Do Brown Spiders with Pink Hourglasses Indicate Molting Black Widows?

[tribdog]

I don't know why, but lately this town is infested with spiders. They are shaped exactly like black widows and they even have an hourglass on their bellies. The only problem is that they are brown not black and the hourglass is a dull brownish pink. Do black widows change color right before they molt? I can't believe how many of them there are around lately. Every thing you pick up off the ground has one under it and every door frame or corner has one building a web in it. As a little experiment I picked a little 5x5 area and searched it for spiders and I found 7 and there was nothing special about that area.

 

[russ_watters]

Have you seen the movie Arachnaphobia? That's how it starts...

Anyway, yes, there are brown black widows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus_geometricus

Perhaps you could take a close up picture of one for us...?

 

[tribdog]

Any picture I took would look exactly like the ones on the link you gave. I'd never heard of a brown widow spider, but that's exactly what it is.

 

[Redbelly98]

Perhaps you could take a close up picture of one for us...?

Yes, get in close for a good shot ... closer, closer ... a little more ... almost there, move a little closer to the nice venomous black widow please ..."

 

[Moonbear]

Yes, get in close for a good shot ... closer, closer ... a little more ... almost there, move a little closer to the nice venomous black widow please ..."

No no no, it's the brown widow. Quite lovely to read that its venom is considered twice as potent as a black widow. (And today, my students actually accused me of being sarcastic...hard to believe, isn't it?)

 

[Sorry!]

Just take extra caution when putting your hand into cramped areas... or under wood etc. they LOVE these areas. Also in the attic they aren't exactly dangerous to an adult human... i'd watch out for children and make sure that they know not to play or bother them.

If you do get bitten by any spider the best thing to do is capture it and bring it to the hospital. :)

 

[lisab]

Just take extra caution when putting your hand into cramped areas... or under wood etc. they LOVE these areas. Also in the attic they aren't exactly dangerous to an adult human... i'd watch out for children and make sure that they know not to play or bother them.

If you do get bitten by any spider the best thing to do is capture it and bring it to the hospital. :)

I didn't know hospitals treat spiders.

 

[Sorry!]

I didn't know hospitals treat spiders.

haha. I meant bring it with you to the hospital. So they can quickly identify it.

 

[rootX]

I killed two spiders yesterday - first thing I do whenever I see anything like that.

 

[Moonbear]

I killed two spiders yesterday - first thing I do whenever I see anything like that.

I would only do that for venomous spiders inside the house. The townhouse I lived in before I moved used to have LOTS of spiders when I first moved in. I didn't mind, since they mostly hung out around the doors and not near where I was sitting. Then I got a nitwit next door who didn't like spiders and demanded the landlord call an exterminator to get rid of the spiders. I refused to let them into my unit, but they still killed a substantial number around the outside. GRRRRR! That was the year the ants started to invade! A healthy population of spiders means there is a healthy population of some other type of insect that they are snacking on. As long as the spiders stay out of the bedroom and bathroom, I am more than willing to let them munch on the other bugs.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Capture it? Squish that mofo. Then make him suck his own poison back out of your system.

It worked for me once. I remember the time vividly because everything was rainbow tie-dyed for the next six to twelve hours

 

[Sorry!]

Capture it? Squish that mofo. Then make him suck his own poison back out of your system.

It worked for me once. I remember the time vividly because everything was rainbow tie-dyed for the next six to twelve hours

well there are spiders out there that can be quite dangerous to even a full grown human... i guess if u squish it but maintain a semblance of what it looks like you'll be in perfect conditino

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, if it bites you, don't squish it so much that it's not identifiable. Toss it in a jar of alcohol...that'll kill it but also preserve it well enough for the docs at the ER to identify it and know how to treat you.

 

[lisab]

Yeah, if it bites you, don't squish it so much that it's not identifiable. Toss it in a jar of alcohol...that'll kill it but also preserve it well enough for the docs at the ER to identify it and know how to treat you.

Moonie, are doctors taught how to identify spiders? Or would they just use Google?

 

[Astronuc]

I don't know why, but lately this town is infested with spiders. They are shaped exactly like black widows and they even have an hourglass on their bellies. The only problem is that they are brown not black and the hourglass is a dull brownish pink. Do black widows change color right before they molt? I can't believe how many of them there are around lately. Every thing you pick up off the ground has one under it and every door frame or corner has one building a web in it. As a little experiment I picked a little 5x5 area and searched it for spiders and I found 7 and there was nothing special about that area.

Maybe - is it dark brown or light brown. Perhaps it's a brown variant - but the black widows I've seen were shiny black. Really cool looking creatures - and fast!

 

[WhoWee]

I've also noticed an abundance of spiders this summer.

I've never had as many as this year (2 or 3 per day), and they're much larger than normal with 2" legs and bodies the size of a pencil eraser.

Even more perplexing, I can't figure out how they're getting into the house. I haven't really noticed any webs either - they're just crawling on the walls. That probably sounds a little more creepy than is the case.

 

[russ_watters]

(And today, my students actually accused me of being sarcastic...hard to believe, isn't it?)

You? Sarcastic? Noooooo...!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

We always get spiders around here about this time of year. I wind up walking into spider webs so much I feel like Gwen Stefanie.

 

[Ithina]

Oooo, brown black-widows. Cool!

I've had a lot more spiders around my house this year too. I try to transplant the nice looking ones outside, but they keep finding their way back to my bathroom.

 

[Moonbear]

Moonie, are doctors taught how to identify spiders? Or would they just use Google?

They do end up learning the common ones in their area if they work in an ER, but they can also contact an expert and send a photo rather than wasting time hunting on google.

 

[dlgoff]

Yes, get in close for a good shot ... closer, closer ... a little more ... almost there, move a little closer to the nice venomous black widow please ..."

That sounds like a woodpeckers way of hunting. Taste good. hmmmm

 

[turbo]

I've also noticed an abundance of spiders this summer.

I've never had as many as this year (2 or 3 per day), and they're much larger than normal with 2" legs and bodies the size of a pencil eraser.

Even more perplexing, I can't figure out how they're getting into the house. I haven't really noticed any webs either - they're just crawling on the walls. That probably sounds a little more creepy than is the case.

If they are stocky-looking, they are probably variants of "wolf" spiders. They are very fast and can jump pretty impressively. They don't build webs because they stalk and pounce on their prey. BTW, they have pretty good vision, as you might imagine.

 

[Topher925]

I've been having a problem with wolf spiders this year too. Except the ones that I'm getting have a total leg diameter of about 5" and bodies the size of a sharpie marker cap.

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v337/8/63/38502189/n38502189_32892420_347.jpg

 

[mgb_phys]

It's not worth taking the spider to be identified.
Apparently "brown recluse spider bite" is now standard ER term for either "bed bugs but I don't want to upset them" or "I have no idea what caused this".
Either that or the spiders have a much wider geographical range in ERs than have ever been found in the wild.
Some good info here http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/index.html

An a great set of spider links http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/spidhome.htm
Including an analysis of the number of deadly spiders and their bites - basically there are almost none, certainly 1000s of times fewer than bee sting deaths,

 

[mgb_phys]

I've been having a problem with wolf spiders this year too. Except the ones that I'm getting have a total leg diameter of about 5" and bodies the size of a sharpie marker cap.

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/insidewolf.html
(see link for images)

Myth: Those large, hairy spiders I find in my house are wolf spiders.

Fact: Many people have heard the term "wolf spider" but very few know what it really means. There is a natural tendency to equate "wolf" with "big and hairy." However, true wolf spiders (species of the family Lycosidae) are placed in that family by the arrangement of their eyes, and not by general appearance.

Most wolf spider species are relatively small, their bodies around 1 centimeter long or less. What's more, in North America no member of the wolf spider family is part of the house spider fauna. Evidently their type of prey capture (active pursuit) works better outdoors.

Large, conspicuously hairy, active spiders found indoors are most often males of the European House Spider group (genus Tegenaria). Incidentally, North American wolf spiders are not dangerous to humans.

 

[Sorry!]

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/insidewolf.html
(see link for images)

Myth: Those large, hairy spiders I find in my house are wolf spiders.

Fact: Many people have heard the term "wolf spider" but very few know what it really means. There is a natural tendency to equate "wolf" with "big and hairy." However, true wolf spiders (species of the family Lycosidae) are placed in that family by the arrangement of their eyes, and not by general appearance.

Most wolf spider species are relatively small, their bodies around 1 centimeter long or less. What's more, in North America no member of the wolf spider family is part of the house spider fauna. Evidently their type of prey capture (active pursuit) works better outdoors.

Large, conspicuously hairy, active spiders found indoors are most often males of the European House Spider group (genus Tegenaria). Incidentally, North American wolf spiders are not dangerous to humans.

The wolf spider is the jumping one right? Brown and black about the size of a dime sometimes smaller... always see those little guys outside. Would just let them run around jumping on my hand actually if they've ever bittin me I've never even noticed lol :D

As for identification of spiders it IS true that spider bites most likely won't cause death of an adult human that doesn't mean a spider bite won't have any adverse effects including lost of limbs (from infection from bacteria sometimes found even on common house spider fangs.), loss of muscle, loss of use of limbs, extreme pain and discomfort... just because they won't kill you doesn't mean you don't want to get it treated as quickly and effectively as possible.

I know around here that (in ontario) if you brought a spider that bit you coupled with the effects of the bite that someone would be able to identify it. I've seen it happen actually... We have plenty of black widows around our area too. Sometimes we even get Banana spiders (phoneutria) in produce for grocery stores... lol

EDIT: from that website that you posted:

The moral of this is, if you see a spider bite you (an event of once-in-a-lifetime rarity), or any other biting or stinging creature for that matter, save the specimen for an arachnologist (and only an arachnologist!) to examine. Don't give it to someone who knows nothing about spiders.

What you were talking about with the doctors claiming it was a brown recluse was based on ONLY the bite... if you brought in the spider they would properly identify it either with someone knowledgeable in the hospital or by contacting the proper authorities on the matter..

 

[mgb_phys]

As for identification of spiders it IS true that spider bites most likely won't cause death of an adult human that doesn't mean a spider bite won't have any adverse effects

Yes there are spiders that can have serious effects, but spiders that are sufficiently venomous AND aggressive enough to bite AND live in houses are rare. If you live in an area with one of these spiders wear gloves to poke around in wood piles. But be more scared of bees!

What you were talking about with the doctors claiming it was a brown recluse was based on ONLY the bite... if you brought in the spider they would properly identify it either with someone knowledgeable in the hospital or by contacting the proper authorities on the matter..

The fear of brown recluse spiders is based on these diagnosis, which are in turn based on the idea that all insect bites are brown recluse spiders.

Some other things to bear in mind.
Spiders (and millipedes which people are also scared of) kill a lot of bugs that are nasty and carry nasty diseases.
Don't put them outside - they are house spiders, they can't live outside. If they are huge and scary you can put them in the garage - they will eat woodlice. Or you can put them outside - they will soon come back in

 

[Moonbear]

Most wolf spider species are relatively small, their bodies around 1 centimeter long or less. What's more, in North America no member of the wolf spider family is part of the house spider fauna. Evidently their type of prey capture (active pursuit) works better outdoors.

We get both around here. The big, giant, jumping, speedy spiders that like to surprise you in the shower, and out at the farm, we get overrun by the wolf spiders...they're awful looking things that seem bigger than they are just because they are so ugly and chunky...I've never seen the wolf spiders jump, just prowl.

 

[tribdog]

I didn't know hospitals treat spiders.

That made me laugh

 

[tribdog]

Once, when I worked for the water company in Arizona I was driving a big dump truck in downtown Scottsdale and I looked down and there was a monster wolf spider on my chest. I locked up the brakes and jumped out of the truck. I don't like the way they walk, especially on my chest.