Black Widows
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Description
The body of the female adult black widow spider can reach 1 1/2 inches with the legs fully extended. Female black widows are easily recognizable from their shiny black, rounded bodies and the distinctive red hourglass shape on their underside. The black widow appears shiny and hairless to the naked eye. Black widows build haphazard, tangled webs of impressively strong silk. The widow spiders are primarily nocturnal, preferring to hide during daylight hours.
Black Widow Habitat
Utah Black widow spiders prefer dry, dark locations and will seek warm dwellings in winter. Amidst human habitation, they typically hide in sheltered, dimly lit places such as garages, dark corners, basements, closets, and cluttered areas. In nature, black widows build their webs on rocky outcroppings, under logs, between stones, rock crevices, loose bark, and stones, in small trees, and under bushes.
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Diet
Black widow spiders are formidable predators that feed on live insects, other spiders and arthropods, as well as on other members of their species.
Black Widow Life Cycle & Reproduction
Black widows mate and spin egg sacs mainly during the warmer months. A female will produce 5 to 10 egg sacs in her lifetime. Each egg sac will have between 150 and 250 eggs. The eggs hatch in the egg sac, and the spiderlings go through a molt before emerging about four weeks later.
The newly freed spiderlings are cannibalistic and usually disperse quickly by ballooning (a process in which spiderlings elevate their abdomen and play out silk until their buoyancy is enough to carry them off on the air currents). Spiderlings at this stage can slip through window screening with ease. The small spiderlings are harmless to humans.
The female black widow spider lives an average of one year, although some species can live up to three years in favorable environmental conditions. When black widow spider eggs hatch, spiderlings find sheltered hiding places to survive the winter. When warm weather returns, they finish developing into adults.
Black Widow Dangers
The female black widow spider is the most venomous in North America. Her tiny droplets of poison put the rattlesnake and the scorpion to shame. Male and juvenile widows, however, pose no threat to humans. The venom of the female black widow spider is a neurotoxin. Muscle and chest pain or tightness are a few of the most common reactions to the widow toxin.
Often there is a general sense of discomfort shortly after the bite, and acute symptoms increase in severity. The pain also may spread to the abdomen, producing cramping and nausea. Other general symptoms include restlessness, anxiety, breathing and speech difficulty, and sweating. Symptoms usually decline after two to three days, but some mild symptoms may continue for several weeks after recovery.
The very old, very young, and those with a history of high blood pressure (hypertensive) are at the most significant risk. Prompt medical treatment can significantly reduce the danger from widow bites and has reduced fatalities to extremely low rates in recent years. Click here to learn about Black Widow removal.
Common Utah Pests
- American Cockroaches
- Bed Bugs
- Black Widows
- Box Elder Bugs
- Brown Recluse
- Carpenter Ants
- Carpenter Bees
- Carpet Beetles
- Centipedes
- Earwigs
- Elm Seed Bugs
- Crickets
- German Cockroaches
- Gophers
- Hobo Spiders
- Honey Bees
- Indian Meal Moths
- Lawn Pests
- Mice
- Millipedes
- Mosquitoes
- Norway Rats
- Oriental Cockroaches
- Paper Wasps
- Pavement Ants
- Pharaoh Ants
- Roof Rats
- Sow Bugs
- Termites
- Voles
- Yellow Jackets