Why are these males small and fast?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
August 29, 2003
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
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In Old High German, an eight-legged creature was called a spinna and comparably, in Anglo-Saxon, it was a spinther, both names a reference to an "agent that spins". By Middle English, the 'n' had been dropped and the creature was a spithre or spither. By modern English, the word had become spider.
In Anglo-Saxon, a spinther was alternatively called an attercoppe, a name constructed from atter, poison, and coppe, a head, lump, or pate. By Middle English, the name was attercop which, of course, spin copwebbes, literally meaning "spider-weavings". Cop became cob and copwebbes became cobwebs. (Compiled from the Century Unabridged Dictionary, 1889)
The widow spiders (Latrodectus species) are secretive creatures preferring to spin their cobwebs in dark, forgotten, and unused places. Any item that has not been used or moved for a few days may house a widow--stacked lawn furniture, tools in the corner of a shed, boxes of old clothing, even under toilet seats in outhouses. Widows are generally beneficial spiders; the problems arise when a human blunders into the web or accidentally traps the spider against the skin, like sitting down on the above mentioned.
Widow spiders are called widows because the female will eat the male if she can catch him--a dinner date. The males are small and short-lived; the females are the dangerous ones. Usually, though, the male gets away--a case of mate and run.
The generic name Latrodectus was built from the Latin, latro, a servant, hireling, robber, or brigand, and the Greek, dektes, a biter. One presumes in the word, latro, there was a deep mistrust of employees since the word is also the parent of larceny. (Composition of Scientific Words, Roland W. Brown, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991)
El Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad in Costa Rica has posted an article "Costa Rica’s Black Widow Spiders" by Carlos Víquez Curator of Arachnids, INBio and three great photographs of Costa Rica’s Black Widow Spiders, two of these may be new to science. To read the article and view these colorful widow spiders, click on the link:
http://www.inbio.ac.cr/en/sabias/sabias01old.htm
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has an article "Widow Spiders". Widow spiders which are found in multiple geographies are listed in their predominant native habitat with links for more information. To read the article and view these colorful widow spiders, click on the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow_spider
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
The Bottle The Potting Bench - January 28, 2002
What is a red widow? Renfield's Garden - August 13, 2003
How are humans affected by widows? Renfield's Garden - August 20, 2003
How was widow spider silk vital to WWII? Renfield's Garden - August 27, 2003
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