The red back spider, a well known dangerous species, resembles and is a close relative of the black widow spider. It belongs to genus Latrodectus or the widow family of spiders which can be found all over the world. Red back spiders are widespread in urban areas and commonly found under logs, rocks, bricks, sheds and outdoor toilets. Their proximity to humans can be very destructive because their sting is extremely venomous. If such types of spiders are found in your home, you should immediately contact a good termite control company that can prevent you from this deadly spider with thorough inspections and effective measures.
Since red back spiders are poisonous to humans, you need to know how they look like, what their potential dangers are, what are the symptoms and treatments when a red back spider bites to anyone.
You can easily differentiate between male and female red back spiders. A female red back spider has a shiny black body with a red or orange strip on the upper side of her abdomen which is more similar to the hourglass shape of a black widow. The size of her body is about one centimetres and her legs are long and slim. The immature female is smaller and has more white scars on her abdomen. The male red back spider is brown in colour with white markings on the upper side of the abdomen.
Even though a male red back spider is also able to bite but the astonishing fact is that only the female red back bite is fatal to humans. A male bite causes temperate, light pain while female bite may produce little pain for few minutes and then the intensity increases and victim feels severe pain which sometimes lasts for 24 hours. A bite from a red back can make people sick with severe sweating, vomiting, abdominal or chest pain, headache, fever, tremor, nausea, malaise, weakness, restlessness and in severe cases it can lead to skin infections, coma and respiratory failure.
If you are bitten by a red back spider, massage the bite with ice cube or apply cold water. You can take painkillers but do not delay in contacting a doctor to better diagnose the severity of bite. Accordingly, a red back anti-venom treatment can be prescribed.
Even though there are treatments for curing sting bites of red back spiders, prevention is better than cure. It is a good idea to have a complete pest inspection to make your home free of red back spiders and other dangerous pests.
