Does anyone know anything about Black Widows

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Originally Posted by Purrrfect9

Yup, that's definately a black widow. Umm, I would imagine that a pond/lake would be a great spot for her, especally if you can find an area with a lot of insects.

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Where we go there is a old bridge and a lot of rocks. LOTS of insects for her to eat. Hardly anyone ever goes out there so I think it will be safe. I will walk her away from the fishing area where we fish though.

wow! i always forget how beautiful black widows are! and i really don't like spiders! lol. we found one in our doorway a few years ago and i just sat and stared at it for a few minutes while everyone else was freaking out trying to figure out what to do! lol! i think they ended up taking her down by the creek.

There most certainly are widows in your state. Heck, we have them up here in NW Washington.

Given the time of year, the spider is likely a male looking for a mate.
They do not lay egg sacs until spring.
The best thing to do would be to catch the little dude in a cup and take him out away from your home and release him.
Also, keep in mind that there are several different species of Latrodectus. They don't all have the "hourglass" that they are known for. In addition, the younger they are, the more different they will look.
Every Lat. species has the "widow" markings, but they don't always look like the perceived perfect hourglass.

Widows are great little spiders. My husband and I have kept them for many years in captivity. Great little bugs! :D

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Originally Posted by Shadowspider

There most certainly are widows in your state. Heck, we have them up here in NW Washington.

Given the time of year, the spider is likely a male looking for a mate.
They do not lay egg sacs until spring.
The best thing to do would be to catch the little dude in a cup and take him out away from your home and release him.
Also, keep in mind that there are several different species of Latrodectus. They don't all have the "hourglass" that they are known for. In addition, the younger they are, the more different they will look.
Every Lat. species has the "widow" markings, but they don't always look like the perceived perfect hourglass.

Widows are great little spiders. My husband and I have kept them for many years in captivity. Great little bugs! :D

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She is very cool. I am almost 100% sure she is Latrodectus Hesperus. She has somewhat of an hourglass but its more like rectangle shapes. I would keep her if my husband wasn't terrified of spiders. I also have a 4 year old and 2 year old. My 4 year old son, who I call my future entomologist would definitely NOT leave it alone. He can name the Latin names of a huge variety of bugs and reptiles. I swear the kids going to end up in the amazon someday discovering new species of insects :D Hopefully I will get to go a long for the ride.

They sure are beautiful spiders and just to look at them you just know that the thing is all business!

Speaking of spiders, my buddy and his wife just went on a cross country trip through the south/midwest. They rented a cabin one night and he ended up getting bit by a brown recluse on his ankle. It's been over 3 weeks and he still has a huge gaping hole in his ankle that drains an incredible amount of liquid. He thinks he may need skin graphs in the near future. Nasty stuff for sure! :O

I love spiders but I also respect them as I would Mamba or Gaboon.

:O Did he seek medical attention?
L. reclusa can indeed give some nasty bites!

Widows are indeed beautiful. It's a shame that they are dying off and no one can figure out why. :(

Now I'm sure there are some who will read that and start jumping for joy. :P

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Originally Posted by Shadowspider

:O Did he seek medical attention?
L. reclusa can indeed give some nasty bites!

Widows are indeed beautiful. It's a shame that they are dying off and no one can figure out why. :(

Now I'm sure there are some who will read that and start jumping for joy. :P

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What do you mean dying off? Do you have an article I could read on that? I am interested now. I have been following the Honey Bee story since they started.

Unfotunately she did die last night. I think she injured her back legs as she was dragging them around. She didn't look so good when I caught her in the first place.

I was hoping to take her out and release her.

There is quite a bit of research currently going on around the nation with Latrodectus. I'll have to go look through my husband's stuff to find some of the research, findings, etc. on the various species and their seemingly dwindling hardiness, shorter life spans and failure to thrive.

About 2 years ago we had a dozen s'lings we were raising. All were healthy, kept in proper environments etc. and yet they all ended up dying before reaching adulthood. :(
It hasn't been determined yet as to why various species are not thriving like they use to even as little as 10 years ago, thus the mystery continues.

*shudder* Woh... I'm from West Texas, so I know a lot about widows and recluses. Not to mention the fact that they TERRIFY me cause I'm arachnophobic. They're neat enough to look at when behind glass :)

Two interesting stories connected to those guys.
When I had a dog, she lived on the porch of our older brick house. TO give her some warmth we gave her a doghouse. She used it for a while but stopped suddenly and wouldn't go near it. One day my mom and I were spraying down the porch and mom moved the doghouse. A literal stream of black widows - mostly hatchlings but a few larger and one massive female - poured out across the pavement. Of course, I screamed and RAN inside to curl up on the couch as mom sprayed them all away into the grass with the hose.
At that same house, we had an old wooden picnic table for a while, which the adults used to sit at during a party once. A few days after said party, my mom noticed a painful to the touch blister on one finger. When it turned red around the edges, she went in to get it looked at and ended up getting a bunch of shots and the diagnosis of Brown Recluse bite. Apparently my family has a rather high tolerance for spider and bee venom cause that bite never really went past a blister...but still...

We try to catch and release spiders we find inside (or rather, my BF does), cause even tho I freak out at them I still respect them.

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Originally Posted by Shadowspider

There is quite a bit of research currently going on around the nation with Latrodectus. I'll have to go look through my husband's stuff to find some of the research, findings, etc. on the various species and their seemingly dwindling hardiness, shorter life spans and failure to thrive.

About 2 years ago we had a dozen s'lings we were raising. All were healthy, kept in proper environments etc. and yet they all ended up dying before reaching adulthood. :(
It hasn't been determined yet as to why various species are not thriving like they use to even as little as 10 years ago, thus the mystery continues.

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Thats really interesting. I don't know if you heard anything about Honey Bee's vanishing but they think it may be a virus.

I wonder if its something like that? Although you'd think it would work a lot faster.

Always makes me wonder ho much we affect insects alone with all of our pesticide/insecticides.

I also agree with the respect thing. Even if it is an animal I fear I wouldn't kill it out of fear. Unless it was hurting me or my family. I have to much respect for nature.

Cougars is my fear. I am terrified of them. When we go fishing I am constantly watching my back. Seems like they are everywhere around here lately.