Steatoda capensis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Steatoda capensis | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Female Steatoda capensis
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Steatoda capensis Hann, 1990 |
Steatoda capensis is a spider originating from South Africa. Its common names include the black cobweb spider, brown house spider, cupboard spider or false katipo. Common throughout Southern Africa,[1] it has been introduced into other countries and is now present in Australia and throughout New Zealand.[2]
It is a small spider, usually an all-over shiny black it may have a small bright red, orange, or yellow patch near the tip of the abdomen along with a cresent shaped band near the front of the abdomen.[3] Due to its similarities to the katipo spider it is commonly known as the false katipo in New Zealand.[4]
It is thought that in some instances Steatoda capensis can bite humans causing a syndrome known as steatodism; which has been described as a less-severe form of latrodectism.[5] Bites can be quite painful and can cause a general malaise for about a day.[6]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Hann SW (1994). "Descriptions of four Steatoda species (Araneae, Theridiidae) found in New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology 21: 225-38.
- ^ False katipo spider. Biosecurity New Zealand. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
- ^ Forster, Ray; Forster, Lyn (1999). Spiders Of New Zealand And Their Worlwide Kin. Dunedin: University Of Otago Press, 180. ISBN 1-877133-79-5.
- ^ Sutton ME, Christensen B, Hutcheson JA (April 2006). Field identification of katipo (DOC Research & Development Series 237). Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
- ^ Isbister GK, Gray MR (2003). "Effects of envenoming by comb-footed spiders of the genera Steatoda and Achaearanea (family Theridiidae: Araneae) in Australia". J. Toxicol. Clin. Toxicol. 41 (6): 809–19. PMID 14677791.
- ^ Black cobweb or false katipo spider (Steatoda capensis). Te Papa, New Zealand. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
