Spider Informative Speech. Good attention getter.

Some of you may have noticed,

coming up with a purely

informative speech topic,

well it made my skin crawl.

After many sleepless nights,

with Halloween quickly approaching,

it finally came to me

one fateful October morning: spiders!

Now, as human beings

we can all relate

to a fear of the unknown,

especially when the unknown

pertains to the venomous bite

of a slide spider,

but with proper identification

and knowledge,

not only can we prevent

against deadly bites,

but we can ease fears.

In addition to the research I've done

specifically for this topic,

I've also been studying the species

in detail in a biology course this semester.

Today in this spider synopsis,

I'm going to lead you through

the only five known

venomous spiders in Florida,

which will include the northern

and southern Black Widow,

the red widow, the brown widow,

and the recluse.

Now that I've got you on our eight legs,

let's go ahead

and take a quick look

at the southern black widow.

The southern black

is the epitome of a widow spider,

it's got a jet black glossy body,

and a complete red hourglass shape

on the underside of the abdomen.

It's actually the most common widow

found throughout Florida,

and it likes to make its home

its homes in and around buildings.

Now the widow bite and venom

is the same for all the widows,

so it will apply to

the other widows we'll discuss,

and we will revisit this information

throughout the presentation.

The bite itself is much like a pinprick,

with little to no pain

and is barely felt

until the venom takes effect.

Now the venom contains a neurotoxin

which affects the central nervous system,

and while victims can feel the effects

in as little as fifteen minutes to three hours.

They may feel nauseous and sweaty,

have high blood pressure and body temperature,

or tightness in the chest and muscles.

Now according to Dr. Whitney,

author of Priceless Florida native

ecosystems, natural ecosystems,

and native species,

widows are typically not aggressive,

and only bite if disturbed,

and according to DIE,

no pun intended death

occurs in less than 5% of our Widow bites.

Nonetheless, know your arachnids.

Let's take a quick look at the southern

northern Black Widow next.

The northern Black Widow

is similar to the southern black in appearance,

you'll notice the only difference is

the incomplete red hourglass shape

on the underside of the abdomen.

Now the northern black is found

in the Panhandle, west of Tallahassee,

and it actually prefers wooded habitats,

making its webs up to 20 feet

off the ground.

The northern black widow bite

and venom is similar

to that of the southern black,

and would have the same physiological side effects.

Now according to Whitney,

a secluded habitat and limited range

makes bites less likely to occur.

Nonetheless, know your arachnids.

Keeping it in the widow family,

let's move on to the red widow next.

The red widow varies greatly from the northern

and southern black,

it actually has a reddish orange head

and legs with a shiny black abdomen.

You'll notice there's no hourglass shape

on the underside,

are usually just one or two small red marks,

now the red widow is endemic to Florida.

Can anybody tell me what endemic means?

It actually means it's only found here,

it's specific to our region.

It ranges all the way

from Ocala to Port St. Lucie,

and it prefers to make its home

in the bushes of scrub land habitats.

Now the red widows bite in venom

has the same physiological side effects

as the other widows,

and according to Dr. Whitney,

preferred habitat and limited range

makes bites less likely to occur.

Nonetheless, know your arachnids.

Moving on to our final Widow,

we're going to take a look

at the brown widow next.

Now this widow varies greatly in appearance,

it can range anywhere

from almost black as the black widows,

to almost white,

but usually brown

with some white markings along the sides.

You'll notice the full hourglass shape however,

in the case of the brown widow,

it is orange, and the best way to identify

this widow is if the egg sacs are present.

Raise your hand if you've ever

seen these curious looking objects

in or around your home.

If so, it’s certain that you

do have a brown widow present.

Now the brown widow

is actually not native to Florida,

it was introduced,

but it's the most adapted to humans

and that's why it comfortably

makes its homes on-screen enclosures,

guardrails, and fences.

The brown widow’s bite and venom

is similar to all of the other widows,

and would have the same physiological side effects.

Now according to the Department of Agriculture,

brown widows are very timid,

and bites are rarely reported,

and let's not forget according to Dye,

death occurs in less than 5%

of all reported widow bites.

Nonetheless, know your arachnids.

Now before we take a look

at the final player in our fab 5

take a quick look at this ink blot here.

Does anybody have any visions?

how about now?

What you're looking at is actually

the best way to identify our final spider,

and that is the recluse.

Now the recluse has three sets of two eyes,

resulting in six total.

Typically, most spiders have eight eyes.

They’re a medium sized spider,

light to dark brown in color

now you'll notice another way

to identify this spider is

the violin shaped marking on its head,

however, it's also the cause of some confusion.

Let's take a quick look at some

of the commonly confused.

The huntsmen, the wolf,

and the crab spider.

Since the recluse does have so many imposters,

it's all the more important

to be able to properly identify the spider.

Now it's not native to Florida,

and no breeding populations have been found,

however, three species have been collected.

The Mediterranean recluse

found in the Florida Panhandle

and all the way to Dade County,

the Chilean recluse

found only in Polk County

up to this point,

and the brown recluse

found in North Florida

and as far south as Gainesville.

Now the recluse actually makes its homes

in sheds and garages,

and in the arms of

and legs of hanging clothing.

Now the recluse bite

is similar to the Widow,

and that the bite itself is rarely felt

with little to no pain,

but the venom is where it'll get you.

The venom contains a cytotoxins,

and that actually attacks the cell tissue.

Bite victims could feel effects

in as little as 2 to 6 hours.

They may feel headache and nausea,

high fever or severe stomach cramps,

and joint pain.

Usually the bite will have

a red blister at the site,

and a telltale blueish circle bull's eye pattern

will appear around the bite.

Now the recluse bite actually

makes you have a necrotic wound.

You're going to know if that one is necrotic

with if it turns purple within 12 to 24 hours,

and essentially the skin turns black and dies off.

Now according to Dye, if left untreated,

recluse bites could result in kidney failure.

However, Edwards of the Florida Department of Agriculture

states that like the widow,

the recluse only bites when disturbed

or trapped against human skin.

I say though when it comes to the recluse
bite

never mind nonetheless

just know your arachnids.

So what can we conclude

in this web of information?

We now know that Florida

only has five venomous spiders,

we can identify them,

we know where they're located,

and we know their threat level.

The central idea here is

that most of these spiders we encounter

every day are a harmless part

of our working environment.

Now that you can properly identify

the five venomous species

that pose a threat.

you can ease fears

as well as prevent against deadly bites.

So what will you do the next time

you encounter one of these eight-legged creatures?

I encourage you to know your arachnids,

and in conclusion,

no spiders were harmed

in the making of this presentation,

Thank you.