The Spiders in Your House - The False Widows

An in-depth look at the genus Steatoda - the False Widows (including the notorious Noble False Widow). This is a long one, but there's a lot to talk about with this genus of spiders.

All uncredited photos and video are my own - all those of other people have been credited.

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0:00 Introduction
3:41 Identification
10:54 The Noble False Widow's Expansion
15:13 Webs
18:48 False Widows in Your House
20:01 The Noble False Widow in California
20:35 Taking Over Old Webs
22:07 Webs in Reproduction
24:06 How They Hunt
25:27 What They Hunt
27:10 How Do They Lift That?
29:10 Vertebrate Predation
32:22 The Bites
38:32 α-Latrotoxin
44:01 The Venom Optimization Hypothesis
46:34 Spider Vs. Spider
48:15 The Noble False Widow and Humans
50:04 Infections
56:42 How We Talk About Spiders
58:15 What to Do if You Get Bitten
59:38 Reproduction
1:01:02 Not Living With Them
1:04:08 Conclusion


References

Amarpuri G, Zhang C, Diaz C, Opell B, Blackledge T, Dhinojwala A (2015) Spiders Tune Glue Viscosity to Maximize Adhesion. ACS nano 9(11): 11472-11478. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b05658

Barrantes G, Eberhard W (2010) Ontogeny repeats phylogeny in Steatoda and Latrodectus spiders. Journal of Arachnology 38(3): 485-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1636/B10-05.1

Bauer T, Feldmeier S, Krehenwinkel H, Wieczorrek C, Reiser N, Breitling R (2019) Steatoda nobilis, a false widow on the rise: a synthesis of past and current distribution trends. NeoBiota 42: 19-43 https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.42.3...

Benjamin S, Zschokke S (2002) Untangling the Tangle-Web: Web Construction Behavior of the Comb-Footed Spider Steatoda triangulosa and Comments on Phylogenetic Implications (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Insect Behavior 15(6): 791-809.

Cavalieri M, D’Urso D, Lassa A, Pierdominici E, Robello M, Grasso A (1987) Characterization and some properties of the venom gland extract of a theridiid spider (Steatoda paykulliana) frequently mistaken for black widow spider (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus). Toxicon 25(9): 965-974

Dool S, Uhl G (2022) Comment on Dunbar et al. (2022) “Webslinger vs. Dark Knight: First record of a false widow spider Steatoda nobilis preying on a pipstrelle bat in Britain”. Web Ecology 22: 97-100. http://doi.org/10.5194/we-22-97-2022

Dugon M, Dunbar JP, Afoullouss S, Schulte J, McEvoy A, English M, Hogan R, Ennis C, Sulpice R (2017) Occurrence, reproductive rate and identification of the non-native Noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis (Thorell, 1875) in Ireland. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 117B(2): 77-89. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3318/...

Dugon M, Lawton C, Sturgess D, Dunbar J (2023) Preadation on a pygmy shrew, Sorex minutus, byt the noble false widow spider, Steatoda nobilis. Ecosphere 14(2): e4422. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4422

Dunbar J, Afoullouss S, Sulpice R, Dugon M (2017) Envenomation by the noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis (Thorell, 1875) – five new cases of steatodism from Ireland and Great Britain. Clinical Toxicology. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15563650.2...

Dunbar J, Schulte J, Lyons K, Fort A, Dugon M (2018). New Irish Record for Steatoda triangulosa (Walckenaer, 1802). The Irish Naturalists’ Journal 36(1): 39-43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45181548

Dunbar J, Ennis C, Gandola R, Dugon M (2018) Biting off more than one can chew: first record of the non-native Noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis (Thorell, 1875) feeding on the native Viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823) in Ireland. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 118B(1): 45-48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3318/b...


REFERENCES CONTINUED IN PINNED COMMENT