Relocation at Spain One Stop

The Female                                                                                                        The Male

The Black Widow Spider.

The spider Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, commonly known as the European or Mediterranean black widow, malmignatte spider, karakurt (Russian: êàðàêóðò) or steppe spider, is one of the widow spiders in the genus Latrodectus. This species is commonly found throughout the Mediterranean region, ranging from Spain to southwest and central Asia. Specimens from central Asia are also known by the binomial name Latrodectus lugubris; today the karakurt is considered to be the same species of spider as that which plagued the farmers of Taranto. The name L. lugubris is considered obsolete, though it is still commonly found in the literature. Many consider this spider a Latrodectus mactans subspecies.

Even in Ancient Greece this spider was well known for its dangerous bite.

L. tredecimguttatus is black in color, similar to most other widow species, and is identified by the thirteen spots which are found on its dorsal abdomen (the species name is Latin for "thirteen spots"). These spots are usually red in colour, but may also be yellow or orange. It is otherwise similar to other species in the genus Latrodectus. The Mediterranean widow primarily lives in steppes and other grasslands, and can be a significant problem in areas where grain is harvested by hand.

Like all Latrodectus species, L. tredecimguttatus has a bite which is venomous; it can, in rare cases, be fatal to humans. The malmignatte poses a significant medical problem in various parts of its living range. In the region of Herzegovina (former Yugoslavia, now part of Bosnia), this spider reportedly causes a large number of bites each autumn in field workers harvesting grain by hand.

European Tarantula Lycosa tarentula

These spiders are rather large, the females being around 27 mm (1 in.) in body length and the males around 19 mm (0.75 in.). As with other wolf spiders, after they hatch the baby spiders climb on their mother's abdomen and ride around with her for some time until they are sufficiently mature to survive on their own. (The picture that accompanies this article shows a mother transporting her large brood.) After leaving their mother's protection, the young spiders disperse and dig burrows. Females live in their burrows all their lives, but the mature males leave the protection of burrows and wander about looking for mates. The males can live for two years, and they die some time after reaching sexual maturity. The females can live for four years or more. During the winter these spiders hibernate in their burrows.

They are a nocturnal species and generally lurk at the mouths of their burrows waiting for prey, so it is unlikely that people would encounter them. Unlike the Salticidae (Jumping spiders), which may exhibit curiosity about humans and may be content to wander around on one's hand, the Lycosidae (wolf spiders) have a very strong tendency to flee at the approach of any large animal. They have quite good eyesight, so it is unlikely that a human could approach them unseen, and it is relatively difficult to capture them because they keep moving and can run very fast. So it is unlikely that humans could come in unintentional contact with them. When wolf spiders are cornered, they show no inclination to make threat displays, much less to advance on a human's hand with the intention of biting.

It is believed a person bitten by one of these spiders must be treated by indulging in a special kind of dancing. The dance, or some version of it, is now known as the tarantella. In fact, however, the bites of this spider are not known to cause severe symptoms in humans, much less endanger human life.

All but one genus of spiders have venom. The venom is important to the spider as a way to kill prey, and, secondarily, to protect itself. Evolutionarily, the venoms were tailored for subduing insect prey, and mammal species can have vastly different reactions to the same spider venom. The venom of the Lycosidae is not particularly toxic to human beings, and is no more painful than the sting of a bee.

Given the low toxicity of wolf spider bites and the small likelihood of actually being bitten, medical research efforts have not been directed toward the bites of Lycosa tarantula

Brown recluse spider

The brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa, is a well-known member of the family Sicariidae (formerly placed in a family "Loxoscelidae").

It is usually between 6–20 mm (¼ in and ¾ in), but may grow larger. It is brown and sometimes an almost deep yellow color and usually has markings on the dorsal side of its cephalothorax, with a black line coming from it that looks like a violin with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider, resulting in the nicknames fiddleback spider, brown fiddler or violin spider. Coloring varies from light tan to brown and the violin marking may not be visible.

Recluse spiders build irregular webs that frequently include a shelter consisting of disorderly threads. These spiders frequently build their webs in woodpiles and sheds, closets, garages, plenum, cellars and other places that are dry and generally undisturbed. They seem to favor cardboard when dwelling in human residences, possibly because it mimics the rotting tree bark which they inhabit naturally. They also tend to be found in shoes, inside dressers, in bed sheets of infrequently used beds, in stacks of clothes, behind baseboards, behind pictures and near furnaces. The common source of human-recluse contact is during the cleaning of these spaces, when their isolated spaces are suddenly disturbed and the spider feels threatened. Unlike most web weavers, they leave these webs at night to hunt. Males will move around more when hunting, while the female spiders tend to remain nearer to their webs.

As indicated by its name, this spider is not aggressive. Actual brown recluse bites are rare. The spider usually bites only when pressed against the skin, such as when tangled up within clothes, bath towels, or in bedding. Bites from this spider cause a tender blister to develop with a red centre and can also take a few hours to appear and become painful.

Stinging ant

Myrmica laevinodis is a species of ant that closely resembles M. kotokui, and is at times difficult to distinguish, due to variation in morphology and color in M. kotokui. However, the unraised rugae on the posterodorsal portion of the mesonotum are usually characteristic, though some M. kotokui workers have this character. It is best in the field to examine the body coloration of a number of workers from each colony. Also, M. rubra has fewer strong rugae, and is more smooth on the lower half of the mesonotal pleura than M. kotokui; its propodeal spines are shorter, and the rugae on the anterior basal portion of the 1st gastral tergite are relatively weak and fewer in number. Although Japanese specimens differ morphologically from European M. rubra material, and resemble M. kotokui in petiolar morphology, the name Myrmica rubra is applied to them for the present. This species nests in the soil of grassland on seashores and lowlands (Onoyama, 1989). Rare in Japan.

Myrmica laevinodis have been known to feed on honeydew produced by aphids, in return for protecting them from parasites.

The photograph of Myrmica Laevinodis was provided and copyrighted by Alex Wild  myrmecos.net.

Hornets,Wasps, Bees and Caterpillars,

All these have a nasty sting so beware, if you do happen to get stung try to pull out the sting straight away.

Caterpillars

The Pine Processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is a moth of the family Thaumetopoeidae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Traumatocampa. It is an abundant species of pine woods in central and southern Europe.

It has cream coloured forewings with brown markings and white hindwings. The species flies from May to July. The larva is a major forest pest, living communally in large "tents", usually in pine trees but occasionally in cedar or larch, marching out at night in single file (hence the common name) to feed on the needles. There are often several such tents in a single tree. When they are ready to pupate, the larvae march in their usual fashion to the ground, where they disperse to pupate singly on or just below the surface. The larvae should never be handled as the abundant hairs on their bodies cause extreme irritation to the skin.

Paper wasps are 3/4 to 1 inch (1.9 to 2.5 cm)-long wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct water-resistant nests made of gray or brown papery material. Paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrella wasps, due to the distinctive design of their nests Unlike yellowjackets and hornets, which can be very aggressive, polistine paper wasps will generally only attack if they themselves or their nest are threatened.Since their territoriality can lead to attacks on people, and because their stings are quite painful and can produce a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction in some individuals, nests in human-inhabited areas may present an unacceptable hazard

For more venomous creatures that live in spain you must check out the creepy crawlies page on this site