When hearing the word “spider,” many people become hysterical, and for some, the fear of these representatives of the order of arthropods has turned into a real phobia (arachnophobia). Spiders have occupied a certain place in the mythology of various peoples of the world as secretive, dangerous creatures, probably due to their habit of hiding in dark places and suddenly appearing. With the onset of summer this year, cases of people being bitten by spiders have become more frequent. The sudden mass invasion of karakurts is causing concern among experts.
1. This year, employees of the Republican Center of Toxicology have already provided assistance to 30 victims of karakurt bites. All were hospitalized with severe and moderate poisoning. Last year, doctors say, 16 cases of bites were recorded throughout the entire season - from April to October, and at the same time, townspeople mainly went to the hospital after vacationing on Kapchagai or on the Ili River. Now they are bringing victims from the lower regions of Almaty
2. “The most effective treatment in this case is anti-karakurt serum, which is prepared at the Tashkent Bacteriological Institute, but we do not have a license to purchase it,” says the head of the department, a doctor of the highest category, the chief freelance toxicologist of Almaty, Gulmira Muratovna Toybaeva. - Intravenous administration of novocaine, calcium chloride and magnesium hydrogen sulfate also gives good results - this is what we use. The main thing is to make the correct diagnosis in time
3. This man was bitten by a karakurt in the Almaty-1 area.
- I was sitting on the porch at home, felt a slight prick in my leg, as if bitten by a mosquito, but did not attach any importance to it. After some time, there was a sharp pain in the groin and abdomen, and a headache. I began to feel nauseous and began to sweat profusely. They took me to the hospital, and here I was admitted to the hospital for five days with a diagnosis of a karakurt spider bite.
The venom of the karakurt is 15 times stronger than the venom of a rattlesnake. The spider bite does not hurt, but a small red spot appears at the site of the bite, which quickly disappears. The bitten area does not swell, the pain goes away quickly, and in a dream the bite may not be noticed
4. “But while we are afraid of spiders, they very rarely bite people, only a few of them are able to bite through human skin,” reassures arachnologist, researcher at the entomology laboratory of the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Alexander Gromov. - The majority of spider species are not aggressive at all and do not pose any threat. In addition, spiders bite only in defense.
As Alexander suggests, this year is not a peak year, that is, in the next few years there will be another outbreak of cases of karakurt bites in Kazakhstan
5. “Yes, this year there are a lot of karakurts again, but there is nothing supernatural here, this happens once every 10-15 years, this is nature,” says the arachnologist. “Just recently, an acquaintance brought me a spider; it turned out to be a female karakurt. But the most interesting thing is that she was caught in the area of Timiryazev - Baizakov streets, almost in the city center. Of course, this does not mean that they have already occupied the entire city, maybe the spider was simply brought on the bottom of a car from the same Kapchagai, there is no need to cause a panic. But you still have to be more careful
6. In order to somehow understand the current situation and find out the expert’s opinion, I asked the scientist to give me a tour of the Almaty region and tell me about some representatives of the arachnid class. We were mainly interested in species dangerous to humans
7. Web of the Agelen spider. Under the common name "spider" there are approximately 34,000 species of arthropods. Spiders belong to the class of arachnids or arachnids, other orders of this class include scorpions, phalanges, harvestmen, false scorpions, etc.
8. In general, spiders are carnivores and feed only on live prey. They capture prey with their pedipalps (legs) and inject venom through their chelicerae (oral appendages)
9. Tarantula is a large spider of the wolf spider family. Several species of tarantulas live in Kazakhstan. Lives in earthen burrows along the banks of rivers, lakes, salt marshes, etc. A tarantula bite is painful but not fatal, comparable to a bee sting. We met him near the Ili River. About 7 cm in size
10. Tarantula lives in holes up to 30-40 cm deep, lined with cobwebs; when an insect appears near the hole, it quickly jumps out and catches it. The spider is sensitive to what is happening on the surface, including the movement of passing insects, which also serves as a reason for an attack
11. Alexander collects various representatives of arachnids for further study. The place of capture is recorded on GPS, a detailed label is written with information about the place of collection with the date and name of the collector, and this information is subsequently entered into a computer database. This database is used, for example, to map the ranges of arachnids
12. On the bank of the Kurta River. The place where karakurt was recorded most often.
- Some spider experts claim that the fact that spiders have settled in Almaty is to blame for the kebab makers who import saxaul or suppliers of melons. But this information has not yet been confirmed
13. Spiders, scorpions, phalanges usually hide from our eyes and certainly do not intend to attack humans
14. The favorite habitats of karakurt are virgin wormwood, wastelands, banks, and slopes of ravines. This spider likes to settle in stone rubble, in rodent burrows, at the base of walls, in cracks, in places where firewood is stored, in dry piles of old garbage.
15. The common neighbor of the karakurt is the harmless Agelen spider, with characteristic stripes on the back. Their networks are often woven side by side and even touch. To an experienced observer, the presence of an agelena indicates that a karakurt also lives somewhere nearby. Of course, this is only true for the area where it is found.
16. In Kazakhstan, karakurt lives in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts of all regions except North Kazakhstan. In the Almaty region, you can meet a dangerous spider in the desert and steppe, along the intercity routes Almaty - Bishkek, Almaty - Taldykorgan, Almaty - Astana, on the Ili River, Kapchagai Reservoir
17. Last year’s nest of karakurt in the vicinity of the village of Bakbakty
18. “So that the poison does not spread so quickly through the blood, a person needs peace,” says Alexander Gromov, who experienced the effect of spider jaws. - You need to lie down in a cool place, drink as much water as possible - it dilutes the poison and removes it from the body naturally faster. But taking alcohol as a medicine, as many vacationers do, is dangerous. In the first minutes after the bite, you need to cauterize the area. This is done like this: one unlit match should be applied with the head to the bite site. Set the second one on fire and bring it to the head of the first one. A flash will occur on the surface of the skin. It hurts, but it's not fatal. The fact is that karakurt bites through human skin no more than a millimeter. When cauterized with a match, the poison is quickly destroyed, and the symptoms of poisoning gradually disappear. But you still need to see a doctor
19. Once upon a time, hundreds of spiders hatched from them
20. One of the favorite habitats of karakurt is the base of rocks
21. Female karakurt. The body of the spider is completely black, with red spots with a white border on the abdomen (only in immature ones and in males), the legs are thin and smooth. The spider has an average size: the female is 10-20 mm, the male is 4-7 mm.
22. Immature female. Females are the most poisonous, while males do not pose a particular danger to humans and animals, since they are unable to bite through the skin. Spiders bite most often during the migration period, in July-August
23. Using a special spade knife, a scientist digs up a mink
24. Menacing pose of the South Russian tarantula. Among our tarantulas, one of the largest - up to 15 cm including legs. The spider is poisonous, rarely bites humans, causes local swelling and severe pain. There is no reliable information about fatal cases, but in children the consequences of bites are very severe and may not heal for 2-3 days
25. The main types of arachnids come to the surface at night. At night, spiders become more active, leaving their shelter a short distance and hunting insects. During a night survey of the Balkhash deserts using an ultraviolet lamp, Alexander easily finds scorpions and phalanges
26. They simply glow in ultraviolet light
27. In the Almaty region, three types of scorpions are most common: yellow, Caucasian, Rickmers scorpion is less common
28. “Scorpion stings cause burning pain and are especially dangerous for allergy sufferers,” says the specialist. - If a scorpion bites you in the neck or heart area, the consequences can be sad
29. Yellow scorpion (female) - the most common species in the Almaty region
30. Caucasian scorpion (male)
31. The largest species of scorpions in Kazakhstan: up to 8 cm.
32. A female tarantula Evippus with her cubs on a night walk. Several dozen spiders fit on its abdomen. Common prey for an adult tarantula: locusts, grasshoppers, crickets and various beetles
33. Just like the scorpions, the phalanx also came under the sight of an ultraviolet lamp. The reason spiders glow is a thin layer of organic substance hyaline, the chemical composition of which has not yet been identified.
34. Tomorrow afternoon we will look at it in daylight
35. Caspian phalanx (pregnant female). Phalanx or salpuga also belong to the order of arachnids. Inhabits arid areas. The Caspian phalanx, for example, reaches a length of 5-7 centimeters. Its body and limbs are covered with long hairs. The pedipalp tentacles located in front are very similar to limbs and perform their function
36. All phalanges are very mobile and almost all of them are nocturnal predators. Phalanges are carnivorous or omnivorous, feeding on termites, darkling beetles, and other small arthropods, but can also eat larger animals such as lizards. When attacked, the phalanges emit a hissing or chirping sound by rubbing the chelicerae against each other
37. Day phalanx (female). Small phalanges cannot bite through human skin, but large ones are able to do this. Phalangeal bites are very painful. They often go away without any consequences.
38. Agelena spider nest
39. Female Agelen spider. Due to ignorance, it is often confused with a tarantula. Its bite is completely painless
40. In order to avoid being bitten by spiders, it is best not to meet them at all. You should not walk through thickets of bushes, hollows and ravines, where there may be spider nests, or leave clothes or other objects on bare ground - arthropods can easily crawl into them
41. Of course, a spider looks scary, and many types of spiders are poisonous and can cause serious harm to health. But still they are very useful animals that destroy harmful insects. We encounter them all the time, as they are one of the largest groups on the planet. People, in general, have a bad habit of disturbing the life of the natural world and often undeservedly kill these creatures
