It’s that time of the year again when our eight legged friends enter our houses and pay us a visit. Some go unnoticed, others should be paying rent! This specimen recently moved in to my house… <shudder>
If you’ve even wondered why spiders are more active during the autumn months it’s because it’s mating season. For the next couple of months we’ll see them scuttling across the carpet or taking up residence in the bath tub as they start speed dating, swiping right and generally searching for their perfect partner.
However, spiders are also one of the most venomous animals roaming the planet. Many spiders produce venom, most of which are totally harmless to humans, but their main purpose being to immobilise prey. Spider venom may contain enzymatic proteins leading to the destruction of tissue locally, or systemic expressions produced by the release or neurotoxins leading to pain diffusion, muscular contractions and causing chaos to the autonomic nervous system.
CompoundChem takes us through the varying components of spider venom and its role in restraining a spider’s prey.
https://www.compoundchem.com/2015/05/21/spider-venom/
After reading this, I’m quite glad that we don’t notice most of our little 8 legged house guests!
Blog written by: Dr Kerry Elgie
