Black Widow Spiders

     There are several species of black widow spiders. The females have a unique appearance and it's rumored that they eat their mates. 

     They are the most venomous spiders in North America, but their their bite is rarely fatal to humans; even so, you wouldn't want to get bitten by one. 

     The males and females look very different from each other. The females are the most distinctive...they have shiny black bodies and a red hourglass-shaped marking on the underside of their abdomen although it can also be orange-yellow. Their body length can be up to a half inch. Males are lighter in color with smaller abdomens that may have red or pink markings. Males are only about half the size of females.

     In the United States black widows are found primarily in the South and West where they inhabit urban areas as well as forests, deserts and grasslands. In human areas they often spin their webs in dark corners that may be inside or outside. Black widows eat insects (and other spiders!) that get caught in their webs. But, females do not usually eat their mates. There is an exception within the species though...in the Southern Hemisphere. However, black widow newborns often eat their freshly-hatched siblings as they emerge from their eggs.

     Black widows mostly eat flying and climbing insects, but they have also been known to trap and eat small animals such as snakes and lizards. If those creatures get tangled up in the back widow's web they are paralyzed with a bite and become a spider meal. 

     Black widows have stiff, short hairs on the last segment of their back legs that resemble a comb which they use to drape the silk over prey. Black widows are solitary, but at mating season the males spin sperm laden silk which they wrap around appendages near their heads. This is then inserted into the female. 

     The female creates egg sacs that may contain hundreds of eggs which hatch in about 30 days. They don't live very long: females about nine months and males about three. However, one species can live 3 years in the wild and maybe a year longer in captivity. 

     What about black widow bites? The much larger females are more dangerous...they inject more venom that's 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's. But, but because they deliver far less venom than a snake, their bites, while painful, are a serious risk only to children and the elderly. 

     Their venom quickly causes swelling and intense pain and nausea, profuse sweating, severe abdominal pain, back pain, muscle aches, hypertension and paralysis of the diaphragm, which can cause difficulty in breathing. The pain can last 12 hours, but other symptoms for several days. There is an antivenom injection available that will kill the pain in half an hour.