Black Widow Spiders
Latrodectus mactans

Color: shiny black
Legs: 8
Shape: round
Size: 1 1/2”
Antennae: no
Flight: no

Pest Products Online provides you pictures of black widow spiders so you can identify them when eliminating these insects.

The female spider is black with a red hourglass-shaped mark on its round abdomen. The smaller male usually has light streaks on its abdomen. The egg sacs are brown, papery sacs that hold from 25 to 900 or more eggs. The female is known to occasionally eat the male after mating.

Habitat

Black Widow spiders prefer dark, secluded places such as in rock piles, rodent burrows, and wood piles. Often, the spiders are carried into a house on firewood. Although, the spiders rarely build their webs inside a house, they can be found in dark, undisturbed basements, crawl spaces, under eaves, and other secluded places. Once the spider has spun her web, the female rarely leaves it.

Health Risks

The Black Widow spider is not aggressive; however, it will bite if touched or pressed. If bitten, seek medical attention. Although long-term complications or death are rare depending on the amount of venom injected. One might experience cramping, nausea, perspiration, tremors, labored breathing, increased blood pressure and fever.

Property Damage

The Black Widow spider does not cause property damage or infest food products.

Prevention

Install tight-fitting screens on doors and windows and door sweeps. Seal cracks around the foundation of your structure. Install yellow light bulbs in outside light fixtures to reduce the number of insects for the spider to feed upon.   When prevention of spiders is a must, see Pest Products Online to find out what black widow spiders look like.  

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Our pictures of black widow spiders will help in your extermination.  We recommend…

Catchmaster Glue Boards
ECO Pco WP-X wettable powder
Talstar One liquid
Cobweb Eliminator spray

See other Spider species

Black Widow     |    Brown Recluse