York with an all-black abdomen L. scelio,[7][8] now regarded as the same species. These specimens are in the Rikmuseum in Stockholm.[10]

German arachnologist Friedrich Dahl revised the genus in 1902 and named L. ancorifer from New Guinea,[11] which was later regarded as a subspecies of the redback. Another subspecies, L. h. aruensis, was described by Norwegian entomologist Embrik Strand in 1911. Subspecies indica (of L. scelio) had been described by Eugène Simon in 1897, but its origin is unclear.[10] Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge questioned Dahl's separating species on what he considered minor anatomical details but Dahl dismissed Pickard-Cambridge as an "ignoramus".[10] Pickard-Cambridge was unsure whether L. hasseltii warranted species status, though he confirmed scelio and hasseltii as a single species,[8] other researchers such as Ludwig Carl Christian Koch noting the differences to be inconsistent.[2] The redback was also considered by some to be conspecific with the katipo (L. katipo), which is native to New Zealand,[12] though Koch regarded them as distinct.[2]

Arachnologist Herbert Walter Levi revised the genus Lactrodectus in 1959. He concluded the colour variations were largely continuous across the world and were not suitable to subdivide the genus; however, focusing on differences in the morphology of the female sexual organs, he reclassified the genus reducing the number of recognised species from 22 to 6. This included reclassifying the redback and several other species as subspecies of the best-known member of the group, the black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans), found in North America and other regions.[6] He did not consider the subspecies L. h. ancorifer, L. h. aruensis and L. h. indicus distinct enough to warrant recognition.[10] Subsequently, more reliable genetic studies have split the genus into about 30 species, and the redback has no recognised subspecies in modern classifications.[6][13]

Current placement

A member of the genus Latrodectus in the family Theridiidae, the redback belongs in a clade with the black widow spider,[6] with the katipo as its closest relative.[14] A 2004 molecular study supports the redback's status as distinct species, as does the unique abdomen-presenting behaviour of the male during mating.[6] The close relationship between the two species is shown when mating, the male redback is able to successfully mate with a female katipo producing hybrid offspring. However, the male katipo is too heavy to mate with the female redback, as it triggers a predatory response in the female when it approaches the web, causing the female to eat it.[15] There is evidence of interbreeding between katipo and redbacks in the wild.[14]

Description

Further information: Spider anatomy
A juvenile female, showing typical white banding
Ventral side of an adult female, showing the red hourglass

The adult female redback has a round body about 1 centimetre (0.4 in) long, with long, slender legs. The body is a deep black (occasionally brownish), with a red (sometimes orange) longitudinal stripe on the upper abdomen. Females with incomplete markings or all-black abdomens occasionally occur.[16] On the underside of the abdomen is an hourglass-shaped red/orange streak.[17] Redback spiderlings are grey with dark spots, and become darker with each moult.[2] The female's red stripe also develops through this process, starting as a red spot, then multiple spots which later merge.[2] Juvenile females have additional white markings on the abdomen.[17]

The male redback is 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and is light brown, with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen and a pale hourglass marking on the underside.[17]

Another species in Australia with a similar physique, Steatoda capensis, has been termed the "false redback spider", but it is uniformly black (or plum), and does not display the red stripe.[18]

Ecology and behaviour

Female in its web

Web

The redback is mainly nocturnal;[19] the female remains concealed during the day, and spins her web during the night,[2] usually in the same location for most of her adult life.[20] Classified as a gum-footed tangle web, the web is an irregular-looking tangle of fine but strong silk. Although the threads seem random, they are strategically placed for support and entrapment of prey.[21] The rear portion of the web forms a funnel-like retreat area where the spider and egg sacs are found. This area has vertical, sticky catching threads that run to ground attachments.[17] The vertical strands act as trip wires to initially alert the spider to the presence of prey or threats, and also snare and haul prey into the air, when weaker horizontal strands that hold them down, known as guy lines, break when prey thrash around.[22] These webs are usually placed between two flat surfaces, one beneath the other.[23] Rare observations suggest that they occasionally use dead leaves to construct a more enclosed nest.[24][25] The female spends more time in the funnel and less time moving around during cooler weather.[26]

Female with a lizard it has captured

Prey

Redbacks usually prey on insects, but can capture larger animals that become entangled in the web, including king crickets, trapdoor spiders, and small lizards.[17] The slater (Porcellio scaber) is a particularly common food item,[27] and one web was recorded with a dead mouse within.[28] Developing spiderlings need size-appropriate prey, and laboratory studies show that they are willing to consume common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor), muscoid flies and early nymphs of cockroaches.[29] Food scraps and lighting attract insect prey to areas of human activity, which brings the redbacks.[16] Once alerted to a creature becoming ensnared in a trap line, the redback advances to around a leg's length from its target, touching it and squirting a superglue-like material over it to immobilise it. It then bites its victim repeatedly on the head, body and leg joints and wraps it in sticky and dry silk. Unlike other spiders, it does not rotate its prey while wrapping in silk, but like other spiders, it then injects a venom that liquefies its victim's innards. Once it has trussed the prey, the redback takes it to its retreat and begins sucking out the liquefied insides, generally 5 to 20 minutes after first attacking it.[26] Redback spiders do not usually drink, except when starved.[30]

Commonly, prey-stealing occurs where larger females take food items stored in other spiders' webs.[17] When they encounter other spiders of the same species, often including those of the opposite sex, they engage in battle, and the defeated spider is eaten.[2] If a male redback is accepted by a female, it is permitted to feed on the victims snared in the female's web.[2] Baby spiders also steal food from their mother, which she tries to prevent. They also consume sticky silk as well as small midges and flies. Spiderlings are cannibalistic, with more active ones sometimes eating less active ones.[26]

Predators and parasitoids

The daddy-long-legs spider (Pholcus phalangioides) and the giant daddy-long-legs spider (Artema atlanta) are known to prey on the redback spider.[31] Agenioideus nigricornis, a spider wasp, is a parasitoid of the adult redback.[32] Other wasps of the families Eurytomidae and Ichneumonidae parisitise redback eggs, and mantid lacewings (Neuroptera and Mantispidae) prey on redback eggs.[32]

Life cycle

Redback spiderlings

Spiderlings hatch from their eggs after about 8 days and can emerge from the egg sac as early as 11 days after being laid, although cooler temperatures can significantly slow their development, so that emergence does not occur for months.[29] Baby spiders appear from September to January (spring to early summer).[19] Male spiders mature through five instars in about 45–90 days.[20][33] Females mature through seven–eight instars in about 75–120 days.[20][33] Males live for up to six or seven months, while females may live between two and three years.[17] Laboratory tests have shown that redbacks may survive for an average of 100 days, and sometimes over 300 days without any food, with those starved at 10 °C faring better than those kept without food at 25 °C. Spiders are known to reduce their metabolic rates in response to starvation, and can distend their abdomens to store large amounts of food.[30] Redbacks can survive temperatures from below freezing point to 40 °C, though they do need relatively warm summers, with temperatures of 15 to 25 °C for two to three months, to survive and breed.[34]

Redback spiderlings leave the maternal web by being carried on the wind. They follow light and climb to the top of nearby logs or rocks before extending their abdomens high in the air and producing a droplet of silk.[26] The liquid silk is drawn out into a long gossamer thread that, when long enough, carries the spider away. Eventually, the silken thread will adhere to an object where the young spider will establish its own web.[17] They sometimes work cooperatively, climbing, releasing silk and being carried off in clusters.[26] Juvenile spiders build webs,[19] sometimes with other spiders.[26]

Reproduction

Female (right) with egg sac, note the male at left (circled)

Before a juvenile male leaves its mother's web, it builds a small sperm web on which it deposits its sperm from its gonads and then collects it back into each of its two palps (copulatory organs), because the gonads and palps are not internally connected.[20] They leave after they moult into their last instar and do not eat while seeking a female.[33] How males find females is unclear, and it is possible they may balloon like juveniles.[26] A Western Australian field study found that most males took 6 to 8 weeks to travel around 3 to 3.5 metres (10-11.5 ft) with occasional journeys of over 8 m (25 ft), but that only around 11-13% successfully found a mate.[33] They are attracted by pheromones, which are secreted by unmated sexually-mature female redback spiders onto their webs and include a serine derivative (N-3-methylbutyryl-O-(S)-2-methylbutyryl-L-serine).[35] This is thought to be the sole method by which males assess a female's reproductive status, and their courtship dismantles much of the pheremone-marked web.[36]

During mating, the male redback attempts to copulate by inserting one of its palps into the one of the female's two spermathecae (sperm storage organs), each of which has its own insemination orifice. It then tries and often succeeds in inserting the other palp into the female's second orifice.[20] The redback spider is one of only two animals known where the male has been found to actively assist the female in sexual cannibalism. In the process of mating, the much smaller male somersaults to place his abdomen over the female's mouthparts. In about two of three cases, the female fully consumes the male while mating continues. Males which are not eaten die of their injuries soon after mating.[37] Sacrifice during mating is thought to confer two advantages to the males. The first is the eating process allows for a longer period of copulation and thus fertilisation of more eggs. The second is females which have eaten a male are more likely to reject subsequent males.[38] Although this prohibits future mating for the males, this is not a serious disadvantage, because the spiders are sufficiently sparse that less than 20% of males ever find a potential mate during their lifetimes, and in any case, the male is functionally sterile if he has used the contents of both of his palps in the first mating.[20]

Some redback males have been observed using an alternative tactic that also ensures more of their genetic material is passed on. Juvenile female redbacks nearing their final moulting and adulthood have fully formed reproductive organs, but lack openings in the exoskeleton that allow access to the organs. Males will bite through the exoskeleton and deliver sperm to the organs without performing the somersault seen in males mating with adult females. The females then moult within a few days and deliver a clutch of fertilised eggs.[39][40]

Once the female has mated, the sperm is stored in one or both of her spermathecae.[41] The sperm can be used to fertilise several batches of eggs, over a period of up to two years (estimated from observations of closely related species),[20][42] but typically restarts the female's pheremone production advertising her sexual availability about three months after mating.[43] A female spider may lay four to ten egg sacs,[9] each of which is around 1 cm (0.7 in) is diameter and contains on average around 250 eggs,[17] though can be as few as 40 or as many as 500.[9] She prepares a shallow concave disc around 3 mm (1/8 in) in diameter before laying eggs into it over a period of around five minutes before laying more silk to complete the sac, which becomes spherical, the whole process taking around one and a quarter hours.[44] She can produce a new egg sac as early as one to three weeks after her last.[17]They eat the easter bunny

Distribution and habitat

A distribution map of the records of redback spider specimens reported to the Atlas of Living Australia as of 5 September 2013

The redback spider is probably native to Australia; however, it has been suggested that it may have been spread to Australia by human activities, because it was first found at seaports.[6] Queensland researchers Raven and Gallon also felt its preference for habitats altered by humans to be further evidence of this. Spider expert Barbara York Main queried that were it indeed introduced, it would be odd that Australia was missing from the worldwide distribution of Latrodectus species. The redback's close relationship with the katipo also supports the native status of both in their respective countries.[26]

The species was known by 1850 in South Australia, only 14 years after European settlement there, but had not been reported in early spider collections in other colonies.[34] Outside urban areas, the redback is more often found in drier habitats ranging from sclerophyll forest to desert, even as harsh as the Simpson Desert.[16] It became much more common in urban areas in the early decades of the 20th century,[45] and is now found in all but the most inhospitable environments in Australia and its cities.[16] It is particularly common in Brisbane, Perth and Alice Springs.[46] The redback spider is commonly found in close proximity to human residences. Webs are usually built in dry, dark, sheltered sites, such as among rocks, in logs, tree hollows, shrubs, old tyres, sheds, outhouses, empty tins and boxes, children's toys or under rubbish or litter.[2][17][47] Letterboxes and the undersurface of toilet seats are common sites.[16] Populations can be controlled by clearing these habitats,[48] squashing the spiders and their egg sacs,[18] and the use of insecticide in outhouses.[48] Some experts recommend against the use of spider insecticides, because of their toxicity, and the fact that redbacks are rapid recolonists anyway.[18]

Introductions

There is an established population of redback spiders in Osaka, Japan.[34][49] They are thought to have arrived in Japan carried in cargoes of wood chips.[50] In 2008, redback spiders were found in Fukuoka, Japan. Over 700 have been found near the container terminal in Hakata Bay, Fukuoka City.[51] Dispersal mechanisms within Japan are unclear, but redbacks are thought to have spread by ambulation or by being carried on vehicles.[49] In September 2012, a woman was hospitalised after being bitten by one in the Higashi Ward of Fukuoka City.[52] Warning signs about redback spiders have been posted in parks around the city, as Japan has had no dangerous venomous spiders before now. This has led to confusion in Japan, since the native spider Latrodectus elegans is also commonly known as the redback spider.[51]

Redback spiders are also found in small colonies in areas of New Zealand. They are frequently intercepted by quarantine authorities, often among steel or car shipments.[34] They were introduced into New Zealand in the early 1980s and now are found around Central Otago (including Alexandra, Bannockburn and near Wanaka) in the South Island[34][53] and New Plymouth in the North Island.[54] Authorities in the United Arab Emirates warn residents and visitors of redback spiders, which have been present since 1990.[55] Colonies have also been established in greenhouses in Belgium, and isolated observations indicate a possible presence in New Guinea, the Philippines, and India.[34] Some redbacks were found in Preston, Lancashire, England after a container of parts arrived from Australia; some may have escaped into the countryside before pest controllers could destroy them,[56] and two females were discovered in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas in 2010.[57]

Bites

Prevalence

Of all Australian spider bites with significant medical effects, redbacks are responsible for a large majority.[58] Hundreds[34] or thousands of people are thought to be bitten by redback spiders each year across Australia.[59] The larger female spider is responsible for almost all cases of redback spider bites in humans.[60] The bite of a juvenile female appears to have similar potency to that of a mature female.[60] The smaller male spider was thought to be unable to envenomate a human, although male bites have been reported. The rarity of male bite reports is probably due to the male's smaller size and proportionally smaller fangs, rather than the male being incapable of biting or lacking venom of potency similar to the female's. Cases have shown the male bite usually only produces short-lived, mild pain.[60] Most bites occur in the warmer months between December and April, in the afternoon or evening.[60][61] As the female redback is slow-moving, and rarely leaves its web, bites generally occur as a result of a person placing a hand or other body part too close to the web, such as when reaching into dark holes or wall cavities. Bites often also occur due to a spider hidden in clothes or shoes.[62][63] One study reported 46% of bites occurring on distal extremities, 25% on proximal limbs, 21% on the trunk, and 7% on the head or neck.[63] In some cases the same spider bites a victim multiple times.[64][65] Historically, victims were often bitten on the genitalia, though this phenomenon has disappeared with the virtual disappearance of outdoor toilets.[66][67]

Toxicology

Main article: Latrotoxin

The redback and its kin in the genus Lactrodectus are among the most dangerous spider genera, alongside funnel-web spiders (Atrax, Hadronyche and Missulena), banana spiders (Phoneutria) and recluse spiders (Loxosceles).[17][68] Venom is produced by glands in the cephalothorax, and expelled venom travels through paired ducts from the cephalothorax, exiting through the tip of the spider's hollow fangs. The venom of the redback spider is thought to be similar to other Latrodectus spiders, and contains a number of high-molecular-weight proteins, one of which, alpha-latrotoxin (a neurotoxin), is active in humans.[69] The specific variant of this protein found in the redback was cloned and sequenced in 2012, and was found to be a sequence of 1180 amino acids,[70] with a strong similarity to the equivalent molecule across the Latrodectus mactans clade.[71] In vertebrates, alpha-latrotoxin produces its effect through destabilization of cell membranes and degranulation of nerve terminals, resulting in the release of neurotransmitters; it causes uncontrolled release of acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and GABA. The release of these neurotransmitters leads to the clinical manifestations of envenomation.[62] Some reports claim that the redback has the deadliest venom (for equal quantities) of any Australian spider.[72] Individuals average around 0.08–0.10 mg of venom in total, and experiments indicate that the median lethal dose (LD50) for mice at room temperature is 10–20% of this quantity (0.27–0.91 mg/kg based on the mass of the mice used), but that it is considerably more deadly for mice kept at lower or higher temperatures.[73] Pure alpha-latrotoxin has an LD50 of 20–40 µg/kg.[74]

Symptoms

Main article: Latrodectism

Bites from the redback spider produce a syndrome known as latrodectism, with symptoms similar to bites from other Latrodectus spiders,[75] though there is some evidence there is more severe sweating and less abdominal pain than bites from the black widow.[66] The syndrome is generally characterised by extreme pain.[53][63] Swelling or puncture marks at the bite site are uncommon, due to the redback's small size. The bite may be painful from the start, but more often only feels like a pinprick or mild burning sensation. Within an hour, victims generally develop more severe local pain with local swelling and sometimes piloerection (goosebumps). Pain, swelling and redness can spread proximally from the site.[63] Systemic envenoming is heralded by swollen or tender regional lymph nodes; associated features include malaise, nausea, vomiting, abdominal or chest pain, generalised sweating, headache, fever, hypertension and tremor.[53][60][62][76] Rare complications include seizure, coma, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure or localised skin infection.[61] Localised sweating and stiffness may occur at the bite site, and lymphatic involvement may result in lower limb pain.[77] Local symptoms typically develop within an hour while systemic effects may occur after a number of hours, or rarely, they may be delayed for more than 24 hours.[61][78] Severe pain often persists for over 24–36 hours after being bitten.[58][63] Historical sources show that when left untreated, the bite can cause "great suffering" for some weeks,[3] and occasional fatalities.[79] Even envenomated bites do not cause abortion of pregnancies, and babies are born healthy.[80] Unlike some other Australian spiders, redback wounds do not necrose.[81]

Treatment

Further information: Antivenom

Treatment is based on the severity of the bite; the majority of cases do not require medical care and patients with localised pain, swelling and redness usually only require local application of ice and routine analgesics such as paracetamol. Pressure immobilisation of the wound site is not recommended, as the venom spreads very slowly and is not affected. Opioid analgesics may calm the patient but do not generally help with pain relief.[46] Keeping the victim still is beneficial.[82] Hospital assessment is recommended if simple analgesia does not resolve local pain or clinical features of systemic envenoming occur.[83][84] In more severe bites (2–4% of cases),[85] the definitive treatment consists of administering redback antivenom, which will usually relieve symptoms of systemic envenoming.[86] Antivenom is indicated in anyone suffering symptoms consistent with Latrodectus envenoming. Particular indications for using antivenom are pain and swelling spreading proximally from site, distressing local or systemic pain refractory to simple analgesia, chest pain, abdominal pain, or excessive sweating.[62][86]

Redback antivenom was developed by Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, then a government body involved with discovering antivenoms for many poisonous Australian creatures. Production involves the milking of venom from thousands of redbacks and inoculating horses with it. The horses develop antibodies (Immunoglobulin G) in their circulation, which are then harvested to produce the antivenom.[87]

Currently, this antivenom is recommended by the manufacturer to be given intramuscularly (IM) rather than intravenously (IV),[88] although some have suggested IM antivenom is not as effective as IV antivenom,[60][89] because IM antivenom takes longer to reach the blood serum.[90] Due to these concerns IV is now the recommended route of administration in Australian practice.[83][84] Adverse reactions to redback antivenom including anaphylaxis and serum sickness are rare,[91] only occurring in 0.54 and 1.4–1.7% of cases respectively.[61][92] While it is rare that patients report symptoms lasting weeks or month following a bite,[60] this antivenom has been reported as effective in the relief of chronic symptoms when administered weeks or months after a bite,[93][94] however, in the vast majority of cases, it is administered within 24 hours.[61] Doses are the same for both children and adults,[86] typically a dose of two vials IV is administered followed by an additional two vials if there is no response after two hours.[83][84] The redback antivenom also appears clinically active against cases of latrodectism caused by Steatoda spiders,[95][96] L. katipo, and L. tredecimguttatus.[92] Animal studies are also positive for its use against envenomation from other widow spiders, having successfully tested it against venom from L. mactans, L. hesperus, and L. lugubris.[92][97][98]

Historical first aid included the application of ligatures and alkaline solutions,[99] or the provision of warmth and black coffee.[100] At times it was recommended to make incisions around the bite and suck the venom out, while promoting bleeding,[47] and then applying tobacco juice.[101] Administration of magnesium sulphate has been reported to have had some benefit though evidence of effectiveness is weak.[102] In 1893 one doctor even reported treatment using injections of strychnine and cocaine.[12] Specific treatments for which evidence is weak or lacking are not recommended.[102]

Prognosis

Redback spider bites rarely cause chronic morbidity, and deaths are even more rare.[60] Throughout Australian history, at least 14 deaths from redbacks have been recorded.[79][85] A significant proportion of bites will not result in envenomation or any symptoms developing, only about 20% of bite victims require treatment with the antivenom.[59] Children, the elderly, or those with serious medical conditions are at much higher risk of severe effects and death resulting from a bite.[62] Infants have died within hours of a bite, but adult fatalities have taken up to 30 days.[103] No deaths (or possibly one)[18] have been reported since the introduction of antivenom in 1956.[104] In an Australian study of 750 emergency hospital admissions for spider bites where the spider was definitively identified, 56 were from redbacks. Of these, 37 had significant pain lasting over 24 hours, but only six were treated with the antivenom.[58]

In pets

Redback spider bites are difficult to diagnose in pets unless witnessed. Dogs appear to have some resistance and only at serious risk if bitten many times, and rarely need antivenom. Cats are likely to be more susceptible and require antivenom, which can reverse symptoms very quickly. As with humans, the symptoms are predominantly autonomic in nature alongside pain at the bite site. Dogs may also suffer vomiting and diarrhoea, muscle tremors or clonic contractions, and abdominal wall rigidity, while cats may display salivate excessively, protrude their tongue or be overexcitable.[105]

Cultural impact

The distinctive red stripe of the adult female

Indigenous Australians in New South Wales mixed the venom with that of snakes and pine tree gum to form a broth used to coat spear tips.[106] Slim Newton popularised redbacks in his song "Redback on the Toilet Seat", which won the Golden Guitar at the first Country Music Awards of Australia in 1973.[107][108] The Angels' 1992 album Red Back Fever[109] described sightings of hand-sized redback spiders in outback Australia near Pine Gap. Matilda Bay Brewing Company produces a wheat beer called Redback,[110] with the distinctive red stripe as the logo.[111] The South Australian Cricket Association has registered the name Southern Redbacks for their team,[112] which is also known as the West End Redbacks due to its sponsorship agreement with South Australian brewer, West End.[113]

See also

References

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Cited texts

  • Brunet, Bert (1997). Spiderwatch: A Guide to Australian Spiders. Reed. ISBN 0-7301-0486-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • McKeown, Keith C. (1963) [1936]. Australian Spiders. Sirius Books: Angus and Robertson. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Media related to Latrodectus hasselti at Wikimedia Commons

Data related to Latrodectus hasselti at Wikispecies

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