The Antarctic White Ice Spider

Saw this in the Chronicle a few months ago

 The Antarctic White Ice Spider

The San Francisco Chronicle, April 4th 2009, reported the discovery of a rare White Ice spider in a crate that had been shipped from Port Lockroy museum in Antarctica. The crate contained exhibits from the long history of Antarctic exploration beginning in 1819. Included in the exhibit is the actual ice pick used by Roald Amundsen to break the ice and plant the first marker at the South Pole on Dec 14th 1911. The exhibits will be touring the United States until August 2010 when they will be returned to Antarctica, arriving during the short summer window.

The unexpected traveler, who left Antarctica as a stowaway November 1^st 2008 on a 19^th Century Tall Ship replica and sailed exactly five months before arriving in the City by the Bay, is the first specimen of the Latrodectus friblanco (Common Name Antarctic White Ice Spider) ever believed to have survived outside of Antarctica.  This Arachnid has earned itself the nick name White widow maker, because its poison is chemically similar to that of the Black Widow, Latrodectus hesperus, but the bite seems to be more dangerous to the males of a given species.

The Ice spider is one of the most venomous of all Arachnids and the spiders will occasionally bite the foot of an unsuspecting male Emperor Penguin while the females are off catching fish.  With a mortality rate of close to 50% in larger male animals like the Penguins and even humans, the White is ten times as deadly as the Black widow who only kills about 5% of her animal victims.  It is easy to see why the White Ice Spider has earned the reputation as a widow maker.

Although pure white to blend in with its frozen environment, there is visible on the abdomen of adult specimens what appears to be a blue ice sickle in about the same place as the infamous hour glass on its cousin, the black Widow.  The ice sickle is only visible while holding the spider upside down at an angle to the midnight sun, sort of like some of the colors a butterfly displays only in certain light angles.  Touching the spider, of course, is extremely dangerous, but “seeing the ice sickle” has for more than a hundred years been a rite of passage for new explorers and scientists arriving in the Antarctic.  The biggest danger being that in order to hold one of the three inch little monsters requires using your bare hands.  That can be quite a harrowing experience at twenty below zero.

This reporter asked if it was possible that any more of the little white Ice devils might have come along with the exhibits that will be touring several US Cities.  Dr. Edward Shackleton, grandnephew of Sir Ernest Shackleton a famed Irish adventurer who explored Antarctica in 1907, said “Anything’s possible with the widow maker.”  Shackleton himself has been left partially paralyzed on his entire right side by a White’s bite in 1957 during an International Geophysical Year (IGY) study of global temperature change.  He considers himself quite lucky however, having “seen the ice sickle” three times before being bitten.

Tickets for the exhibit will go on sale at Ticketron starting this coming Saturday, or may be purchased at the door.  Discounts for Boy Scout and school groups are available.  Or just go to our website www.wegotyougood.com

 

©2009 Sean Allen

 

Reviews

[ettorney]

That's good. i was "bitten"! lol

[Ellen Hammond]

I thought the Widow Maker was a movie about a Russian sub. lol Actually this story seems more like an April 1st report to me especially with the final link. Loved it!

[hyancynthstofeedthysoul]

Sounds like an April Discovery magazine article to me. They used to print one every year. I do not need to tell you what that means.