Introduction: Black widow spider bites cause severe poisoning (latrodectism) with symptoms such as muscle spasm, rigidity, pain, vomiting, hypertension, and tachycardia. Although Latrodectus mactans (L. mactans) is the most well-known species to latrodectism, it has not been reported in Turkey. We report a case caused by tredecimguttatus tredecimguttatus) known be Turkey for first time literatu...

A study was made of the effects of the venom of the Chilean spider Latrodectus mactans on endogenous ion-currents of Xenopus laevis oocytes. 1 microg/ml of the venom made the resting plasma membrane potential more negative in cells voltage-clamped at -60 mV. The effect was potentially due to the closure of one or several conductances that were investigated further. Thus, we determined the effec...

The dispersal pattern of the widow spider Latrodectus hasseltii (Araneae: Theridiadae), in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, was analyzed from accumulated survey data of spider distribution. All confirmed infested points from 1996 to 2002 were plotted on a map, and infested points in each survey year were connected with the nearest previously confirmed points. Expansion patterns of the confirmed habitat...

The monophyly of Spintharinae is supported in agreement with previous analysis of Theridiidae by Agnarsson and Arnedo et al. We study the relationships of the genera within Spintharinae. Fourteen species in the genera Chrosiothes, Episinus, Spintharus, Steninops, and Thwaitesia constituted the ingroup, while five species from the genera Euryopis and Dipoena (Hadrotarsinae), as well as Latrodect...