Hobbies And Interests
Physical Characteristics
Female black widows are approximately 1.5 inches long, with males growing to only a quarter their size. The male and female both feature a round cephalothorax (united head and thorax) and long, slender legs. Females are generally shiny black or dark brown, while males are light brown or gray. Males have knoblike structures called pedipalps, which extend from their heads. Females frequently display the infamous red, hour-glass-shaped mark on their abdomens; however, the actual color and shape of these marks can vary widely. Black widows are found in temperate regions around the world, with five species residing in North America and Mexico.
Nesting Characteristics
Black widows prefer to nest at ground level, particularly in dark, undisturbed locations. In contrast to orb-weaving and funnel-weaving spiders, black widows build loose, irregular webs. Common locations for their webs include plants, wood piles, room corners, garages and outbuildings. Black widows spend almost all their time in their webs, rarely venturing out to explore or forage. Apart from mating, the spiders live solitary lives.
Mating Characteristics
Female black widows do occasionally kill and eat the male after mating, as do many other species of spiders; however, this does not occur as frequently as commonly purported. Females suspend egg-filled cocoons in their webs, each containing between 200 to 250 eggs. Each female can produce 10 to 20 egg sacks during her three-year lifespan. Upon hatching, the baby spiders almost immediately depart the nest.
Feeding Characteristics and Prey
Black widows feed on flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars that become entrapped in their webs. Black widows are comb-footed spiders, using the bristles on their hind legs to encapsulate their prey in silk. Using their fangs, called chelicerae, they puncture the corpse, injecting digestive enzymes that liquefy the victim's internal structures. This fluid is then sucked-out by the black widow when feeding.
Characteristics of Black Widow Bites
Black widows are, by nature, nonaggressive spiders, biting only in self defense. Furthermore, the male spider's chelicerae, or fangs, are much too small to successfully bite humans. However, the female does pack a powerful bite. Black widows inject neurotoxins that are up to 15 times more potent than that of a rattlesnake. These bites are rarely deadly; however, they can produce fatalities when the victim is very young, very old or chronically ill. The widow's venom attacks the central nervous system. With most bites, symptoms can include muscle aches, chest pain or tightness, nausea, and paralysis of the diaphragm, making breathing difficult.