Brazilian banana spider - what it looks like, its varieties, is it dangerous for humans

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Banana spider , or as it is also called, the golden spider, or the wandering soldad spider, is a poisonous spider.
In 2022, it even entered the Guinness Book of Records due to the strong toxicity of its poison. Modern medicine has made great strides, thanks to which doctors have learned to make an antidote. This helps reduce the number of deaths after an arthropod bite. The spider is called a banana spider because it is often found under the skin of the fruit, or inside a bunch of bananas. Thus, it spreads almost throughout the world and poses a great danger.

What does a banana spider look like?

Banana spider.

Purple Colombian tarantula

You can often find this giant spider at home. But the character of the individuals is far from friendly; for the most part they are very aggressive. However, those who like this arthropod are happy to buy it and keep it at home.

The purple Colombian tarantula is also found in homes and is not very aggressive in nature.

He hunts from cover, lying in wait for his prey in a secluded corner. It catches its prey very quickly and pierces it with powerful chelicerae. It feeds on small lizards, frogs, fish and small insects. It lives mainly in the tropical forests of Panama, Ecuador and Colombia.

This arachnid can live up to 15 years if conditions allow, and its size can reach 22 cm.

Description of banana spider

Name: Banana spider Lat.:
Banana spiders

Class: Arachnida - Arachnida Order: Spiders - Araneae Family: Wandering - Phoneutria

The banana spider is a member of the genus of wandering spiders or Phoneutria, which is Latin for “killers.”

This group of arachnids is considered the most dangerous and all species are endowed with extremely toxic poison.

Banana spider.

The banana spider also has another, lesser known name: the wandering soldier spider. This species received this name due to its courage and aggressiveness. In case of danger, representatives of this species never flee.

Even if the enemy is ten times larger than the spider itself, the brave “soldier” will remain standing opposite him and take a fighting position. In this position, the spider stands on its hind legs, and raises its upper limbs high up and begins to sway from side to side.

The banana spider received its more popular name due to its tendency to establish its shelters on banana palm trees. The habitat of this species is limited to the tropical forests of South and Central America, and the wide world became aware of the dangerous spider only thanks to individuals traveling inside banana bunches.

Brazilian wandering spiders also often travel in banana bundles.

Royal baboon tarantula

This giant is quite capable of becoming a pet. Despite its terrifying appearance, it does not pose any particular danger to humans. Its poison is only dangerous for small animals or invertebrates. If after a bite a person immediately consults a doctor, then he will not face anything except nausea and slight dizziness.

The Royal Baboon Tarantula has a pleasant appearance and is suitable as a pet.

Like most spiders, the baboon tarantula is usually nocturnal and secretive. This representative of arthropods lives in a hole that it digs itself. But this is not just a hole: it is a whole system of tunnels. Found mainly in tropical forests. When hunting, the tarantula digs a small hole in the grass and covers it with cobwebs, making it invisible to potential prey.

Baboon species feed on small animals and spiders. Their body size is no more than 9 cm, but the limb span is much larger - up to 20 cm.

The peculiarity of arachnids is that females do not eat their hatched young. They share food with them and protect them until they leave the nest.

Peculiarities of banana spider reproduction

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The mating season for soldier spiders lasts from late April to early May. Males go on active searches for individuals of the opposite sex and become especially aggressive at this moment. It is during the mating periods of these spiders that the greatest number of cases of human encounters with them is recorded.

After the males find a suitable female, they try to attract her attention with a special “mating dance”. After mating, males try to move away from the female as soon as possible, because otherwise they risk being eaten. 15-20 days after fertilization, the female lays about 3 thousand eggs in a prepared cocoon and carefully guards them until hatching.

Body size and structure

Banana spiders look terrifying - the body is from 1 to 4 centimeters, the paw span reaches 12 centimeters. The females that weave webs are of such enormous size; the males are several times smaller. The body is covered with small hard hairs, the color is gray, brown, almost black.

The female lays eggs in cocoons, which she attaches to the web in secluded places. Each female has up to a dozen cocoons with 10-50 eggs.

The legs of the Nephila spider are powerful and equipped with hooks. Females quickly weave a web, secreting a liquid secretion of different composition. The network in one row contains absolutely even cells, which increase in size in the rows farthest from the center.

If the trembling prey destroys the cocoon, the female quickly runs up and restores the net. The prey has no chance of escaping.

Banana Spider Lifestyle

Dangerous banana spiders never establish a permanent home for themselves, as they lead a nomadic lifestyle. Soldier spiders hunt exclusively at night. This species is extremely aggressive and rarely hunts from ambush.

As soon as a potential victim comes into the banana spider's field of vision, it quickly approaches it and immobilizes it with poison.

It is also worth noting that the soldier spider is not at all afraid of people and if a person tries to approach it, it will most likely try to attack.

Diet of the soldier spider

Representatives of this species feed on almost any living creature they can overcome. The basis of their diet includes:

• large insects;
• other spiders;
• lizards;
• snakes;

• reptiles;
• amphibians;
• rodents;
• small birds.

Natural enemies of the banana spider

The banana spider has few enemies in the wild. A serious threat to them and to other representatives of the genus of wandering Brazilian spiders is posed by:

• tarantula hawk wasp;
• large rodents;

• predator birds;
• some amphibians.

What does it eat?

Common prey for arachnids are insects of various species that get stuck in webs. Banana spiders are considered beneficial because they regulate the population of many pests.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes often end up in nets; for tropical areas this is a real benefit, since harmful insects carry different types of fever.

flies

Orb weavers often end up in human homes and reduce the number of flies. Arachnids also prevent flies from multiplying uncontrollably in nature—flying insects often get stuck in webs.

Cockroaches

Infestation of homes with cockroaches leads to an increase in the arachnid population. A random orb moth will breed if there are cockroaches in the house to feed on.

Ants

The ubiquitous ants also get caught in the placed nets, although they can hardly be considered a constant source of food for the arachnids.

How dangerous is a banana spider bite?

Banana spider venom contains very dangerous toxins that cause paralysis of the victim. The bite of a soldier spider poses a serious threat not only to health, but also to human life, and can lead to the following consequences:

• severe pain and swelling;

  Spider in bananas.

• breathing problems;
• dizziness and loss of consciousness;
• tachycardia and pressure surges;
• numbness of the limbs;
• seizures and hallucinations.

An adult, healthy person with a strong immune system can be saved if you promptly seek medical help and administer an antidote. But, for people prone to allergic reactions and small children, the bite of a soldier spider can be fatal.

Mexican tarantula

This spider is one of the cutest and most attractive individuals. This is what is often kept at home. For humans, it is interesting in appearance, bright coloring and fluffy body. Under natural conditions, it can be found in hot and humid areas, and can often be seen in dense bushes.

Tarantulas are listed in the Red Book and are prohibited from catching

Tarantulas are a species that is prohibited from being caught and sold. There are very few of them left, so arachnids are listed in the Red Book .

This species of spider is less dangerous to humans than other subspecies of tarantulas. But for large animals and people, the burning hairs of the arthropod that cover its entire body are dangerous. When in danger, the spider sheds some of its villi: if they get on the skin, they can lead to burns and an allergic reaction. If it gets into the eyes, it can lead to loss of vision.

All individuals of this species are no more than 8 cm in size. The body is brown with red or orange stripes on the legs and abdomen. Varieties with yellow edges are often found. The tarantula feeds on small lizards, bird eggs and rodents.

Interesting facts about banana spiders

1. The soldier spider can make so-called “dry” bites. This refers to cases where a dangerous spider bit a person, but did not inject poison. Not all types of arachnids are able to control the injection of poison during a bite and do similar things.
2. One of the consequences of a banana spider bite can be priapism. This is the name given to prolonged and very painful erections in men. Some “victims” of the soldier spider claimed that, thanks to the bite, their intimate life became better, but of course there is no documentary evidence of this.
3. In 2010, the wandering soldier spider was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most poisonous arachnid.

Behavior in the wild

Banana spiders are predators. Weaving and using webs is a major part of the life of orb weavers.

To catch prey, they weave huge nets (up to one and a half meters in diameter), in which they can catch even small animals - lizards, mice, birds. The arachnids themselves watch over unwary insects nearby, catching the slightest vibrations of the web with their sensitive paws.

The best time for hunting is at night, when the web shines, attracting many insects with reflected light, which become prey, getting stuck and sticking to the nets.

Banana spiders have glands that produce a liquid secretion to produce web threads. The female injects poison into the stuck prey, then wraps it in a net to firmly hold it until the required time.

In limbo, a half-dead victim can hang for several hours until the spider decides to have lunch. Males do not weave webs; they feed on the remains of their prey. After mating, males often die - the female eats them.

The spider that constantly lives in bananas does not eat fruit. He gets enough of the insects that are attracted to the fruits and foliage of banana groves.

Brazilian orange-pink tarantula

The first mention of this spider dates back to 1917. This is a rare endemic species. Its habitat is limited to one place, in particular, the state of Paraiba in Brazil. Individuals cannot live in other places.

The Brazilian tarantula is not the largest spider on Earth, but it is the most expensive. Its cost is incredible considering that the population is very small.

The body is colored brown or black, gradually turning into gray at the tips of the paws. The size ranges from 20 to 26 cm. The main diet consists of insects, but it also likes to feast on small lizards, frogs and smaller spiders.

Notes

1. Lange A. B. Subtype Chelicerata // Animal Life. Volume 3. Arthropods: trilobites, chelicerates, trachea-breathers. Onychophora / ed. M. S. Gilyarova, F. N. Pravdina, ch. ed. V. E. Sokolov. — 2nd ed. - M.: Education, 1984. - P. 68. - 463 p.
2. Cameron HD (2005). An etymological dictionary of North American spider genus names. In: Ubick, D., Paquin, P., Cushing, P. E., Roth, V. (Eds.), Spiders of North America: an identification manual. The American Arachnological Society.
3. [lenta.ru/news/2009/10/21/spider/ The largest web-weaving spider was found] lenta.ru
4. [www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/10/22/easpider122.xml Giant Spider Eating a Bird Caught on Camera]. Telegraph
   . [www.webcitation.org/6751sWMmk Archived from the original on April 21, 2012].
5. [news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=657123 Second devouring bird-spider strikes]. Ninemsn
   . [www.webcitation.org/6751tO4Bf Archived from the original on April 21, 2012].
6. Heimer, S. (1988). Wunderbare Welt der Spinnen. Urania
   . p.14

Literature

• Kuntner, M. & Coddington, J.A. (2009), "[www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007516 Discovery of the Largest Orbweaving Spider Species: The Evolution of Gigantism in Nephila] ", PLoS ONE
  V. 4 (10): e7516, doi:[dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007516 10.1371/journal.pone.0007516], . Retrieved March 25, 2010.

• Kuntner M, Coddington JA, Schneider JM (2009). Intersexual arms race? Genital coevolution in nephilid spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae). Evolution 63: 1451–1463. DOI:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00634.x
• Kuntner M., Coddington J. A., Hormiga G. (2008). Phylogeny of extant nephilid orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Nephilidae): testing morphological and ethological homologies. Cladistics 24: 147–217. DOI:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2007.00176.x

Arachnid Phalanx

This spider can also be called a camel spider due to the hump on its back. All individuals of this species are very active, but are strictly nocturnal. The body and limbs are covered with hairs.

Phalanx arachnids are characterized by fast reactions

The individuals' vision is quite remarkable. They have another extra pair of eyes on the sides, like scorpions. Spiders distinguish light and are able to react to movement. Due to this, the arachnid's reaction is very fast. It attacks the victim with a delay of a split second, thanks to which the giant spider is considered not only an excellent hunter, but also an elusive creature.

Another notable feature of the spider is its chelicerae. They are so strong and durable that it can bite through not only the skin, but also a human nail. Externally, each chelicera resembles a crab claw. It is with them that he rips off the fur and feathers from his prey, and then lines his home with the material.

It can reach 25 cm in size including legs. It lives mainly in desert areas and can be found on all continents. This is the most common spider on the planet.

An excerpt characterizing the Nephilic Orbweavers

“And I know why she will be ashamed,” said Petya, offended by Natasha’s first remark, “because she was in love with this fat man with glasses (that’s how Petya called his namesake, the new Count Bezukhy); Now she’s in love with this singer (Petya was talking about the Italian, Natasha’s singing teacher): so she’s ashamed. “Petya, you’re stupid,” Natasha said. “No more stupid than you, mother,” said nine-year-old Petya, as if he were an old foreman. The Countess was prepared by hints from Anna Mikhailovna during dinner. Having gone to her room, she, sitting on an armchair, did not take her eyes off the miniature portrait of her son embedded in the snuffbox, and tears welled up in her eyes. Anna Mikhailovna, with the letter, tiptoed up to the countess's room and stopped. “Don’t come in,” she said to the old count who was following her, “later,” and closed the door behind her. The Count put his ear to the lock and began to listen. At first he heard the sounds of indifferent speeches, then one sound of Anna Mikhailovna's voice, making a long speech, then a cry, then silence, then again both voices spoke together with joyful intonations, and then steps, and Anna Mikhailovna opened the door for him. On Anna Mikhailovna's face was the proud expression of an operator who had completed a difficult amputation and was introducing the audience so that they could appreciate his art. - C'est fait! [The job is done!] - she said to the count, pointing with a solemn gesture at the countess, who was holding a snuffbox with a portrait in one hand, a letter in the other, and pressed her lips to one or the other. Seeing the count, she stretched out her arms to him, hugged his bald head and through the bald head again looked at the letter and portrait and again, in order to press them to her lips, she slightly pushed the bald head away. Vera, Natasha, Sonya and Petya entered the room and the reading began. The letter briefly described the campaign and two battles in which Nikolushka participated, promotion to officer, and said that he kisses the hands of maman and papa, asking for their blessing, and kisses Vera, Natasha, Petya. In addition, he bows to Mr. Sheling, and Mr. Shos and the nanny, and, in addition, asks to kiss dear Sonya, whom he still loves and about whom he still remembers. Hearing this, Sonya blushed so that tears came to her eyes. And, unable to withstand the glances directed at her, she ran into the hall, ran up, spun around and, inflating her dress with a balloon, flushed and smiling, sat down on the floor. The Countess was crying. -What are you crying about, maman? - Vera said. “We should rejoice at everything he writes, not cry.” This was completely fair, but the count, the countess, and Natasha all looked at her reproachfully. “And who did she look like!” thought the Countess. Nikolushka's letter was read hundreds of times, and those who were considered worthy of listening to it had to come to the countess, who would not let him out of her hands. Tutors, nannies, Mitenka, and some acquaintances came, and the countess re-read the letter every time with new pleasure and each time, from this letter, she discovered new virtues in her Nikolushka. How strange, extraordinary, and joyful it was for her that her son was the son who had barely noticeably moved with tiny limbs inside her 20 years ago, the son for whom she had quarreled with the pampered count, the son who had learned to say before: “ pear,” and then “woman,” that this son is now there, in a foreign land, in a foreign environment, a courageous warrior, alone, without help or guidance, doing some kind of manly work there. All the world's centuries-old experience, indicating that children imperceptibly from the cradle become husbands, did not exist for the countess. The maturation of her son in every season of manhood was as extraordinary for her as if there had never been millions of millions of people who matured in exactly the same way. Just as she couldn’t believe 20 years ago that that little creature that lived somewhere under her heart would scream and begin to suck her breast and start talking, so now she couldn’t believe that this same creature could be that strong, a brave man, an example of the sons and men he was now, judging by this letter. - What a calm, how cute he describes! - she said, reading the descriptive part of the letter. - And what a soul! Nothing about myself... nothing! About some Denisov, and he himself is probably braver than them all. He writes nothing about his suffering. What a heart! How do I recognize him! And how I remembered everyone! I haven't forgotten anyone. I always, always said, even when he was like this, I always said... For more than a week they prepared, wrote brouillons and wrote out letters to Nikolushka from the whole house; under the supervision of the countess and the care of the count, the necessary items and money were collected to outfit and equip the newly promoted officer. Anna Mikhailovna, a practical woman, managed to arrange protection for herself and her son in the army, even for correspondence. She had occasion to send her letters to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, who commanded the guard. The Rostovs assumed that the Russian guard abroad had a completely definite address, and that if the letter reached the Grand Duke, who commanded the guard, then there was no reason why it should not reach the Pavlograd regiment, which should be nearby; and therefore it was decided to send letters and money through the Grand Duke’s courier to Boris, and Boris should have already delivered them to Nikolushka. The letters were from the old count, from the countess, from Petya, from Vera, from Natasha, from Sonya and, finally, 6,000 money for uniforms and various things that the count sent to his son. On November 12, the Kutuzov military army, camped near Olmutz, was preparing for the next day to review the two emperors - Russian and Austrian. The guard, which had just arrived from Russia, spent the night 15 versts from Olmutz and the next day, right for the review, at 10 o’clock in the morning, entered the Olmutz field. On this day, Nikolai Rostov received a note from Boris informing him that the Izmailovsky regiment was spending the night 15 miles short of Olmutz, and that he was waiting for him to give him a letter and money. Rostov especially needed money now that, having returned from the campaign, the troops stopped near Olmutz, and well-supplied sutlers and Austrian Jews, offering all kinds of temptations, filled the camp. The Pavlograd residents had feasts after feasts, celebrations of awards received for the campaign and trips to Olmutz to visit Caroline of Hungary, who had recently arrived there, who opened a tavern there with female servants. Rostov recently celebrated its production of cornets, bought Bedouin, Denisov's horse, and was in debt to his comrades and sutlers. Having received Boris's note, Rostov and his friend went to Olmutz, had lunch there, drank a bottle of wine and went alone to the guards camp to look for his childhood comrade. Rostov had not yet had time to get dressed. He was wearing a shabby cadet's jacket with a soldier's cross, the same leggings lined with worn leather, and an officer's saber with a lanyard; the horse he rode on was a Don horse, bought on a campaign from a Cossack; the hussar's crumpled cap was pulled back and to one side in a jaunty manner. Approaching the camp of the Izmailovsky regiment, he thought about how he would amaze Boris and all his fellow guardsmen with his shelled combat hussar appearance. The guard went through the entire campaign as if on a festivities, flaunting their cleanliness and discipline. The crossings were short, the backpacks were carried on carts, and the Austrian authorities prepared excellent dinners for the officers at all crossings. The regiments entered and left the cities with music, and throughout the campaign (of which the guards were proud), by order of the Grand Duke, people walked in step, and the officers walked in their places. Boris walked and stood with Berg, now the company commander, throughout the campaign. Berg, having received a company during the campaign, managed to earn the trust of his superiors with his diligence and accuracy and arranged his economic affairs very profitably; During the campaign, Boris made many acquaintances with people who could be useful to him, and through a letter of recommendation he brought from Pierre, he met Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, through whom he hoped to get a place on the headquarters of the commander-in-chief. Berg and Boris, cleanly and neatly dressed, having rested after the last day's march, sat in the clean apartment assigned to them in front of the round table and played chess. Berg held a smoking pipe between his knees. Boris, with his characteristic accuracy, placed the checkers in a pyramid with his white thin hands, waiting for Berg to make a move, and looked at his partner’s face, apparently thinking about the game, as he always thought only about what he was doing.

Cerbal Arabian

This species of arthropod lives in Israel and Jordan. The specimen was discovered relatively recently - in 2003.

Its dimensions range from 20 to 25 cm. The color of the spider is adapted to the shade of sand, among which it spends most of its time. It attacks prey only at night and hides among small stones during the day.

It lives mainly in Arabia, which is where its name comes from - Arabian cerbal. It is completely safe for humans, so it is often found at home.

Taxonomy

About 30 species. Before 1990 genus Nephila

was part of the family Araneidae.
In 2006, Norman Platnik established a separate family Nephilidae, taking into account the revision of Matjaž Kuntner
.
Some species of this genus became part of the genus Nephilengys
(L. Koch, 1872; Thetragnathidae).

• Nephila adelaidensis
  Hogg 1910 - southern Australia
• Nephila ambigua
  Kulczyn'ski, 1911 - New Guinea
• Nephila antipodiana
  (Walckenaer, 1842) - China, Philippines - New Zealand
• Nephila celebesiana
  Strand, 1915 – Sulawesi
• Nephila clavata
  L. Koch, 1878 – India – Japan
• Nephila clavipes
  (Linnaeus, 1767) - USA - Argentina
• Nephila clavipes fasciculata
  (De Geer, 1778) - USA - Argentina
• Nephila clavipes vespucea
  (Walckenaer, 1842) - Argentina
• Nephila comorana
  Strand, 1916 - Comoros
• Nephila ornuta
  (Pallas, 1772) - Guyana
• Nephila constricta
  Karsch, 1879 - tropical Africa
• Nephila edulis
  (Labillardière, 1799) - Australia, New Caledonia
• Nephila fenestrata
  Thorell, 1859 - South Africa
• Nephila fenestrata fuelleborni
  Dahl, 1912 - East Africa
• Nephila fenestrata venusta
  (Blackwall, 1865) - Africa (west and central)
• Nephila inaurata
  , (Walckenaer, 1842) - Mauritius, Rodrigues, Réunion
• Nephila inaurata madagascariensis
  (Vinson, 1863) - South Africa, Seychelles
• Nephila komaci
  (Kuntner & Coddington, 2009) - South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar
• Nephila kuhlii
  Doleschall 1859 – India – Sulawesi
• Nephila laurinae
  Thorell, 1881 - China - Solomon Islands
• Nephila laurinae novemmecklenburgiae
  (Strand, 1911) - South Africa
• Nephila meridionalis
  Hogg, 1910 - southern Australia
• Nephila meridionalis hermitis
  Hogg, 1914 - South Africa
• Nephila pilipes
  (Fabricius, 1793) China, Philippines - Australia mit einer Unterart
  N. p.
  malagassa (Strand, 1907) – Madagassar

Links

Are common

• [www.nephilidae.com/ Nephilidae.com: A web resource for nephilid spiders]
• Platnick, Norman I. (2009): [research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog], version 10.0. American Museum of Natural History
  .
• Dell'Amore, Christine
  .
  [news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091021-largest-web-spinning-spider.html Largest Web-Spinning Spider Found] (English), National Geographic News
  (October 21, 2009). Retrieved March 25, 2010.

Video

• [www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULmKmi9ac0c Video clip “Banana spider eating grub.”] (on YouTube)
• [www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb8OU0sHxow Video clip “Banana spider spinning silk around a dragonfly in slow motion and cutting it from its web.”] (on YouTube)

Photos

• [www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/nephila/Nephila.html Pictures of golden silk orb-weavers]
• [www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/10/22/easpider122.xml Bird-eating spiders]