Popular types of spiders living in the Krasnodar region

Non-hazardous varieties

According to the biological classification, spiders belong to insectivorous arthropods. Their diet consists of what falls into the carefully woven web they prepare. They can sit in ambush for hours, waiting for a fly, mosquito or bee to fall into the trap. Such spiders can be seen in an apartment, in a garden plot, and in a forest or meadow.

Important!
Many people, out of fear of spiders, try to kill them quickly, not realizing that they maintain a kind of balance in the natural environment, actively destroying harmful insects.

Below are photos with names, descriptions of the appearance and diet of existing arthropod species.

House spider

The most common type of spider in Ukraine, living near people, according to the classification, belongs to the Voronkov family. House spiders are distributed throughout the world. The size of an adult can reach up to 1.2 cm, females are usually larger than males. Body color is yellow-brown with a pattern.

The house spider prefers to settle in residential and utility rooms in the house or in outbuildings. Its main diet consists of cockroaches, moths, flies, bedbugs and other domestic insects. In nature, this species lives in grass, fallen leaves, and deep in cracks in the bark of trees.

Interesting!
According to popular belief, an arachnid inhabitant of the house can bring financial well-being. However, according to scientists, the appearance of a large number of spiders in the house signals excessive reproduction of insects.

House spider and common spider

Common cross

The name of the spider comes from its coloring - there are yellow spots on the abdomen that merge into the shape of a cross. In total, there are 1 thousand types of crosses, the most common of them is the common one. The size of females reaches 2.5 cm, males - 1 cm.

Interesting!
Biologists consider them to be the greatest specialists in weaving webs - they are able to weave a trapping net with a diameter of up to 1 m. Then the spider sits in the middle or on the edge of the web and waits for prey. Its gluttony is 7-8 insects per hunt.

Jumping spider

This species of arthropod prefers not to weave, but lies in wait for its prey in secluded places. When she appears, the jumping spider makes an instant jump onto the back of the victim. In order to then return to its original place, it attaches itself with a sticky thread.

Females and males of the jumping spider are the same in size - up to 6 mm. They also have an original feature of their physique, which allows them to turn their heads upward. This helps them successfully catch insects flying overhead. According to biologists, they are also able to distinguish ultraviolet light, thanks to special marks on the body.

Sidewalk spider

Another species that prefers to wait for prey to appear is the flower sidewalk spider. Its size is only 1 cm. But it has a varied body color and is able to change it depending on the situation: from white to yellow or brown (if it lives among trees). Thanks to this ability, sidewalkers are almost invisible in nature.

Interesting!
They walk sideways, like crabs, which is why they got their name.

Spiders of Ukraine

Harvesting spider

Its other names are centipede and window spider. It differs from other species in having very long thin legs that extend directly from the round abdomen. Their number can be 6-8 pieces, length – up to 5 cm.

To catch prey, harvesters weave a web; after an insect gets there, the spider quickly injects a paralyzing poisonous substance into it.

On a note!
Centipedes love to settle near people, mainly in window frames and darkened corners, hanging upside down in them.

Origin of the species and description

Photo: Water spider

Arachnids arose a very long time ago - the oldest fossil species are known in Devonian deposits, which is 400 million years BC. It was they who came to land first, and then their main distinguishing feature took shape - the arachnoid apparatus, and according to the assumptions of some scientists, it could even have appeared in the water.

The degree of development of a spider, its place on the evolutionary ladder is largely determined by the use of the web - the most primitive species use it only for cocoons, just as their most distant ancestors did. As spiders developed, they learned to use the web in other ways: to make nests, networks, and signaling systems from it.

Video: Water spider

According to paleoantologists, it was the invention of the hunting web by spiders of the Jurassic period, along with the appearance of flowering plants, that forced insects to acquire wings and rise into the air - they sought to escape from the abundance of webs placed by spiders.

Spiders turned out to be very tenacious and during all five great extinctions, when most of the species disappeared from the face of the Earth, they managed not only to survive, but also to change relatively little. However, modern species of spiders, including the silverback, originated relatively recently: most of them are from 5 to 35 million years old, some even less.

Gradually, the spiders developed, so that their initially segmented organs began to function as one whole over time, the abdomen also ceased to be segmented, the coherence of movements and the speed of reactions increased. But the evolution of most genera and species of spiders has not yet been studied in detail; this process continues.

This also applies to the water spider - it is not yet known for certain when they originated, as well as from whom. It is almost certain that they became an example of land arachnids returning to the sea. This species was described by Karl Alexander Clerk in 1757, received the name Argyroneta aquatica and turned out to be the only one in the genus.

Poisonous spiders of Ukraine

Knowing those types of arthropods that are dangerous to humans and can harm their health will help you avoid most troubles.

The most famous poisonous species of spiders, common in the forest and steppe areas of Ukraine, are the tarantula, karakurt, black widow and argiope.

Tarantula

The largest representative of arthropods, it lives in the steppes, deserts and forest-steppe zones of Ukraine. In the world, the number of species of tarantulas exceeds 900, but in the southern regions you can more often find the South Russian or Central European tarantula, which is popularly called Mizgir.

Its size can reach up to 3.5 cm, and the body is covered with thick brown-brown hairs of different shades, the abdomen is black. The paws are also furry, which helps protect against enemies.

During the daytime, tarantulas usually live in burrows that they dig themselves. Their depth sometimes reaches 60 cm, at the end there is a room.

At night, the spider usually goes out hunting, preferring to catch insects. It is not aggressive by nature, but can bite a person in self-defense.

Tarantula

On a note!
In preparation for an attack, the tarantula takes a fighting stance, raising its front legs and leaning on its hind legs, and then jumps and bites. The sensation of a spider bite is similar to that of a wasp. The consequence is pain (numbness and fever) and inflammation of the surrounding soft tissue. The skin usually turns yellow, and the color lasts for 2 months. Allergic reactions that threaten human life are possible.

Black widow in Ukraine

These arthropods got their name from the female’s ability to eat the male who fertilized her after mating. They are distinguished by strong poison and inconspicuous appearance. Black widows live in holes and crevices in the ground, in ravines, tree hollows, and can penetrate into people's homes.

On a note!
The size of an adult does not exceed 2 cm, the body color is black and shiny, and there is a noticeable reddish or pink spot on the back, similar to an hourglass. Under this coloration you can also find a spider of the steothod variety, but its spot is orange or white.

In recent years, such spiders have begun to appear in the Donetsk region, migrating from more southern regions. They weave trapping nets, along which they move using curved bristles on short legs resembling a comb. Such an arthropod can attack only if it is stepped on or pressed; females are considered more aggressive.

The negative effects of black widow spider venom are quite strong:

erythema at the site of the bite (redness in the form of a circle);
muscle spasms and pain;
the appearance of drooling and sweating;
jump in blood pressure (hypertensive), tachycardia;
shortness of breath and vomiting, pain in the abdomen and head;
renal failure may occur;
anxiety and disruption of the nervous system.

You should definitely consult a doctor in time, as a severe allergic reaction is possible, especially in children and the elderly.

Karakurt

The most poisonous and dangerous spider, the effect of its poison is 15 times greater than the bite of a rattlesnake. Karakurts belong to the genus of black widows and are common in the southern steppe regions of the Black Sea region and Crimea. During the summer heat they often migrate to the north, so they can be found among the spiders of Donbass, in the Lugansk and Kharkov regions.

The karakurt is small in size: females - up to 2 cm, males - up to 7 mm. The color of the spider's body is black in adult specimens, while in juveniles there are bright red spots on the abdomen. They can attack a person only in a life-threatening situation.

Consequences of a karakurt bite:

difficulty breathing, suffocation;
disorders of the cardiovascular system, arrhythmia;
convulsive phenomena.

On a note!

According to statistics, the mortality rate from the bite of this poisonous spider is 2-4% of cases.

Argiope or "zebra"

Other names for the arthropod are “zebra spider” and “wasp”, which are given for the specific color of its abdomen with white, yellow and black stripes. The size of males is 7 mm, females – up to 1.5 cm. Argiope is characterized by weaving webs in zigzags.

Argiopes are found in rocks on the Kerch Peninsula (Crimea). Initially, their habitat was the forest-steppe and steppe zones of the European part of the country, where there is a suitable hot and dry climate. However, over time, Argiopes began to migrate to the northern regions: previously they lived in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, and now such spiders are found in the Lugansk, Dnepropetrovsk and Kirovograd regions.

The venom of the argiope spider usually causes slight inflammation and with treatment goes away without consequences, therefore it is less dangerous for humans compared to previous species.

What to do if you are bitten

First of all, you need to remain calm and call a doctor. It is advisable to catch the spider and place it in a durable container. This will help the specialist determine the type and degree of poisonousness of the spider. Then you need to try to prevent the poison from spreading throughout the body. Ice is applied to the bite site, and the bitten limb is raised higher. The wound needs to be treated with an antiseptic.

Further treatment depends on the severity of the bite. If no blister appears after eight hours of the bite, there is no severe pain and there are no signs of tissue necrosis, then serious treatment may not be required. If severe symptoms develop, corticosteroids are sometimes recommended. Dalsone, heparin, nitroglycerin and other drugs are also used. If severe necrosis develops, necrotic tissue must be removed surgically, and if a secondary infection develops, it must be treated. The ulcer usually heals on its own, but sometimes skin grafts are necessary. If systemic intoxication has developed, patients are hospitalized.

In the habitat of recluse spiders, in order to avoid being bitten, it is recommended to be careful with boxes, carefully inspect clothing and shoes, wear gloves when working with firewood, and also seal cracks through which spiders can crawl into the home.

Funny classification

Among lovers of great bird spiders, we have divided the candidates into categories based on their outstanding characteristics:

For the cobs. There are a lot of spiders that we like to demonstrate on video. These arthropods sit calmly on the ground, and when they get wet, they move around completely.
For those who have slipped through. If the spider of this group is about to leak, then the ruler can only tell you directly where the creature is located.
For professionals. The loss of the spider is noted for its presence in the place where it was sitting quietly. Where you go is known only to the arthropod itself.