Meeting with arthropods in Crimea canto end tragically. Bites of scolopendras, scorpions, tarantulas and karakurts are especially frequent in summer, during the period of the greatest influx of tourists. The most dangerous of all spiders is karakurt. The "kiss" of the female, also called the "black widow" for eating the male immediately after mating, exceeds the strength of the venom of the rattlesnake 15 times. Karakurt is a spider, capable of killing even a horse with one bite.
All summer and early autumn, poisonous arthropodsare in the so-called matrimonial period - mate, build nests, lay eggs, care for offspring, migrate. The mating season makes spiders particularly irritated and capable of attacking humans and animals at the slightest threat.
The spider karakurt prefers mainlyvirgin lands (untreated by man), steppes, dry fields. However, it is quite possible to settle in the coastal zones and in the foothills, hiding under rocks, under dry branches, and quite often does not disdain other people's mink. Lifestyle is predominantly nocturnal. The peak of activity is June-July.
The size of the female is up to 20 mm, the male is three times smaller.Body black, with 13 red dots on the back. Adults, more mature individuals do not have such spots, so any black spiders can be considered really dangerous. By the way, the name "karakurt" in the exact translation means "black worm".
The "black widows" are characterized by periodicseasonal bursts of strong, violent activity and unpredictable appearances in places very unexpected. Eight years ago, for example, 87 residents of the Kherson region (Ukraine) were hospitalized due to "bites" of this spider. One patient could not save. Then the specialists explained such activity with heavy rains that flooded the spiders' burrows.
And in 2002, a spider karakurt bit a nurse,a resident of the same area. The woman who worked in the garden only took off her gloves for a few minutes, and when she put them on again, the spider, who managed to get inside, bit the victim by the finger. The nurse with the increased pressure, pain in the waist and abdomen, chills, was immediately hospitalized. Immediate treatment in the clinic saved the life of the injured, but the treatment was very intensive and expensive.
But if the Kherson region itselfadjacent to the Black Sea and meeting with the "black widow" in the mating season is fully understandable, the appearance of this spider in the summer of last year in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, quite remote from the Crimea, generally caused a resonance. Although climatologists allow the gradual expansion of habitats of Karakurts due to climate change.
Today, the habitats of "buttoned" are considereddesert regions of Kazakhstan, the whole of Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, the south and part of the east of Ukraine, Russia (Astrakhan region (mostly steppes), Orenburg, Saratov, Vologda, Rostov regions), and in especially hot years, where the spider caracurt arrives on its weightless spider webs.
Potentially dangerous summer cottages, squares,parks, forest glades. Therefore, when you gather in the summer for a hike or for a walk, take care of precautions. Avoid contacting the sleeping bag with the inner wall of the tent, carefully inspect the bed, watch the shoes, clothes and backpacks (favorite places of black arthropods). If you find holes, be sure to seal them, fill them with sand. Walk only in shoes.
The consequence of the appearance of karakurt on the body is not always a bite. The main thing - do not press the spider, do not take it. Your task is to quickly shake off the spider or knock it down with a sharp click.
The bite itself is painless, but spreading poisoncauses severe pain first in the place of the bite, and then in the back and abdomen. There is a strong excitement, spasms begin, choking appears. The poison of karakurt can be neutralized only by serum, other measures are useless here. The victim is urgently sent to the doctor, and it is desirable (if possible) to warn the doctors in advance about the bite.
