Black Widow Spider Introduction

Black Widow spiders are a notoriously known venomous spider and the most venomous one in North America. Black Widows can be distinguished by their hourglass-shaped marking on the abdomen.  The bite of the Black Widow often produces muscle pain, nausea, and mild paralysis of the diaphragm, which makes breathing difficult. Most victims recover without serious complications, but a bite can be fatal to very small children and the elderly. The large web of black widows consists of a loosely organized mesh (cobweb). The female may lay several masses of eggs during one summer. The egg case is suspended in the web and contains 250–750 eggs. It is white or tan in color and has a papery texture, and it measures up to 12 mm (0.5 inch) in diameter. The young spiders, which are orange and white, emerge in 14 to 30 days. Females may live more than 11/2 years. To feed, black widows puncture their insect prey with their fangs and administer digestive enzymes to the corpses. By using these enzymes, and their gnashing fangs, the spiders liquefy their prey’s bodies and suck up the resulting fluid.