Black Widows

As apartment complexes go, mine has quite of bit of grass and trees. And, since I live on the first floor of this very spread out complex, I expect to see spiders, ants, and other insect-based critters in my apartment, especially when it's too cold or hot outside.

What I wasn't prepared for was Black Widows. It seems the spiders I've seen and killed three times, within my apartment, are indeed Black Widows. One jumped out at me when I was moving a stack of papers that had begun to smell. (My cat had dumped water onto the papers and mold had begun growing on them. Ewwww). I spotted another Black Widow approaching my mattress shortly after I woke up one morning. It made it as far as the edge of the mattress before Toasty tore it to pieces. And, I smashed one that was scurrying across my bedroom floor. Outside, I spotted another Widow one night and tried killing it with Maximum Strength RAID. However, I had to empty about a fourth of the can onto the spider before it would stop moving! I sprayed so much toxin that much more would have suffocated either Toasty or me.

The scary thing is that I never had any idea that the ugly spiders I had come across were Black Widows. So, a few weeks ago, when I saw one of these spiders dead, on it's backside, trapped in, what looks to be the web of an even more powerful spider, I looked at its abdomen and saw the telltale red hourglass design. I quickly did an image search on Google for the Black Widow, and confirmed my worst suspicions. Not Cool!

Here's what I discovered about the Black Widow while searching Google, and arriving at a site hosted by UC Davis.

- When do bites occur?
Widow spiders are not aggressive and bites can be infrequent even when large numbers occur. The adult female spiders usually remain in their webs unless forced by adverse temperatures or destruction of their web. They do not forage for food and the insects they eat are caught in the webs and eaten at the site. Human bites mostly occur as the spider defends her web if it is brushed against or accidentally pinched. Occasionally, bites occur from hungry widow spiders when a hand or foot is dangled in front of the nest.

- What are the symptoms of poisoning by widow spiders?
Widow spiders inject a toxin that affects the nervous system (neurotoxin). Muscle and chest pain or tightness are some of the most common reactions to the widow toxin. The pain also may spread to the abdomen, producing cramping and nausea. Other general symptoms include: restlessness, anxiety, breathing and speech difficulty, and sweating. Swelling may be noticed in extremities and eyelids. Death usually results from respiratory paralysis.

- What do the eggs of widow spiders look like?
Eggs of widow spiders are laid in an egg sack, attached to the web of the mother. The sack is pear shaped, and creamy yellow, light gray, or light brown in color. About 200 eggs may be laid in an egg sack and females may produce several egg sacks if conditions are favorable.

So, despite the fact that only about five to six percent of Black Widow bites prove to be fatal, I think it's time to go nuclear and wage an all out war on the Black Widow. I'm not a fan of respiratory paralysis.