- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,700
The worst part about neurotoxin is that it is fast...very fast. But stoppable. Cytotoxin is slower, but much less can be done about it.
The S.hahnii / S.terrosus thing....is more or less academic IMO. We do know that Sicarius hahnii is likely the most toxic of its genus, but we don't know by how much. I am not aware of any testing having been done on S.terrosus, and certainly not much in the way of bite / venom figures are known for S. terrosus. We don't know whether it is 50% less venomous than S.hahnii, or only 5% less venomous. The difference might be significant, or slight. In either case, any Sicarius is going to be at least as toxic as the higher-end Loxosceles. I don't see S.terrosus being less potent than L. laeta, and L. laeta has fatalities.
In defining shades of toxicity among the Sicariids, we are splitting hairs. It's like comparing an Exocet missle with a Sidewinder missle. BOOOM or Booom-- you still have a problem. Regardless of how S. terrosus stacks up against S. hahnii, it is still very toxic, and the potential for a very strong envenomation is very real, especially considering how little we know about these things, and how the various species compare. I'm sticking with my original info, that these CAN cause strong systemic effects.
The S.hahnii / S.terrosus thing....is more or less academic IMO. We do know that Sicarius hahnii is likely the most toxic of its genus, but we don't know by how much. I am not aware of any testing having been done on S.terrosus, and certainly not much in the way of bite / venom figures are known for S. terrosus. We don't know whether it is 50% less venomous than S.hahnii, or only 5% less venomous. The difference might be significant, or slight. In either case, any Sicarius is going to be at least as toxic as the higher-end Loxosceles. I don't see S.terrosus being less potent than L. laeta, and L. laeta has fatalities.
In defining shades of toxicity among the Sicariids, we are splitting hairs. It's like comparing an Exocet missle with a Sidewinder missle. BOOOM or Booom-- you still have a problem. Regardless of how S. terrosus stacks up against S. hahnii, it is still very toxic, and the potential for a very strong envenomation is very real, especially considering how little we know about these things, and how the various species compare. I'm sticking with my original info, that these CAN cause strong systemic effects.