A number of venomous redback spiders have been found in a park on the grounds of an apartment complex in the Mitaka suburb of western Tokyo. The species is native to Australia, where it is responsible for several thousand painful bites a year. Symptoms include sweating, headaches, nausea, and numbness in bitten extremities, though there have been no reported fatalities since an effective antivenom was introduced in 1956. Authorities say there is no great cause for alarm but strongly advise against touching spiders with the characteristic red-striped abdomen, as the species only tends to bite when disturbed. Following the recent spate of infections of the tropical, mosquito-borne condition dengue fever that centered on Tokyos Yoyogi Park, some people are starting to wonder if climate change might not be somehow to blame. Image: Female redback spider. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redback_spider#mediaviewer/File:Latrodectus_hasseltii_-Sydney,_Australia-8.jpg
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 05:45:49 +0000
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