Black Widow Spider
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Written by Jim on August 4th, 2007 with
229 comments.
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I need some advice on how to get rid of black widows. In the past week I have found 12 all together in my backyard and front of my house. I am very concerned because I have a 2 year old who likes to play out there. He has a slide and cars that I am terrified have black widows hiding in them. I have not let him play outside since I started finding them. Please, can someone tell me an affective way to get rid of them.
Thank you
The truth of the matter when it comes to spider bites is this: If you begin suffering systemic reactions (i.e. nausea, vomiting, rigid muscles, etc), or if you notice the bite area turning strange colors and hardening up, it is probably best to get it check out by a qualified member of the medical community. It’s really just a matter of common sense. Most research shows that the venom of a black widow is roughly about 15 times more toxic than that of a rattlesnake. Again, the severity of the bite would have to depend largely on the size of the spider, and in some cases, how many times the person was bitten (a frightened spider can bite multiple times).
I live in Iowa, and in the 12 years I have lived here, I have never seen a black widow spider anywhere (although people have swore to me they exist). But I am all too familiar with the creatures because I grew up in Northern Nevada. I lived in a house that was infested with black widows for almost 2 years. We kept a pretty large stock of RAID on hand just for the occasion of finding one of those poisonous shoe buttons.
Here in Iowa, the two most menacing spiders we have (poisonous that is) are the yellow sac spiders and the occasional brown recluse. Matter of fact, I believe I was bitten by a brown recluse about 7 years ago. I suddenly developed a bump on my left ankle that I mistook for a developing cyst (I’m very prone to cysts and boils). That was until it turned purple on top and started to harden up. It was too painful to wear a shoe and every step I took was a new adventure in pain. Still thinking it could be a cyst, I started treating it as such. I began putting hot compresses on it, and using drawing salve to bring it to a head. Lo and behold, about 5 days after I first noticed the lump, it opened up. There was a ton of black stuff coming out of it (obviously dead tissue). It looked like a caldera from a volcano. I went to the doctor, and he said more than likely it was a bite from a brown recluse. He gave me an antibiotic, and told me to keep up the salve treatment. He also said that by treating it as a cyst I may have saved myself an amputation. So I continued the treatments and a week later I could walk again. Two weeks later I could wear a shoe again. Within a month I was able to stop covering the wound and live life normal again. Seven years later I still have the scar on my ankle from that bite.
Yellow sac spiders (which are often mistaken for brown recluses around here) are very abundant here in Iowa, and there bite (although not near as detrimental) can also cause minor necrosis and is extremely painful. I’ve been bitten by a few of those since I moved here.
But getting back to black widows, yes, even though I have never seen one here in Iowa, I still have never ruled out the possibility that there could be one lurking in some dark area that I could be entering. So I always approach with caution in garages or buildings that are dark for that reason. I am terrified of spiders, but I find them fascinating to study.
I have seen online, however, that there are some species of spiders that are more indigenous to certain areas and not so much in other areas. For example, I see a lot of posts that relate to brown recluse bites in coastal regions particularly. While I’m not saying that is totally impossible, I do know from living in the Midwest that brown recluses are more native to Missouri and its surrounding states, and a few places in the south. However, just as there are at least 5 species of widow spiders in the USA, there are at least 7 species of recluse spiders known in the USA, all of which are poisonous and cause deadly necrosis. It is possible however, that a brown recluse could have been transported from the Midwest to a coastal area, such as New Jersey, and survived outside of it’s normal environment.
Jamie in post #68 made mention of a hobo spider in Michigan. Typically these spiders are native to the Pacific Northwest, and in particular found in the states of Oregon and Washington. However, it is possible that a hobo spider could have been transported all the way to Michigan, and survived the new environment. If the new environment was as hospitable as the old one, and if the spider happened to be carrying eggs, it is entirely possible that hobo spiders could be starting to take over Michigan and the Upper Midwest.
Florida has actually long since been home to two species of widows not found really anywhere else in the country, the brown widow (L. Geometricus) and the red widow (L. Bishopi). However, I have read online a handful of articles that have placed brown widow spiders as far up the coast line as New York, and red widows as far inland as Northern Arkansas.
Widow spiders a very interesting spider to study. There is actually a white widow spider that exists in some parts of Russia, and Eastern Asia (L. Palladius I think), and there is also one called the redback widow (L. Haselti I believe) that is believed to be the most poisonous species of widow spider in the world.
For those of you who enjoy learning about black widows and other spiders, the web is full of information. Just use the search query “Latrodectus” if you want searches related to widow spiders, or “Loxoceles” if you want searches related to recluse spiders. You can even read about the Chilean Recluse, which is purported to be one of the most deadly recluses on the planet.
Have a great night everyone!
i live in Australia and have just found a black widow under my half cut old wine barrels, as far as i know we don’t have them here and has never seen one here before. we get lots of red backs but never these. anyone know if i can take it some where to get it checked out? I’m a little in shock.
@Tim (post 82) – Black widows are only 15 times more toxic than rattlesnakes, NOT 10,000 times.
Not many people die from Black widow bites. Most who get bitten suffer no serious damage. Only in children and the elderly can they be fatal. In saying that there have been little fatalities with Black widow bites.
Also nobody has ever died from Red back bite. Usually people will only suffer from extreme pain from the bite to which you apply an ice pack. Only if an allergic reaction occurs should you go to the hospital for treatment.
It’s been 10 1/2 months since I was bitten and I still have neurological symptoms.
I would say my experience with being bitten was atypical. I went to kill one at the end of last July 2009. It was in it’s web, not particularly big. My kids were goofing around and hiding in the yard. I knew the web was there and of course that’s where the kids decided to hide. Thankfully they didn’t get bit, but I went with a flashlight and a short stick to kill it. Of course I missed ( I was in flip flops and shorts). Typical Los Angeles evening wear.
I never felt the bite, had the distinct creepy feeling something was on me, so I backed out of the area. The next morning it began with the leg cramps, nausea, chills, crazy sweating (had to change my pajamas twice, and even some drooling. and after 2-3days was feeling better.
Here’s where things got atypical.
6 weeks later more symptoms followed. I should state that I’m a 43 year old guy in good shape with no medical problems.
I started feeling aches in both armpits and a burning sensation in my stomach, not like heartburn, but more like if you had jalepeno sauce poured on your belly. This burning extended to my whole digestive tract and was terrible before and after BM’s.
Then panic set in, not like a justified panic, but like paranoia panic. If you look on the Merck(mfg of the anti-venin) web page for latrodectism (black widow bite poisoning) you’ll see the bit about “nervousness” lasting for weeks or months. Lucky me, I got that one and a host of others. Also Ortho has a list of symptoms including panic attacks.
Other symptoms that have dragged on tingling in my tongue, burning sensation in my eyelids, sporadic burning like whack-a-mole throughout my body, though with the passing months these symptoms have lessened to where my tongue and eyelids have stopped bothering me, but the pop up burning still happens, but much less severe and less frequently.
My abdomin right under the sternum still feels rotten. I used to be able to take a pretty heavy punch to my stomach area, not now, no way.
So 6 weeks after the bite in Oct. 09, I had lost 8 pounds which I didn’t have or need to lose. I went from 155 to 147. I ended up in the ER gagging and freezing cold. End result the ER couldn’t find anything and sends me home.
I see a gastroenterologist who runs me through an ultrasound of my gallbladder pancreas and kidney, endoscopy with biopsy, colonoscopy with biopsy. All perfectly normal.
He sends me to a cardiologist and neurologist, I also see a pulmonologist and get chest CT scan, MRI’s and ekg’s and heart ultrasound, all normal (med costs rising and still feeling crazy lethargic, panic and burning neurological pain).
My regular Doctor runs 50 plus blood tests and a few extensive 24 hour urine collection tests, still nothing abnormal.
Jan 2010, I end up in the ER again after vomiting and feeling like someone is pushing a broomstick , dull and heavy, through me right at my sternum. Again the ER finds nothing and the next day the pain is gone.
My doctors couldn’t find a single thing wrong (thankfully) and they have even come around to accept that this may all be due to the black widow bite.
The weird thing is right when everything seemed to clear and I was feeling 95% better for a good month or so (gained my weight back), I had a minor relapse with a lot of the same symptoms, but milder, after I see the first black widow since I got bitten. I was cleaning my BBQ, where an enormous one was making her nest. I did not get bit this time, and I killed it, but the sight of it seemed to trigger something in me.
So in short, I think it’s safe to say that there will variation in every persons reaction, sensitivity, to the venom within a general range, as well as everyspider’s toxicity level bieng slightly varied.
The toxin’s purpose is to stun, kill the insect prey and melt its insides for easier digestion, i guess it did a little of that on me.
I was hoping to get this long year behind me, but it looks like I’ll have to be more patient.
Anyway, It’s not a bad idea to get medical attention when your bitten. I didn’t, I don’t think it would have made a diffence for me, the frustrating thing is all the other residual symptoms that are still (though thankfully less so now) lingering.
I hope this helps
I was bitten doing yard work at the front of my home where the bushes had become overgrown. We had previous problems with Black Widows at our home and in the crawlspace under the house. Terminex had treated around and under the house. I did not even feel the bite and had gone to the grocery store. I started to feel dizzy and lightheaded and my feet hurt very badly.
By the time I got home I felt very warm and laid down to rest. I took off my shoes and socks and noticed a small bite two inches above my right ankle. The calf and leg began to discolor and swell and was very dark red. I had a temperature of 102 and abdominal pains. I got ice to put on the area and took several aspirin every four hours. I was weak and dizzy the entire time and then vomited several times. I also put some silvidine cream on the bite. I was feeling better the next morning (Sat 6/19/10) The swelling was a little better but did not go down until Monday, 6/21/10. The area remains slightly red in appearance. If you get bit go to the Doctor for treatment.
I was at my son’s Little League Baseball game and went to the Bathroom. The lights had not been turned on so I couldn’t see very well in the bathroom. I went to wash my hands and turned the sink on blindly and felt a pinch and then my hand started burning and within an hour I had a burning/tingling sensation in my right hand. We had lunch and the feeling continued but it was tolerable.
I washed my hands again and this time when the water hit my skin it just shot these intense burning feeling up my arm. By the time I got home my left arm started feeling funny. I have really bad leg cramps now and my shoulders are aching. I have a feeling of anxiety and my whole body is tingly. My muscle are jumping a bit in my legs too. Well cant let this get me down, I have to go and volunteer at our local Rodeo. I am just thankful that its mild.
OHH MAN MY BROTHERS FRIEND GOT BITE BY THE BLACK WIDOW AND IS IN THE HOSPITAL RIGHTS NOW….. I FEEL REALLY BAD :.(
I have a black widow in my house it can go under my furniture the web is on I do not know what I should do I am terrified of spiders.
I have seen plenty of black widow spiders about 9 full grown ones. my dad is a Doctor and he said one of his patients who was bitten by a black widow asked my dad to put him out of his misery with a shotgun right then, he was about 30. this is Arkansas not one of the deserts and they are pretty common here so they don’t just live in the deserts of N. America. they are more venomous then a rattle snake but not more dangerous, a rattle snake injects a lot more venom the a B. Widow.
My brother and I have caught 5 black widows in the outside windowsills of our house today. We plan to catch more. Their are 2 more by my window and then one in a bucket by the front door. we have even caught one male one. we’ve put them in a clear bucket with little houses. We call it black widow village
I got bit by a black widow spider earlier today at work, no doubt about it. I’ve still got it, i was wiring up a piece of equipment and the spider was under the corner of an electrical box.it had a web there and egg sacks but at the time i didn’t see the spider. i brushed away the web and egg sacks and proceeded to wire up the equipment as i was finishing up i felt a slight prick and i jerked my hand back very quickly. I stepped back and got a flashlight and sure enough the biggest black widow spider I’ve ever seen was hiding in the darkness of the corner. the odd thing about all this is I don’t have symptoms other than a slight headache that occurred about an hour after the bite. and now its been about 5 hours and my hand is starting to spasm a little bit, the spasms are localized to the hand that was bit. other than that I feel completely fine. Is such a mild reaction common?
Today I killed an adult black widow in her web. She was protecting 3-4 egg sacks. The pressure and sweeping motion of the flat bottom shovel killed her, but burst the egg sacks. Many,many baby spiders went every where.
A few minutes later I felt a mild sting on my leg, almost like a mosquito bite. When I went to get the insect off, I discovered that there were several baby widows on my leg in the area. After reminding my self to stay calm and calling poison control, I took a bath. There were additional babies in the water.
I waited the three hours that poison control told me that major symptoms would present if I was having a reaction. Nothing major happened except for a burning sensation and cramping in the muscles surrounding the area bit that continues unrelentingly but not so bad that I feel I need major pain medication… though tylenol and motrin haven’t really helped either.
Several sites state that males and babies are considered harmless. I question that. I know it was a baby that bit me. I have had symptoms now for over 12 hours. Mild by comparison to some of the postings here, but symptoms none-the-less.
Thanks for the advise of using boiling water. I found the widow and web in my organic garden. Was attempting to smash her and babies to avoid putting chemicals in the soil. Now I know, and I hope others heed my advice, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SMASH EGG SACKS.
I live in the Hamptons- in NY on Long Island. I have never heard anything about anyone coming across black widows around here before. However, we have just come across 2 adult females with egg sacs in our backyard. They are northern black widows- with 3 red dots on the back. The first was under a pool float that we turned over and thankfully noticed immediately. The second (found a week later and after having the place sprayed!) was inside the pool heater cover. We have 4 small children so we are especially nervous about all of this and are considering moving (this is a rental house). Any advice?
I was bit by a baby black widow this past weekend and sought immediate treatment at the e.r. but to my surprise all they did was give me something for pain management. and even that did not work! I was incredibly in pain until the evening on Sunday and today it bothers my feet and lower legs more. The bite it self is somewhat tender but it has no real red mark. I know for a fact it was a black widow spider as i shook it out from under my shirt. all I can say is it hurts
Last Thursday night I discovered a spider bite on my neck (actually a couple). It didn’t hurt to get bitten but the bites hurt/itched/was irritating that evening. The bite swelled right up…the swelling was at least a finger length in size and my lymph nodes also swelled right up. I experienced fatigue but I thought it was just because I’m stressed and exhausted. I experienced insomnia but I didn’t think much of it because I often have problems sleeping (usually I have nightmares about spiders!). Then Sunday came around, I was busy busy with cutting the lawn, raking, cleaning the barn, etc. I worked up a good sweat and then Sunday night I had extreme muscle pain, cramping, muscle spasms, insomnia, joint pain, etc. I was so sore I couldn’t even roll over in bed. But I don’t think I had any breathing problems.
I think it may have been a Black Widow but I’m open to suggestions. The symptoms are gradually subsiding, as is the neck swelling. It definitely wasn’t fun.
I believe I got the bite while walking through one of our overgrown fields. I know I accidentally walked through at least a couple spider webs. We live near Belleville, Ontario, CANADA.
I was bitten, several years ago, by a black widow while at work, Everyone’s reactions and tolerances are different. I personally felt the bite when it happened. It felt like a bee sting. I looked at the bite and there were two tiny red dots typical of the spider bite on my lower left wrist. I had stuck my hand in newspaper packaging at work where it was hiding. within an hour I developed strong stomach cramps and blisters followed from the bite area on my wrist, clear up to my shoulder as if they were following my blood stream. I developed a very high temperature and flu like symptoms and became delirious. I was taken to the emergency room and given a shot of antivenim but it effected my diagram and kidneys and I passed blood for 3 weeks. I felt ill for that period of time and developed a blister at all future spider bite areas as if an allergic reaction for about 3 years after that. I am now terrified of spiders. I did not developed the wound with crater like many get and it effected me totally different than what I had seen most reactions.
I wasn’t sure what it was at first, and didn’t realize I had been bitten the first day. My property had been recently burglarized, so I was checking my yard in the wee hrs when I walked into a web so big it stopped me in my tracks. I backed up and went back in the house. I’m not sure if it happened then or the next morning when I was mowing the grass. I didn’t even find a bite mark until several days later. I haven’t had it looked at. It’s been a little over a week now. I’ve been packing it with ice a lot, which seems to help.
My boss boss kinda pointed me in the direction of the widow. After doing some reading here I’m pretty sure it was indeed a black widow as the symptoms sound like what I’m reading. Man is it excruciatingly painful. It’s kinda just below my butt, probably why I didn’t see it right away. From my hip down is on fire. My foot is tingly, sometimes even my right shoulder. My knee & hip are locking up, and the surrounding muscles ache like nothing I’ve felt before. I have hurniated disks in my neck from a car wreck back in 01. One day all that pain came back in full force and I was vomiting. I’m toughing it out, but it is brutal! My immune system is getting a work out that’s for sure. I have a tens muscle stimulator, which also seemed to help quite a bit. Is it bad to use this for the sore muscles? Will it spread the venom or something?
i saw a spider under my mail box and it was fat and brown and just a dot of red i’m scared my neighbor told me it was a black widow and got a stick an poked it a couple times until it got on its web to the ground what should i do please help!
Hey, my girlfriend just got bit by a Western Black Widow. She can’t move any part of her body except her pinky and hand. She refuses to alert any one and won’t call a doctor. And she won’t let me do that either. Also, she is unnaturally tired. I know symptoms can be severe pain and trouble breathing. This happened a few hours ago. No pain or trouble breathing has occurred. Will she be OK? Does any one have advice? I couldn’t stand to be without her in my life. Someone please leave comments. It is much appreciated.
It’s been very interesting reading many of your messages about black widow bites. I had the fortune/misfortune of getting bitten myself about a month ago. I woke up one morning and was to drive to Dallas with my daughter. I told her I could NOT drive! It felt like I hadn’t slept in days…LETHARGIC!!! Didn’t think too much about it though. She drove us to Dallas and we even stopped for lunch, yet still exhausted after doing NOTHING. 3 hours later…instantaneous vomiting accompanied with sweating and chills. Felt like the flue. Was starving later that evening and ate a few very light foods and water and vomiting again. Then diarrhea set in…that was precious! Both continued thru the night and in the morning. Nausea accompanied with sweats/clamminess and shivering ensued. The next day, while in the car, I just happened to feel my leg while driving and it felt like a scab on my calf. I looked down and there were what appeared to be two fang marks(about 1/2 an inch apart), with a white halo around them, then a greenish/black halo around that.
Yep…black widow bite! Yet….never felt the bite and the bite area never itched or turned red and by looking at my calf today, you’d never know I’d gotten bitten.
After finding out that, only the major hospitals in my town, had the anti-venom…for better or worse, in lieu of spending 8 hours and $2,000 in the ER, I opted to tough it out.
Never had the severe symptoms…seizures, racing heart, etc., but to this day(a month later) I still have some of the original side effects…random vomiting, occasional nausea, muscle twitching, etc.
It’s amazing that such a little critter can pack such a huge punch!
I forgot one other thing about the black widow that I learned. There are over 30 species of black widows in this country and some species’ bites are worse than others.
Two things significantly affect the bite and reactions.
1) Individual tolerance varies. Some have severe side affects(seizures, racing heart, etc), others don’t.
2) Some people have just as severe reactions to the anti-venom as they did to the black widow bite. For those of you who don’t know, the anti-venom comes from horses.
i live in paducah, ky and work at whitehaven. been there almost a month. i change the trash cans each day i work, about20 of them. underneath almost all of them i can find a black widow with egg sacks. i’ve found 10 under one trash can about a week ago. in any other situation i wouldn’t bother them, but i have a great fear of being bit so when change a can i make it a point to kill all i can. but more seem to come soon after. today i killed 7 or 8. ive always had a healthy fear of spiders. any time i feel something on me i always assume its a spider and freak out. it has keep me from sleeping at night. today i had sever lower back pain and felt drained. i thought it was just the heat and that i strained my back bending over. i feel nothing now and haven’t saw any signs of a bite after checking real good. i had no idea of what the symptoms were until reading all this. if i have anything in the way of any signs when i wake i will be sure to get to the er asap. thanks for the help. i know now what to look for. and remember they like trash cans too so please be careful!!!!
I located a black widow spider when i was working today,,,,,The female spider was in a bait box that my company uses for rat control……she had her web strung all through it and also inside was several crickets(chirping little burgers),,,,I read in a post earlier that the black widow spider is good for pest control herself…..so now i feel kinda bad that i took her home with me,,,in a bottle of course…i will show the kids in the neighborhood what one looks like and to stay away from them and all spiders,,till they get older and can tell the difference between grand daddy long legs,,,and all other spiders…..I feel bad for going to kill her,,,but then again i have a 5 month old i have protect,,,,,i may take her if you will for a ride!!!! it is true,,,the spider will not attack you unless you provoke it,,,,,i have been lucky so far today,,,,,,,until i post this and release her,,,,,,probably get bit…..if i do i will post pictures.lol
I had two on my smoking chair in the detail bay where i work. Every day I sat in that chair and noticed a messy web growing from the chair to the corner. I live in Colorado and I guess they maybe tried to use the bay for warmth as fall hit. But one day I saw both of them on the chair and ended up spraying tire shine that we use (which is flammable) and I lit the chair on fire. Chair is still usable but they are gone. Now it looks like there is another one, but it has been a year since the first incident. I really wouldn’t have minded if they weren’t on my chair. They are so interesting to watch.
Hi I live in Okla. and in the last week I have found 5 adult black widows DEAD on my patio and just this evening I found at least 4-5 very small ones also dead . The only thing I have done is spray for mosquitoes,why would they be dying? Not that I’m sad or anything I would just like to know.
hi my name is jose I live in san jose ca. About 3 days ago I believe I got bit by a black widow at first I didn’t know what it was the bite was on my right calf, I didn’t think nothing of it but the next day I noticed my calf started getting red & swollen again I didn’t think nothing of it I went 2 work as the day went on I was feeling like I was coming down with the flue so I came home took some Advil for my head ache next day wich was Friday went 2 work again I wasn’t feeling good flue symptoms again through the day it was getting worse by the end of my work day my whole body hurt I felt hot felt like vomiting now I’m sure I’m coming down with the flue so later that night I couldn’t take it any more so I went 2 urgent care.
sure enough I had a high fever blood pressure I showed the dr my leg told him I think I might have got bitten buy something so after a little research the dr said I had all the symptoms of a black widow bite. So even after seeing the dr I was still worried about my leg so that’s how I found this web site buy reading all your stories made me feel netter so I decided 2 share my story. So the symptoms of a black widow ar correct if u feel nauseous body aches really flue symptoms but a little worse hopefully this helps anybody that thinks that got bit by a black widow & has all these symptoms.
Today me and my dad just got home and we found a black widow and it laid eggs my dad of course killed it, but I freaked out a lot!!!!!
Two days ago at about 4 pm I was riding my mower and felt what I thought was a thorn or foxtail sticking me in the upper left butt. Just irritating at first, but started to sting like a bee sting bad enough for me to get off the mower and actually drop my pants to brush off whatever it was. Didn’t see anything, but within a half hour my groin lymph node started swelling and hurting. By 9 pm I had stomach pains, a bad headache, and all my joints hurt, especially low back, hips, knees, and ankles. Got a mild asthma feeling. I took Avinza (a morhpine pill) — didn’t touch the pain. Up all night no sleep. Next morning took a Vicodin, which helped a little. Pain pretty strong all over. Took Sudafed. Another Avinza, more Vicodin, some Advil, spaced a few hours apart. Took the edge off, but pain still enough to make sleep impossible. Ice packs on knees, hips, jaw, and temples helped. Down all day yesterday. Went to the doctor this morning. Still had headache and joint aches, especially knees, ankles, and feet. Got antibiotics and more powerful Vicodin. Went home, took all my pills, and finally got some sleep. Not much fun.
I figure I was bitten by a Black Widow. The bite site has three red marks, with one main spot. Of course, I can’t see it very well. Sore, but not much swelling. After two days, it developed a little head. I know the mower has had Black Widows on it before, because I killed one under the seat a few weeks ago. They’re pretty common on my property. I won’t take them lightly in the future.