Venomous Spiders Found In Hawaii Shipment (From China)

[OhioChick]

Source: Newsnet5

Spiders Aboard Ship From China, Officials Say

POSTED: 8:04 am EDT September 17, 2007

HONOLULU -- State agriculture officials identified some unwanted hitchhikers in a shipment of granite from China, KITV-TV in Honolulu reported.

A trucking company alerted customs about finding spiders in the cargo hold.

Officials said the shipment of boulders imported from China came into Kalaeloa two weeks ago.

The boulders are to be used for construction on a breakwater seawall, officials said.

Customs officials called state agriculture inspectors about the spiders.

"In this case, the shipment had already been off-loaded, and there was very little we, or customs, could do at that point," state entomologist Darcy Oishi said.

The state said it sought help from entomologists from the Bishop Museum to identify the spiders.



Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/14128701/detail.html

---

Nice.

[woodsprite]

1. You can't tell me some (or all) of this sh1t isn't intentional.

I mean, I know some happens naturally, but poisonous toothpaste, fish, dog food, dog treats --- and those are just the ones we know about.

[damntexdem]

35. The poisoned toothpaste SHOULD NOT be used to brush the spiders' teeth.

They're already venomous.

;-)

[hobbit709]

2. Hawaii needs to import rocks?

[Exultant Democracy]

22. I doubt that they have much granite.

[hobbit709]

23. Volcanic basalt just as hard as granite

Shouldn't be any shortage of volcanic rock on Hawaii

[emcguffie]

44. I think maybe volcanic rock won't sink.

I think it's fairly -- what's the word? -- light, you know, full of air, and will float. The kind that's hard to keep under water for a seawall.

[hobbit709]

55. That's pumice

Pumice is full of air, basalt solid like granite. Basalt has the same rate on hardness scale as granite.

[SlowDownFast]

56. Buoyant. n/t

[0rganism]

36. far more mind-boggling than the unwanted spiders

How can it possibly be cheaper to IMPORT BOULDERS for a seawall (this isn't decorative marble, ya know) than to quarry suitable rocks from existing lava flows? Forget the spiders, what's messed up here is our tariff system -- or lack thereof.

While we're on the subject of imported boulders, I'd be checking that these imported boulders were real solid rock, not just compressed industrial waste covered in lead paint...

[emcguffie]

45. Once again, I feel compelled to point out --

Lava rocks, like pumice, are full of air, and thus light. They tend to float, not sink. It could be hard to keep such boulders under water. They want to float, because they have lots of little air bubbles in them.

Granite, on the other hand, sinks pretty much all the time.

[Tansy_Gold]

53. Lava rocks

Some pumice will float, but not all pumice floats and not all lava rocks are pumice. Ergo, not all lava rocks float.

There is probably some other reason why (Chinese) granite boulders are the preferred material for breakwaters in Hawaii but it's not because lava floats.


TG

[ChairmanAgnostic]

59. but is she a witch?

and will she float?

[Vincardog]

54. pumice is not the only igneous rock. Most of them sink like a rock,

Basalt · Gabbro · Pumice · Basalt/Dacite · Rhyolite · Pumice · Dacite · Obsidian · Pumice · Obsidian · Snowflake Obsidian ...

[SlowDownFast]

58. BOUYANT!!! n/t

[0rganism]

64. floaters and sinkers

Mauna Loa's lava flow, like much of that produced by shield volcanoes, is not like the pyroclastic explosions known to produce lots of lightweight airy tuff and pumice. It's tholeitic basalt generally has much higher iron content than pumice, so I would expect basalt from Hawaiian volcanoes to sink much more than it floats, as it does in the rest of the mid-ocean ridge. Additionally, as lava flows move further from their vents, they increase in both density and viscosity while losing most of their gas content and vesiculation. There should be no problem locating suitably dense basalt, typically 3+ times the density of water, to sink in the ocean.

Granted, there might be other good reasons not to quarry on the side of a volcano, however these are not the driving forces behind importing boulders from China in particular.

Something is really wrong with our trade policies when it's cheaper to import "rocks that sink" from China than it is to dig them out of the ground.

[jojo54]

3. Unfrickinbelievable!!!

We won't get any satisfaction until WE stop buying, reselling and/or using products made in & shipped from China!!

[madrchsod]

10. our rocks are not cheap enough

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. In similar incidents we've had Asian Tiger Mosquitoes and Asian Longhorned Beetle introduced

Both of which have not been good introductions to our environment.

Hopefully this spider won't be as bad as these two have been.

[Buzz Clik]

5. Nearly all spiders are venomous.

It would have been much more interesting if non-venomous spiders had made the trip. They are far more rare.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. I thought all known spiders used venom?

Just some had venom that was specific to their prey?

[Buzz Clik]

9. One family does not have venom: Uloboridae

All spiders are predators, and the majority of them are generalist predators (eating many different kinds of insects and other small animals). Most rely on venomous bites to subdue their prey. Spiders in the family Uloboridae do not have venom glands at all, but merely bite their prey to subdue them.

http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/biota/arthropods/Arachnids/

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. I did not know that

Thanks for sharing. I have one variety of this non-venomous spider that lives outside my kitchen window and never knew she wasn't even venomous.

I may just decide to trim that shrub now. :)

[Scairp]

24. Yes

Only the Sydney Funnel-Web spider in Australia can kill a person. We have Black Widows and Brown Recluse in this country, and they can kill a small child, but not adults. They can make you very, very sick but a healthy adult will survive. I have no idea why they are getting their knickers in a twist over spiders. Many people seem to be under the erroneous impression that there are a lot of dangerous spiders in the world that will kill you and that simply isn't true. The critters that Hawaii needs to watch out for hitching rides to the islands are snakes, as Hawaii has none. If even one got loose, what has happened to Guam would almost certainly happen there.

[alfredo]

29. Ugly beast that funnel cake spider

[Buzz Clik]

30. The funnel-cake spider is dangerous only to deep-fat fried bread covered with powdered sugar.

:evilgrin:

[alfredo]

33. Their normal habitat is street fairs and carnies.

[NewJeffCT]

40. Australia is the home to so many deadly animals

The funnel spider is the most deadly spider.

The inland taipan is the most poisonous snake...

and, maybe the most poisonous animal in the world is the box jellyfish.

not to mention "jack jumper" ants, great white sharks, the blue ring octopus and others.

[depakid]

41. Disfiguration and amputation

from tissue necrosis may not kill you- but it'll sure put your knickers in a twist.

Note also that outdoor toilets are among the black widow (and the Ozzie redback's) favorite habitats.

[halobeam]

7. wow.

no matter how old I get, I have so much to learn. I saw a very round, black spider (shape and size of a nickel).. FAST that out of the corner of my eye, I thought it might be a baby cricket.. my little one was freaked and I gave him totally incorrect information. I told him the opposite. So, in reality, I should what, escort them out of the house or just stomp on them? I've also heard they are beneficial to getting some more harmful bugs out of the house. Oh, what to do! I hate when I learn I've been wrong about something my whole life. LOL.

[Buzz Clik]

8. I hate spiders. I tolerate some in my house for pest control.

But, I always have to fight my reflex to squish them.

[halobeam]

12. I thought the only ones I needed to look out for in long island, ny

were the brown recluse. I tried to identify through pics, the markings and as I recall, their legs were striped brown and beige.. I've seen a few of those by the windows, (a way to get in) so I made sure I got those)... if regular "house" spiders were tiny and in the house, I'd usually take them out (due to the gross explanation of my son's science teacher explaining we eat an average of eight spiders a year in our sleep), but I have been known to let a few of those go too... for the same purpose you stated. This black round one was REALLY odd... didn't feel comfortable letting it go. AT ALL. ....eeks .. heebie jeebies

[Buzz Clik]

13. Spiders are venomous, but humans don't always react to their venom.

A little spider bite seldom amounts to more than an itchy, sensivitive bump. Brown recluse, black widows, and a few others are more dangerous for people.

[Zodiak]

48. That eat the spider story is false

Your son's science teacher got ahold of an urban myth and never checked it out.

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/whileyousleep.html

It's okay....we hear a lot of stuff in college that we do not check out ourselves.

[halobeam]

75. A day late for my response to you

but, anyway.. thanks! We will all sleep more comfortably, especially when we have a stuffed nose and MUST breathe through our mouths! LOL:hi:

[Zodiak]

76. No problem

No one should go to bed at night with that kind of thought in the back of their mind. Especially about spiders.

Us entomologists fight real hard against the hard-wired prejudice mankind has against our many-legged friends (no one knows why for sure, but I hypothesize that we learned to avoid spiders and snakes because of cave-life). A spider has no more desire to become your meal than you have of making a spider one. And spiders are generally not wanderers, but ambush predators and trappers.

Flying insects are far more likely to get into your mouth than a spider. Those suckers are everywhere, and some are even attracted to the moisture and CO2 from your breath. But you are fairly safe from that happening if you sleep inside.

[uppityperson]

14. I visited Kauai once, had a HUGE room spider

Kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye, by the time I looked it was gone. My impression was 5 inches across the legs, talking really big. It would appear when making bed, from under bed and dash into closet, etc. I figured if it was that shy we'd get along fine. Time to leave. Shaking out each article of clothing before putting into suitcase. I packed my kid's raincoat, putting something on top of it when POP! Holy moly! Out of the inside of the plastic raincoat comes the spider. Yes, it was a good 5 inches across. It looked at me. I looked at it. It ran under the bed. I finished packing without turning my back on the bed.

[zelda7743]

67. That would be a cane spider

I used to keep hornet spray in the house so I could kill them at long distances. Creepy bastards.

[Warpy]

15. I scoop them up in a jar and deposit them outside

when they invade my living spaces like my bed and the bathtub.

Spiders are indeed beneficial and eat everything else.

Most of my spiders are Daddy Longlegs and Apache spiders. Both of them can inflict painful bites, but they are not dangerous to humans.

The only ones I'll still squash are the black widows, and I haven't seen one of those in years.

[Scairp]

25. You should come to my house

I have a real problem with them around here. I have a two year old, and I'm always on the lookout for those bitches. Before we bought the house, we lived in a townhouse apartment, and I found three inside the house in the nearly two years we lived there. I was not happy. They can kill a small child. The first time I caught the thing, put it in a jar, and made my husband take in over to the management office. He said the woman about peed her pants when she saw it.

[uppityperson]

11. Wouldn't it have been easier to break/ move lava rock?

Not knowing about how hard it is to break up lava rock, wouldn't it have been easier and less costly to use what was locally available?

[emcguffie]

46. Come on! Lava rock is not the same as granite!

Lava rock has air bubbles in it, and it will NOT sink!

Granite will definitely sink.

Try sinking some pumice that isn't attached to some big hunk of plastic.

[uppityperson]

57. NOT pumice but the solid stuff.

There is solid lava, not all bubbly. That is what I'm talking about.

[emcguffie]

49. Lava rock is very different from granite.

It isn't as dense. Here is a chart about the various densities of lava rock, according to the size of the lava rock. You will note that the bigger the lava rock, the greater volume required to contain a ton.
For example, a ton of 1" to 2 1/2" lava rock requires nearly 1 and a half cubic yards, or 1.48 cubic yards, whereas looking at 1/4" lava rock, only 1.11 cubic yards is required.

This is because lava rock has air bubbles in it, and the larger pieces have more air bubbles.

Density

1/4" Lava Sand: 1 Ton = 1.11 c.y.
1/4" Lava Sand: 1 cy = 1800 lbs.
3/8” Lava Rock : 1 ton = 1.33 c.y.
3/8” Lava Rock : 1 cy = 1500 lbs.
½”-1” Lava Rock : 1 ton = 1.43 c.y.
½”-1” Lava Rock : 1 cy = 1400 lbs
1”-2-1/2” Lava Rock : 1 ton = 1.48 c.y.
1”-2-1/2” Lava Rock : 1 cy = 1350 lbs .

[GregW]

17. Why don't they train the cane toads to eat the new spiders?

I mean, it worked so well in Australia when they introduced them to eat cane beetles.

NOT

[LeftyMom]

18. They need to get LynneSin to come out. She's a spider removal expert.

She'll need a hotel drinking glass and a brochure or something but the spiders will be gone in no time flat.

[Hulk]

19. Keep buying that "made in Chine" crap...and this is only the beginning....

I've quit buying "made in China". I'm an army of one. Those containers get dumped on the West Coast, and we end up making "shanty houses" out of them, because we have NOTHING to send back. When are we going to put a stop to selling this country down the river.

Ever wonder why Christmas lights now come with a "guaranteed to work for 30 days"? MADE IN CHINA!! All CHEAP JUNK that we swallow up because it's CHEAP!! Get your head out of your ass America. We are selling our future and filling our land fills with their crap.

[Stuckinthebush]

20. It is hard to find non-chinese made goods these days

very hard. I agree with you though, we should support non-Chinese goods for economic and moral reasons.

[lonestarnot]

21. So look harder! If it's made in China, you don't fucking need it.

[Stuckinthebush]

70. Ummm...OK

Calm down, Sparky.

[Seedersandleechers]

31. several places to buy us products

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/

http://www.usstuff.com/

http://www.madeinusa.org

[pampango]

26. Japan sold us nothing but "CHEAP JUNK" after WWII. "Made in Japan" meant cheap.

After a while they started selling us high quality electronics and cars, putting a big hurt of the domestic electronics and automobile industries, and people complained about that, too.

Which is worse importing cheap junk from China or quality goods from Japan?

[Deja Q]

51. Except the Japanese didn't play the stupid games and blame shoving China has.

Also, many electronic goods come from Taiwan. And no wonder China wants to take them over, Taiwanese electronics are rather better constructed...

China needs to grow up or the corporations will move elsewhere. China has boasted it's already pulled 1/3rd its population out of poverty. The MSM talked about the new rise in China and its people. And for anyone who says China can move its market elsewhere, their reputation right now is so poor, it's going to take them years to be able to peddle their toxic poisons to anyone else, should confidence in them slips. Wow, to be able to pull so many out of poverty for doing what they're doing, it boggles the mind. Most people who screw up in America don't get the luxury of a firing squad or electric chair. They rot in the streets. Or get a 'golden parachute', it depends where and when you are in the company's ladder.

America's economy isn't in the best of shape; but China's isn't much better off right now, and alternatives to their products do exist. Should customers go elsewhere, China will plummet.

[Arugula Latte]

60. I'm old enough when "Made in Japan" was synonymous with "cheap crap."

I remember seeing the first little Honda on the block. We called it "the roller skate car" and laughed at it... We stopped laughing some time at the start of the 80s ...

[LanternWaste]

72. I suppose China is sharing their monopoly on shitty goods with us...

I know a LOT of Europeans (east and west) who feel the same way about our crappy stuff too. I suppose China is sharing their monopoly on shitty goods with us...

[Robb]

27. Classic outsourcing

...the job of scaring the snot out of me needs to be left to good-old American spiders. :D

[NBachers]

28. Made in America

I work in a building supplies store in San Francisco. You'd be surprised at the number of Chinese people who come in looking for the Made in America products. I figure it's: A. They don't want to support a government they don't like; and, B. They're American now, and they want American products.

Unfortunately, many times, I don't have any Made in USA products to sell them.

[NewJeffCT]

37. It's a novelty, and if they go back to China, it's something prestigious

When my in-laws came here from China in 2002, they wanted to buy some things with the "Made in America" label on them to bring back to China to show their friends.

We must have gone to over 100 different retail stores to try to find something reasonably cheap (under $50) that one could take back on an airplane, and we had a lot of trouble. I had thought I found some clothing once, but the fine print on the "MADE IN USA" tag said "Northern Mariana Islands" - so, that wouldn't really do.

We ended up buying those nice boxed sets of brand new US coins that the US Mint puts out every year.

And, now we just buy stuff for my in-laws that is expensive in China - a Zippo lighter that is $25 here is a lot cheaper to us than it is to somebody in China where it might be $50 (US) and is pretty popular. Make-up is as well, as are things like vitamins.

When I went to China in 2004, I saw the same Ray Ban sunglasses there that I had bought for like $75, only they were like $140 in China (it was in a formal shopping mall, so no price bargaining)

[KamaAina]

32. Nothing in either of our dailies.

Why am I reading about this from a Cleveland TV station, two weeks after the fact? :tinfoilhat:

True, it doesn't sound like this particular spider poses much of a threat, but alien species stories are usually news hereabouts: there simply aren't enough murders, arsons, robberies, etc. to fill up the available airtime!

edit: spelling

[OhioChick]

42. How About From "The Hawaii Channel?"

Venomous Spiders Land In Hawaii
Spiders Aboard Ship FrOm China, Officials Say

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/14120199/detail.html

[damntexdem]

34. But there's good news here:

the spiders weren't coated with lead paint. So, if children pick them up and lick them, there will be no lead poisoning.

;-)

[Megahurtz]

38. Gotta Love Free Trade!

:sarcasm:

[pinniped]

39. The horror! There are also spiders that arrive in banana shipments....

from South America.

BFD

[Deja Q]

52. That's an excellent point. Thank you for the perspective.

[smiley_glad_hands]

43. My house is surrounded by daddy long legs.

I tolerate them because the eat the other insects.

[slackmaster]

47. Yes, they eat the mosquitos that sometimes breed in my turtle tank

Also moths.

[MilesColtrane]

69. That's wise. Phlocids are harmless to humans and actually eat other bad spiders.

[Lasher]

73. Do they look like this?

We call them grand daddy long legs. I have picked them up all my life and have never been bitten by one. Wiki says they're also known as harvestmen. They are not actually spiders because the two main body sections are nearly joined so that they appear to be one oval structure. They also have no venom or silk glands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvestman

[cascadiance]

50. Spiders on a Plane!!!

They beat Snakes on a Plane!



Need a new fear event now that this one is over!

[fortyfeetunder]

62. No, it's Spiders on a Ship!

Ahoy mate!

[demo dutch]

61. Where else CHINA!! It got to stop with the imports!

[smalll]

63. I guess they didn't put ENOUGH formaldehyde in that shipment! /nt

[Odin2005]

65. Oh, shit. another creature that will wreak havoc on the native wildlife.

[gate of the sun]

66. I've wondered myself it this isn't a new kind of war

dumb down the kids and start infesting us with pestilence.

[Sabriel]

68. Update: The spiders have been recalled because of lead contamination. n/t

[JNelson6563]

71. Snakes on planes? Spiders on boats? What next??

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world!

[alarimer]

74. That's how brown tree snakes got to Hawaii

And it's the way a lot of exotic species (especially small ones) get into this country and others.

The inadvertent introduction of non-native plants and animals is a serious problem all over the world.

They compete with native species for habitat and food and often displace the natives in the ecosystem. Hawaii is particularly vulnerable because they are islands with many endemic species found nowhere else.