Black Widow
June 9th, 2010 7:42 pm

Eric, a nearby Virginia resident, gave me permission to post these photos he took of a black widow spider…

Hi S.P.

I took these pictures of a black widow under my deck railing this morning. I was leaning on the railing one evening last week and I looked down and saw the random-looking webbing. Then I pulled a bit of it and sure enough, the strands were very sturdy and also sticky. For size reference, the vertical wood is 1.25 by 1.25

I looked underneath and saw her there, but waited until more light today to take the pictures. Later today I will relocate her in my black widow relocation area, about 500 feet and across the road from my house.

Black Widow Spider Hourglass

Black Widow Spider "Hourglass"

Black Widow Spider

Black Widow Spider



Posted in arthropods-butterflies, bugs, spiders, etc. by admin
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01
Eric
June 12th, 2010 8:44 am

Thanks for posting her mug shots. Actually she was not guilty of anything but showing up on the deck, I normally find black widows near the ground and that gives them a lot more places to hide. The only other kind of spider that has a similar behavior is the brown spiders that create a tunnel (not sure what they are called). But those webs are silky, not sticky and tear easily. Once you have seen and felt a black widow web: sticky, irregular strands that seem to stretch instead of tear. you will always recognize it in the future.

02
S.P. Gass
June 14th, 2010 9:12 am

Thanks for sending them. A lot of people would probably kill them…

03
Eric
June 14th, 2010 1:22 pm

It is tough to generalize but in this case I didn’t mind scooping her from under the railing, walking 500 feet and heaving her into the bushes. When a black widow is down at the ground there are many more places to hide (she will almost always hide during daylight) so I would be more tempted to get out the spray can. Also I don’t think they are endangered so that is not a consideration.

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