Kolamba

Kolamba

Kolamba is referred to “Spider”. One of the Primitive insects found in kodagu 

About

Kolamba’s are 8 legged predators with fangs which injects toxin into their prey. Kolamba are found all over the world except Antarctica. They are different compared to other air – breathing arthropods and do not have antennae. Kolamba usually prey on insects and other spiders, while there are few others which prey on birds, reptiles and amphibians. They have numerous eyes on the top front area with different patterns depending on the family; few will have two, also four and six pairs of eyes. There are few Kolamba’s without eyes or with underlying eyes without any visibility. Spiders are of different sizes, the smallest one is Patu digua which is less than 0.37mm and the largest one is Goliath Birdeater with body length of 90mm.

There are few spiders which gets 90% of its food from plants, one among them is the jumping spider called Bhageera Kiplingi. Also, there are few which on captivity will consume sausages, egg yolk, milk, bananas, etc.,

The body of most of the Kolamba’s are coloured with stripes or spots which help in matching with most of the backgrounds. When threatened few species of spiders display their colours actively.

Only species of Kolamba’s are dangerous and they bite humans only for their protection. Australian Funnel – Web Kolamba’s is considered to be the most dangerous Kolamba’s in the world, as it has resulted in 13 human deaths in the past few years. Kolamba venoms are deadly to insects and are harmless to vertebrates. Symptoms of Kolamba bite include – Headache, Stomach Cramps, Rapid Heart Rate, sweating, Chillness, Muscular weakness and cramps, wheezing; on the area of Kolamba bite – Redness, Swelling, Pain, Numbness, Itching, tingling, etc.,

While there are few medical benefits; they are used in the treatment of Strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, and Cardiac arrhythmia, etc.

Kolamba’s are also consumed in few countries like Cambodia and Piaroa. There are very few species of Kolamba’s that are listed as endangered or classified as Undetermined. Few commonly listed endangered species are Spruce – fir moss spider inhabits of North Carolina and Tennessee, Kauai Cave Wolf Kolamba found in Hawaii, Katipo of Australia and New Zealand, Dolloff cave Kolamba found in California, Great Raft Spider of Europe, etc.