The black widow is a world-famous spider. We all know it for its iconic red hourglass marking on its abdomen and its dangerous bite. However, there are a few interesting facts about these spiders that are lesser known. Let’s take a look at each of them.

They are dangerous, but not the most dangerous in the world

Black widows have a dangerous bite that can lead to death, but in most cases, people will survive with medical treatment. The widows are also shy spiders that will only bite in self defense. There are several other spider species out there that have more powerful venom than the black widow, with Australia’s funnel spiders topping the list. However, the Australian redback spider, a close relative of the black widow, is considered to be more dangerous than the funnel spiders, because not only does it have a very potent venom, it is also much more likely to bite people.

There are many widow species out there

Not only are there many spider species in the larger widow family, there are also several types of black widows in the US, including the southern and northern black widow. When it comes to widows overall, you have red widows, brown widows, and even a group of spiders known as false black widows.

Young black widows have cannibalistic tendencies

The life of a black widow is marked by violence from the very beginning. After a group of black widow eggs hatch, the larger spiderlings will eat the smaller ones. However, if the spiderlings are all of similar sizes, they do not try to eat each other.

They have “spidey-senses”

Black widows have curved feet that are covered in bristles. This allows them to sense whenever an insect gets stuck on their webs, even though the black widow will build irregular, tangled, messy webs. There is logic to the madness however. The nets are built using multiple strands of silk, some of which are sticky, and some of which are meant to support the web. The widows will place their legs on the supporting strands of silk to sense everything that happens on the web.

What to do if you have black widows on your web

Black widows are certainly interesting spiders, but we definitely do not want them in our homes. If you have a black widow infestation, contact us today and we will help you get it under control.