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I wasn't sure which board would be best, as the article pertains to all of the types of animals we discuss on Arachnoboards.
The 10 Most Dangerous Bugs to Watch Out for This Summer: check out the accompanying pictures
I'm not sure why this article would designate tarantulas as dangerous, let alone in the "10 most dangerous bugs." No species of tarantula is deadly, but even the ones with the more potent venom are limited to the Old World (Africa, Asia, and Australia).
The genus of tarantula depicted in the photo, Brachypelma, has mild venom and is not even encountered in the United States except in the pet trade. (They are considered to be beginner-friendly species.)
The tarantulas found in the United States belong to the genus Aphonopelma. They have mild venom and a gentle disposition. Juveniles and females are rarely seen outside their burrows; it's the mature males wandering for mates that people normally encounter.
The photo accompanying the brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) is not even in the same family as the brown recluse, and the spider in the photo is not medically significant. The sources where this photo was originally found only identify it as a "brown spider." The bogus brown recluse ID seems to have been taken from a pest control blog.
Knowing the geographic area where a spider was found is critical in identifying it. However, the eye arrangement suggests that it belongs to the nursery web spider family (Pisauridae), and if it was found in the U.S. or southern Canada, it might be a young six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes triton).
I'd have to ask the scorpion and centipede keepers about those images, but I'm willing to bet that the photo does not show a U.S. species of scorpion. I'm wondering if it's one of the milder species common in the pet trade.
The 10 Most Dangerous Bugs to Watch Out for This Summer: check out the accompanying pictures
- Black Widow Spider
- Tarantula Spider
- Africanized Bee
- Mosquitoes
- Red Fire Ants
- Wasps
- Brown Recluse Spider
- Scorpions
- Ticks
- Centipedes and Millipedes
I'm not sure why this article would designate tarantulas as dangerous, let alone in the "10 most dangerous bugs." No species of tarantula is deadly, but even the ones with the more potent venom are limited to the Old World (Africa, Asia, and Australia).
The genus of tarantula depicted in the photo, Brachypelma, has mild venom and is not even encountered in the United States except in the pet trade. (They are considered to be beginner-friendly species.)
The tarantulas found in the United States belong to the genus Aphonopelma. They have mild venom and a gentle disposition. Juveniles and females are rarely seen outside their burrows; it's the mature males wandering for mates that people normally encounter.
The photo accompanying the brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) is not even in the same family as the brown recluse, and the spider in the photo is not medically significant. The sources where this photo was originally found only identify it as a "brown spider." The bogus brown recluse ID seems to have been taken from a pest control blog.
Knowing the geographic area where a spider was found is critical in identifying it. However, the eye arrangement suggests that it belongs to the nursery web spider family (Pisauridae), and if it was found in the U.S. or southern Canada, it might be a young six-spotted fishing spider (Dolomedes triton).
I'd have to ask the scorpion and centipede keepers about those images, but I'm willing to bet that the photo does not show a U.S. species of scorpion. I'm wondering if it's one of the milder species common in the pet trade.
