Spider.....Um...Yeah...

[Softballkid]

So, I caught this black spider outside, at first I thought it was a black widow, but now I am second guessing this observation since I can't find anything definite on the web, but I'm also not too sure where exactly to look...


Anyway, it has red on its back, and on the belly, now on the belly it isn't really in an hour glass shape... And on the back it is sort of circular looking red spots...


Any suggestions?

Sorry the pics aren't very clear, but the first pic is the back and the 2nd is the belly...

 

[lam2]

From what I've read and this picture I found it looks like a Northern Black Widow. I'm no expert though.

 

[Softballkid]

yeup, that's what this on looks like on the back side

 

[onebdzee]

yeup, that's what this on looks like on the back side

I am going to assume that it looks a little smashed now doesn't it?

I don't think that baby girl would be really happy if she got bit

 

[toppick08]

BW....immature female, it would have developed the hourglass in time.

 

[Larry Gude]

So, I caught this black spider outside, at first I thought it was a black widow, but now I am second guessing this observation since I can't find anything definite on the web...

 

[Softballkid]

I am going to assume that it looks a little smashed now doesn't it?

I don't think that baby girl would be really happy if she got bit

Actually no, we had thrown out an old blender, so it is now locked in there, and until I found out for sure what it was, I didn't want to kill it. So it will prolly die today


Weird thing was, when I dumped it out, trying to get pictures, it tried to stayed curled up in a ball... I was using a little stick to try and get to to stand up right to get a good pic, and then spread its legs to get another, but it just "played" dead

Bastard was playing possum with me

Shut up

 

[HouseCat]

if all else fails, assume the worst and STOMP IT.

 

[Softballkid]

if all else fails, assume the worst and STOMP IT.

That old blender works when it wants to...so I may plug it in, leave it on until it finally kicks in and see what black widow smoothie looks like

 

[toppick08]

 

[Softballkid]

Sorry dude, it is my job as a father to kill any and everything that could do harm to my lil one that is in my yard

 

[toppick08]

Sorry dude, it is my job as a father to kill any and everything that could do harm to my lil one that is in my yard

I understand.........

 

[Softballkid]

I understand.........

Shoulda seen the ants run like hell when I went around spraying all that bug/insect repellant/killer Sunday afternoon

For the first time EVER, I seen the queen ant up close and personal...and yes, I gave her ass an extra squirt

I also found out, that WD-40, kills the normal red ant

 

[NatureCenter]

Anyway, it has red on its back, and on the belly, now on the belly it isn't really in an hour glass shape... And on the back it is sort of circular looking red spots...

What you have is a female Northern Widow (Latrodectus variolus).

BW....immature female, it would have developed the hourglass in time.

Unlike Southern (L. mactans) and Western (L. hesperus) widows, as adults, Northerns will often retain many of the juvenile dorsal markings i.e. primarily the red spotting, but also occasionally some faint white racing stripes on the sides.

Also, unlike Southern and Westerns, Northerns do NOT have an actual hour glass on their ventral side of the abdomen... what they have is called a "broken" hourglass... i.e. two separate triangles pointed towards each other.

Weird thing was, when I dumped it out, trying to get pictures, it tried to stayed curled up in a ball... I was using a little stick to try and get to to stand up right to get a good pic, and then spread its legs to get another, but it just "played" dead

Bastard was playing possum with me

A widow whose web is disturbed will try to defend itself - at first. However, when it becomes apparent to the spider that the offender is not going to leave it alone, it will indeed ball up, drop to the ground and play possum for a while hoping the offender gets bored and wanders away.

 

[backagain39]

squish

 

[NatureCenter]

squish

Why squish? Widow spiders have been one of the better easy to keep pets I've had over the years (at work).

 

[morningbell]

Why squish? Widow spiders have been one of the better easy to keep pets I've had over the years (at work).

I'm partial to Wolf Spiders

 

[backagain39]

Why squish? Widow spiders have been one of the better easy to keep pets I've had over the years (at work).

Coz the thought of something with eight legs crawling across my arm, hand, leg, foot or other body parts gives me the creeps.............

 

[bcp]

I was out leaning on my front railing the other night and I felt a spider on my arm

was a little (no clue what it was but it wasnt of the dangerous to humans variety) spider that was just starting its web.
for some reason, it was using my arm as an anchor..

never experienced that before so I just let it play for about 10 minutes while I watched, it was really pretty cool.

then I yanked my arm away and trashed the little bastards hard work.

 

[bcp]

did you know that black widows will nest with the black snake and that some of their DNA gets mixed in during the breeding process and the black snake babies come out with widow poisen?

true story