Posted on: 7:20 am, June 21, 2008
Hello
I am going to Sardina and I have heard that there is a certain insect called the Argia Spider. I am just wondering if it can do anything do you e.g. bites, poison actions etc.
Also if there is any other insects I would like to hear about these.
Also is there anyway I can stop these insects.
If you need to know I am near the sea of Alghero.
Thank you.
DancingPinguin
from Scotland
Posted on: 7:38 am, June 21, 2008
Seriously, you're worrying about nothing. I think there a few things that have got confused. There *are* spiders that bite in Sardinia and Southern Italy, but they're not particularly common and - unless you happen to be unusually allergic to them, the way some people are with bee stings, for instance - even if you DO get bitten (HIGHLY unlikely), it won't do you any more harm than a mosquito bite. If you're picturing a big furry tarantula thing, you're a long way off! I think they're bigger than your average British house spider, but they're not huge. And in any case, they live mostly out in the fields and the countryside - if you're in Alghero you're not likely to see one, let alone get bitten by one. House spiders in Britain can bite, by the way. Interesting, no? ;)
As far as I know, the 'argia' thing is largely mythical. I don't know if you're familiar with the 'tarantella' - it's a folk dance in southern Italy that's supposedly the dance of a person bitten by a spider (I think the idea is that you have to 'dance the poison out' of your body, or some such). I *think* the argia is sort of the Sardinian equivalent, from what I understand from a friend of mine. I don't think there's an actual beastie called an 'argia', or maybe it's just the local word for a spider. In any case you don't need to go prepared to fight the evil 'argia spider'! Just take some antihistamine cream or something, which you should do anyway for insect bites etc.
Other insects? (On pedantic mode, a spider is not an insect). Nothing worth worrying about. Bigger bees and wasps than you're used to, possibly. More mosquitos, probably. Cicadas, different species of beetle... the usual southern European array of pretty harmless insects.
Vicki2005
from Cambridge
Posted on: 8:31 am, June 22, 2008
Argia is not a mythical insect, it really exists. It's a spider belonging to the same family of the black widow but much much smaller. It's very RARE, consider that i live here since 36 years and i have NEVER seen one of them though i do a lot of outdoor. I remember only one case of a boy who was hurt by this spider and needed hospital cure. I suppose that the poison of this spider is not so much as to create a real problem to more than a small body.
Animalonga
from Capoterra
Posted on: 8:57 am, June 22, 2008
Thanks for your reply.
I have a teenage son aged 14 and another son aged 16 will they have to be hospitalized?
Thanks
Penguin
Posted on: 9:23 am, June 22, 2008 Save
Seriously, you need to stop panicking. Did you actually read that previous reply? He's never seen one in all the years he's lived there, and knows of *one* case (and I'd be interested to know how they know that that one case was definitely a bite from this 'argia' spider - and for all we know the boy might have had an unusual allergic reaction, not just been 'poisoned'). Do you know how many people are hospitalised as a result of bee stings in this country? A damn sight more than that. So please, chill out, for god's sake, or your highest chance of being hospitalised is going to be from a panic attack when you see a common house spider.
It sounds to me a lot like the southern Italian "tarantula" - which is not really a tarantula in the true sense (not the big furry Mexican beastie with orange stripes!) but probably a wolf spider or perhaps (and this, I think, might be where our 'argia' friend comes in) a "Mediterranean Black Widow". Yes, they bite. Yes, they hurt, and if you're unlucky, then yes, you might have to go to hospital. But seriously. You're NOT going to see one, even if you were planning on cartwheeling through the fields, your chances of seeing one would be pretty damn slim. They don't hunt human flesh, you know
Vicki2005
from Cambridge
No comments:
Post a Comment