O/T: A close call.

Someone gave us an older pig feeder (for little pigs) the other day. My 11 y.o. daughter was playing hide and seek and climbed into it. She has enough of a head on her shoulders to pay attention to what is going on around her. She saw a black widow spider crawling around in a corner of the feeder. I hate to kill things needlessly, but that is one bug that was eliminated post haste.

Christopher

we've got tons of those BW's here.. I've een biton 3 occasions now. 1st time made me feel bad for a day or so.. 2nd time.. not so bad.. 3rd time.. almost nothing.. still. some people have drastic reactions to them..

soundguy

Had the phone go dead at my vacation home a couple years back. Wire under the house was chewed thru. Ain't no way I'm going under there, and my niece's boyfriend offered to go under the house. Took the lid off the access and he looked down, stepped on a black widow, then looked closer and killed a couple brown recluse, then went under the house. He managed to get most of the damage fixed before he gave up. Final straw was a vinegarroon that was crawlin' towards him.

That is one critter I don't mind see'n get squashed. I have never seen one around the house and had never seen but two or three ever till I started working at the water plant. They are every where around that place and most places you can't spray for'm. Seems like I see one every time I have to go into a meter or valve pit.

Glad the girl wasn't hurt.

Dave

Physical description

Thelyphonus doriae hoseiThe name "uropygid" means "tail rump", from Greek ïõñïðýãéïí (ouropugion)[2] "tail rump"[3], from ïõñÜ (oura) "tail"[4] + ðõãÞ (puge) "rump"[5], referring to the whip-like flagellum on the end of the pygidium, a small plate made up of the last three segments of the abdominal exoskeleton.

Vinegarroons range from 25 to 85 mm in length, with most species not longer than 30 mm; the largest species, of the genus Mastigoproctus, reaching 85 mm[6].

Like the related orders Schizomida, Amblypygi, and Solifugae, the vinegarroons use only six legs for walking, having modified their first two legs to serve as antennae-like sensory organs. Many species also have very large scorpion-like pedipalps (pincers). They have one pair of eyes at the front of the cephalothorax and three on each side of the head, a pattern also found in scorpions[6]. Vinegarroons have no poison glands, but they do have glands near the rear of their abdomen that can spray a combination of acetic acid and octanoic acid when they are bothered[6]. The acetic acid gives this spray a vinegar-like smell, giving rise to the common name vinegarroon. Other species spray formic acid or chlorine.[citation needed]


[edit] Behaviour
Vinegarroons are carnivorous, nocturnal hunters feeding mostly on insects and millipedes[6], but sometimes on worms and slugs. Mastigoproctus sometimes preys on small vertebrates[6]. The prey is crushed between special teeth on the inside of the trochanters (the second segment of the leg) of the front legs. They are valuable in controlling the population of roaches and crickets.

Males secrete a sperm sac, which is transferred to the female. Up to 35 eggs are laid in a burrow, within a mucous membrane that preserves moisture. Mothers stay with the eggs and do not eat. The white young that hatch from the eggs climb onto their mother's back and attach themselves there with special suckers. After the first molt they look like miniature vinegarroons, and leave the burrow; the mother dies soon after. The young grow slowly, going through three molts in about three years before reaching adulthood. They live for up to another four years[6].


[edit] Habitat
Vinegarroons are found in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. They are missing in Europe, Australia, and, except for an introduced species, in Africa[6]. They usually dig underground burrows with their pedipalps, to which they transport their prey[6]. They may also burrow under logs, rotting wood, rocks, and other natural debris. They enjoy humid, dark places and avoid the light.

Our vacation home is in the desert in California, in the mountains just south of Palm Desert. I'm not a real big fan of the wildlife down there...

I'll stick to the Minnesota woodticks and mosquitoes, Thank you.

We used to live 2 miles from Lake Superior in MN. Ticks and mosquitoes no problem. The ticks were large and you could feel them crawling on your skin. Here in southern MO, many of the ticks are so small that you don't know they are there until after they have latched on.

This black widow is a first time ever that we've seen one since we have lived here.

Christopher

Here where we live in eastern New Mexico, we have Black widows,Scorpions and every thing in between. At night if you get up to go to the bathroom you better turn on the lights and look around the walls and ceiling, When it's real dry outside ,like right now, they seem to come indoors-mike

I spray and put baits and granules out.. helps.. but on a farm.. them suckers can't be controlled 100%

soundguy

ah, a whip scorpion. never heard the term vinegaroons. seen em when i went to school in florida. they can spray acedic acid with their tails prolly about 3 feet or so.

mothballs seem to work well too. I keep those around my well-pump points box to keep ants and spiders out.

soundguy

on second thought, wisconsin dosen't seem so bad

The boys on the Hudson board had some fun with vinegaroons a few months back. Someone posted that he blew a fuse on some circuit or other, and on investigation, found it had apparently been shorted out by a vinegaroon. The pesky critter kept showing up in subsequent posts for several weeks thereafter:

"Need help- can't get power to the overdrive circuit in my '49 Super Six."
"Sounds like you need a new vinegaroon."

For sale" '52 Hornet coupe, etc., etc.- Free vinegaroon with purchase."

Encounters with black widows are a daily occurrence here. I have not found them to be aggressive, though and my hands have been very close at times.

Spiders, esp B.W. eat only live prey(bugs), you know. That means to be effective a spray would have to be applied directly to it's food chain or on the spider. I think poisoning the zone or area would not work and be very "unfriendly to the environment."

(quoted from post at 15:04:41 05/28/09) on second thought, wisconsin dosen't seem so bad

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I agree with Geezer. One thing about living in Michigan or anywhere in the upper Midwest is that we don't have all kinds of nasty creatures lurking outside (or sometimes inside). When Fall comes, the bugs go away and we have 6 months or so of pest free living, even though most of that time we're freezing our behinds off. :lol: