Posted on 05/10/2007 3:19:10 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
A cousin to the well-known black widow spider, brown widow spider, is increasingly being spotted in Louisiana, bug experts say.
The spiders are generally found in tropical areas but were reported along the Mississippi Gulf Coast last year.
Entomologists with the Louisiana State University AgCenter say the spiders likely migrated from Florida through commercial imports of plants, food, building materials, or furniture.
LSU entomologist Dennis Ring is advising Louisiana residents to wear gloves, long-sleeved shirts and long pants when working outdoors, especially in areas that don't get a lot of human activity.
Though less aggressive than the black widow, "its venom is more toxic than the black widow's," Ring said. "But it doesn't put out as much venom in its bite."
Ring says the brown widow can grow to 1 1/2 inches long. It is brown or grayish-brown instead of black and has a yellow-to-orange hourglass design on its underside, as opposed to the familiar red hourglass design on the black widow.
(Excerpt) Read more at english.pravda.ru ...
“Entomologists with the Louisiana State University AgCenter say the spiders likely migrated from Florida through commercial imports of plants, food, building materials, or furniture.”
Don’t forget those illegals. /s
So the Russians are afraid of our spiders now?
Bush’s fault
someone, somewhere, (a liberal of course), saw that headline and started mentally composing their letter to Pravda denouncing racism and sexism in the US before thinking twice
What, no Spiderman 3 pix?
Since Mayor Nagin declared a 'Chocolate City' the 'brown' spiders are moving in by invitation.
People need to relax
There are no reported deaths from Brown Widow bites, as opposed to about 4/yr from Black Widows. Symptoms are generally milder and more self limited
More proof of the dreaded Global Warming devastation!
Blame conservatives!!!
No, Spiderman isn't real. 
Global climate change is forcing them northward.
Louisiana is North? ... scratches head ...
man I hate spiders.
A “chocolate city” for ‘chocolate spiders’ I guess. They aren’t as cool looking as the Black Widows though.
Ping
North of Cuba.
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