South Africa's most dangerous spiders.

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This is one of the Button series of venomous spiders that we found.
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By luck we found it while cleaning our yard and if even one of these entered our home, we would be in big danger.

South Africa and in fact Africa is known for it's abundance of wildlife and insects. Mostly harmless insects, but also some very dangerous ones.
One bite from this Black button spider could become life threatening as they are very poisonous.

But don't take my word for it, take a look at this.

All species of Latrodectus are venomous to humans, and their bite constitutes a medical emergency.
Although rarely fatal, the symptoms of the bite are often incredibly painful and medical attention is recommended following any Latrodectus species bite, as complications relating to the bite can arise. Treatment of bites is usually supportive, administering opiates for pain and benzodiazepines for spasms. An antidote is available in South Africa for the bites of both L. indistinctus and L. geometricus, however it is only used for severe cases of envenomation due to its potentially severe side effects. Individuals who are allergic to the venom may also require epinephrine (adrenaline) or diphenhydramine to treat subsequent anaphylaxis.
Source

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Only the bite of the female black button spider is dangerous and she was trying to defend her nesting cocoons against my intrusion. Imagine how many tiny eggs were inside those two bags and like I said, if only one of the babies after birth made it into our house, we would have been in serious trouble.
There are 6 species of button spiders native to South Africa and in Europe they are known as widow spiders.
I suppose they are widow makers by biting the husbands with their poisoned fangs.

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Here we go, I lifted her out and placed her on the floor to get some photos, before she went into our spider bottle with her two cocoons and this morning we put them under a rock in the veld.

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Definitely not something to play with and best is to stay far away from these dangerous ladies. But they also have their particular roles to play in the eco-system and we simply have to respect all life.
I for one wouldn't want to have one in my room when I sleep at night, but this is Africa and anything can happen here.
Btw. Marian is too young to become a widow :)

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post on behalf of @papilloncharity

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77 comments
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I got goosebumps)
But still he's handsome

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OMG. Today I saw this kind of spider for the first time through your photography. It looks very scary.

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There are different species of the same spider across the world and some countries call the Black Widow spiders. We have 6 different kinds over here.

!WINEX

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Looks alot like the black widow spiders over here in North America minus the red hour glass.

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Funny as the ones with the red hour glass are called "Brown Button Spiders" over here.

!BEER

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We call them brown widows over here. Their toxins can be hallucinogenic.

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Oh yeah very poisonous, but apparently they have developed an effective antidote over here.
Be tat as it may, I would not like to be bitten by one of them.

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I'm glad you found her, and relocated the entire family! Are they common in your area?

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LUV !LOL !HIVEBITS

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Oh yes, they are common over here and we have 6 different species of them, all poisonous.

!PIZZA !BEER !LUV !LOLZ

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Do be alert for them inside too!

!LOL

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(Edited)

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I wouldn't want to meet her, but I am glad that you didn't kill her but moved her to a new home 😊

My son has bought a baby jumping spider a few days ago and I am looking forward to take some macros of it, but at the moment it's much too small.

Cheers with !PIZZA and !BEER or !WINE
!invest_vote

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Oh yes, now they can carry on with their lives my friend 😊

How strange as Marian also fancies jumping spiders, but over here they don't grow very big. She often walks around with a small one in her hand as we have plenty of them here.
I like the rain spiders as they can grow as big as dinner side plates. If you remember, I posted a big one last year 😊

Cheers and thanks.

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The jumping spiders don't grow very big here neither, but I haven't seen one myself in nature yet. Maybe because I haven't even looked for one 🤣
!LOLZ

But they are so cute with their big eyes and I hope the one of my son grows fast big enough to hold it and for a photo.

Cheers with !PIZZA and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Oh in nature? Over here they come into our kitchen and that's where Marian gets them.
I have posted one before and will wait until she gets the next one. Real cute little things.

Make sure that when your son holds the spider for a fantastic shot, that your camera's battery is not flat, or if not that you take the lens cap off 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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When it gets warmer I will try to find one here, they are really cute, so big eyes 😄

!PIZZA and !BEER sounds delicious 😋
!invest_vote

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Good luck my friend and I really hope that you will get one 😊

Cheers and thanks.

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Oh yes, and if not I just need to go into my son's room 😉

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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That would be the best idea, especially once his grows a bit bigger like you said 😉

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, it grows, but these spiders don't grow very big though - nice for macros though 😁

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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I know that they stay small, but they have amazing jumping power. You are right, as macro's will certainly do it, if you are patient of course 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, I have seen them in videos jumping and catching flies - amazing 😀
I think in a few weeks it will be big enough for photos.

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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So here's a plan, you put a piece of old meat in a saucer on a table and wait for the flies to hold a meeting on it. Then you set your camera on video and let Timmy put Jimmy on the table.
I look forward to see the videos of Jimmy jumping to get the flies 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Nice plan, but it means we should stay hungry and then smell the rotting meat in our apartment until some flies appear. I think we better take the fruit flies that my son is breeding in a plastic box and try it with them 🤣 !LOLZ

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Fruit flies do sound like a better solution and a rotten peach will certainly smell better than rotten meat.
So now we wait to see the new videos, unless you have some excuse again 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, but at the moment we are waiting that it grows and hopefully stays Alice.

You know I will always have an excuse, my friend 🤣 !LOLZ

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Ah, so the jumping spider's name is Alice. How do you know that it's a female, as Alice is a girl's name? I remember a song that goes "living next door to Alice" 🤣 !LOLZ
Btw. I know that you meant "Alive" 🤣

The mountain goat of excuses, that's a great moniker 🤣🤣🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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!LOLZ - I was replying on the phone and didn't look at the auto corrections it seems. I really meant "alife" 🤣 The spiders name is "Lukas Günther" and don't ask me why they named it so 😄

I know that song and I like it a lot ... doesn't a line in that song say "who the f**k is Alice?" 😅

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, that's how I read it and I knew what you meant and so just a tease 🤣 !LOLZ

That's an easy one, as I think uncle Lukas was the one that identified the spider. So know you must run into the bush and find a strange spider. Then everyone will get excited and name the spider after the Austrian mountain goat that found it 🤣 !LOLZ

Imagine a spider running around called Johannes Piber 🤣🤣🤣

Oh? Now you have spoiled that song for me, as all of the time I thought that the line was ; "who the funk is Alice? " 😗

Cheers and thanks.

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Haha, a spider with my name? That would be great 😁

No uncle Lukas here, but my kids have a friend whose name is Lukas. Maybe the spider is named after him 😉

Hm, isn't it "who the fork is Alice"? 😂 !LOLZ

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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I have one insanely big one (I think it might be a brown widow as they get bigger if I am correct) making a nest in my compost heap. It is almost as big as a R5 coin. Scary stuff. I keep a good safe distance.

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Yes they do get bigger and to see if it's a Brown Widow, you will see a red hour glass on its abdomen.
I would not advise you to fiddle with it.

!BEER

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Nope, rather not! Me and dad are working in the woodworking shop (or garage) and stumbled upon one that made a nest. We did not even see it, we only saw it when we accidentally killed it by putting the plank down! Scary things really. I do not want to get bitten!

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Great photos! I found one of those in my shoe the other day. Luckily my parents taught me to always shake out my shoes before putting them on.

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Ah! So you are a Saffer? Yes, the habit of shaking out one's shoes is invaluable and I remember in my army days, some guys collecting scorpion bites in their boots.

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We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by zoology team (oscurity,nelinoeva) on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!

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WoW, 😱 what a danger. That territory seems ideal for this button widow wearing mourning and threatening before she starts living. I'm glad you asked to find out in time and avoid a problem. I like the photo where the spider's body or abdomen seems sunken in specific places. What a risk to take these pictures.
Hugs and take care!

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