News and Curiosity

16-05-2003 :: The black-widow's waistcoat

Perhaps you asked yourselves if the hairy spiders in our catalogue are the notorius black widows, the first spider that generally we remember (at least in our country). Nothing at all! On the contrary as we usually imagine it, the widow-spider is black, small, with long and thin legs, without hair. Then, on abdomen it is painted with a red clepsydra-sharped drawing; its name is Latrodectus mactans, while the italian one, notorius as "malmignatta", has an abdomen with 13 red points, and in fact its name is L. tredicimguttatus. There are other widow-spiders (black, grey, red, etc.) all so named because, after that male has done one's duty, it becomes for female only a dainty. Its poison is more toxic than one of viper, though seldom deadly for a man, but in return its silk is wonderful and more strong than a steel thread of same diametre. By the way: do you know that the thread of spiders has employed to make the shot-proof jacket and it's under consideration the use in medicine like sutures, prosthetis, etc.? And what about a spider-silk dress? King Louis XIV make for himself this silk into a nice waistcoat!

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