Is it known which latrodectus species has the most potent venom?

[jacknilsen312]

Just asking out of curiosity. Also I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this question.

 

[BoyFromLA]

It’s not wrong to ask. No need to apologize there.

Though this question can be easily answered by searching / researching, and I promise you it will not take more than three minutes of your life.

 

[The Snark]

Wishing @Widowman10 web site was still up. He had the LD50 of all common latrodectus. One was much more potent than the rest with .45 uG but I can't recall which. It wasn't Variolus though.
Regardless, when talking fractions of a microgram delivery to a blood vessel is much more relevant than potency.

 

[Biollantefan54]

It’s not wrong to ask. No need to apologize there.

Though this question can be easily answered by searching / researching, and I promise you it will not take more than three minutes of your life.

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Lol that doesn’t answer the OPs question…that says “in the northeast” not out of the genus

 

[BoyFromLA]

Lol that doesn’t answer the OPs question…that says “in the northeast” not out of the genus

I do understand that.

 

[birdonfire]

"The relative toxicity of the widow spiders may depend on the species of animal." https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/URBAN/SPIDERS/brown_widow_spider.htm

 

[The Snark]

I slogged througha technical paper yesterday which never directly addressed venom potency comparison between species but mentioned L Mactans as the most potent through phylogenic derivation though I'm unsure if they were referring to the species or the clade. A couple of paragraphs further on it was mentioned that L Geometricus, not in the Mactans clade, had the weakest venom followed by Steatoda.

The phylogeny of α-latrotoxin provides a framework for examining changing patterns of selection in this venom toxin among lineages over time, and also contributes to our understanding of relationships among Latrodectus species. Several species in the Latrodectus mactans clade are difficult to diagnose using morphological characters, and for many years, multiple geographically widespread species were synonymized as L. mactans

Molecular Evolution of α-Latrotoxin, the Exceptionally Potent Vertebrate Neurotoxin in Black Widow Spider Venom - PMC

Black widow spiders (members of the genus Latrodectus) are widely feared because of their potent neurotoxic venom. α-Latrotoxin is the vertebrate-specific toxin responsible for the dramatic effects of black widow envenomation. The evolution of this ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

(I'd be happy with a C- in a class asking for a synopsis of that paper. Wishful thinking)

 

[darkness975]

Just asking out of curiosity. Also I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this question.

From what I have read L. mactans (southern widow) is the most potent in the US. Not that I intend to test that theory with my L. mactans, hesperus, or others.

 

[Widowman10]

I wish my site was still up too! I should get on that, sorry all...
EDIT: I believe I got it back up and working again.
DISCLAIMER: I haven't made any edits to it in many, many years
Google sites, and Photobucket - oh how I date myself with those...

 

[Jonathan6303]

There is a lot more latrodectus then just the ones in U.S.

 

[The Snark]

widowman10

Welcome to my site! Feel free to look around/explore and learn something new, or just look at some pictures! Here's a couple links to get started, most of the good stuff is under "information": ~Information ~Pictures Also, be sure to leave a comment HERE when you've looked around!

sites.google.com

Google sites, and Photobucket - oh how I date myself with those...

Horrific Nightmares. My 1TB WD Black drive is dead? In part a stroll down memory lane, a collection of food package labels I had put hundreds of hours into with Corel Draw on a Windows 95 computer rated in CPMs (Crashes Per Minute), scans of black and white and sepia photos long since otherwise vanished from the earth on up to the present, around 150 movies no longer available on this planet, and of course 7 GB of recent photos of my various trips to over 20 countries - and the drive died????? AH! It's warranteed! Western Digital sends me back a new drive. HEY!! WHERE IS THE MEDIA OF THE OLD DRIVE? I had started the project of putting together the electronics for reading the media, ready to spend a decade or two to get back those irreplaceable files. Gone? Forever?
Oh well. I have a few of those pictures saved on PHOTOBUCKET.

DISCLAIMER: I haven't made any edits to it in many, many years

Yes. Your site had Geometricus as the most potent venom which that white paper I cited directly contradicts.

@Widowman10 Don't sweat it. It's a joy to just see your site back. If nothing else, a sterling example of updating research and why scientific papers are often a Labyrinthian maze complete with minotaurs to dig through to get the most recent data. Today's DNA analysis milestone leaps have sent cold shivers and nightmares to so many authorities. Think about how the folks at Senkenberg felt and feel knowing the genetic research breakthroughs were slowly moving vast amounts of their efforts towards the trash cans of archival history.

There is a lot more latrodectus then just the ones in U.S.

Think of @Widowman10 s research as but one pass analysis of one spectrum used as a general representation. Scientific research is the very best example that Murphys law runs and rules all.



And she asked, "Why do you have so many extra hard disks now.?"
To which I replied, "the other 3 are locked in that archive box my feet are on and two more are in the back up computer."
So she told me, "Why not just used the cloud?"
And I asked her, "And where is the 30GB of data from your now dead cell phone all stored securely on the cloud?"

 

[Jonathan6303]

widowman10

Welcome to my site! Feel free to look around/explore and learn something new, or just look at some pictures! Here's a couple links to get started, most of the good stuff is under "information": ~Information ~Pictures Also, be sure to leave a comment HERE when you've looked around!

sites.google.com

Horrific Nightmares. My 1TB WD Black drive is dead? In part a stroll down memory lane, a collection of food package labels I had put hundreds of hours into with Corel Draw on a Windows 95 computer rated in CPMs (Crashes Per Minute), scans of black and white and sepia photos long since otherwise vanished from the earth on up to the present, around 150 movies no longer available on this planet, and of course 7 GB of recent photos of my various trips to over 20 countries - and the drive died????? AH! It's warranteed! Western Digital sends me back a new drive. HEY!! WHERE IS THE MEDIA OF THE OLD DRIVE? I had started the project of putting together the electronics for reading the media, ready to spend a decade or two to get back those irreplaceable files. Gone? Forever?
Oh well. I have a few of those pictures saved on PHOTOBUCKET.


Yes. Your site had Geometricus as the most potent venom which that white paper I cited directly contradicts.

@Widowman10 Don't sweat it. It's a joy to just see your site back. If nothing else, a sterling example of updating research and why scientific papers are often a Labyrinthian maze complete with minotaurs to dig through to get the most recent data. Today's DNA analysis milestone leaps have sent cold shivers and nightmares to so many authorities. Think about how the folks at Senkenberg felt and feel knowing the genetic research breakthroughs were slowly moving vast amounts of their efforts towards the trash cans of archival history.



Think of @Widowman10 s research as but one pass analysis of one spectrum used as a general representation. Scientific research is the very best example that Murphys law runs and rules all.



And she asked, "Why do you have so many extra hard disks now.?"
To which I replied, "the other 3 are locked in that archive box my feet are on and two more are in the back up computer."
So she told me, "Why not just used the cloud?"
And I asked her, "And where is the 30GB of data from your now dead cell phone all stored securely on the cloud?"

I’m sorry, What?

 

[The Snark]

Think of @Widowman10 s research as but one pass analysis of one spectrum used as a general representation.

I’m sorry, What?

That web site was written... over a decade ago? Before 2013 when that white paper I cited came out. The author probably a student? Might have been an overview for a thesis? By no means all encompassing but there is obviously years of research involved by numerous people.
If @Widowman10 has the wherewithal and interest, a rewrite could be a compendium and encyclopedia of Latrodectus and encompass the entire world's info on the genus, in studies or citations