Comments on: Brown Widow Spider

By: mica

mica — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:58:00 +0000

This site has definitely helped me with some misinformation I received from our exterminator, who said all the banded widow shaped spiders in our yard was the male black widow species, in which BURBANK, CA is notorious for. Not only does my small nephew play outside, but the love of my life, my Russian blue cat, is a -natural hunter of all creepy crawlies. 1 night I noticed her torturing some insect, & I’m sure now it was a brown widow she spit out of her mouth cos I never understood why if it was a black widow, why didn’t it bite her. The brown’s more docile nature would explain It.

1 thing I can add is, for those terrified of them like me, instead of only hunting for them @ night to spray directly, is not to rid their webs, and saturated their webs with spider spray in. The daytime & by the AM, you’ll find many a widow carcass.
Also, any of those waiting on medical attention post-bite, are being foolish. If it was a indeed a widow bite, you only have amputation or respiratory failure in your future. Had 2 friends wait until the point of gangreen before heading to urgent care, not the way to go.
& those collecting in jars to relocate are just-crazy. They do not have a problem populating, no one wants them, & are too dangerous to keep as mere insect control. A daddy long legs can do the same thing without harming you.
If u handle your insect problems, the spiders will not need to infest your property. Use the yellow light bulbs for the porch, & do what u can to deter widow food, because widows don’t migrate

By: Shawn Schafer

Shawn Schafer — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:31:12 +0000

I started seeing these brown widows around my apartment complex in August of 2009. Killed the few I saw around the trash cans and at the bottom of the building next to the foundation. Then low and behold a week later I started seeing them everywhere. Least to say I began the search and destroy method while waiting for the exterminator. I smashed 53 of them and about 20 egg sacs with the spikes on them. I work on pools and spas for a living and have now been finding them everywhere I go. If you see them I would definitely give the exterminator a call as well as some spider spray from your local hardware store. I have kids and would not want any of these cockroach-like breeders to infest my place.

If you see ONE then there are many more on the way. I have even been seeing them around other homes even during the winter season. Dec. thru Feb. 2010 so far. I swear I started having flashbacks of that movie Aracnaphobia.

By: Shawn Schafer

Shawn Schafer — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:29:16 +0000

If you see ONE then there are many more on the way. I have even been seeing them around other homes even during the winter season. Dec. thru Feb. 2010 so far.

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:44:33 +0000

Rep: Pam Garcia #372. February 2nd, 2010 at 3:54 pm. -I feel so bad for you. And you’re Dr told you you had a Staph infection? Didn’t culture it to be sure?!
I hope he gave you antihistamines and a topical antistetic. Somtimes holistics help. I hope can find something works, good luck

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:42:35 +0000

Hate to say but that sounds like a brown recluse bite, those are recurrent, and the only real answer is to immediately excise the bite and affected tissue. Otherwise the symptoms reoccur and spread. It’s a nasty cycle that can spread with out limit. Personally I get plug in spider alarms, Krylon silicon caulking gel, and check for any entry points. Mostly we have tarantulas, scorpions, and rattlers. I have seen the traditional blk widows: WD-40 kills them. We also check for brown recluse, and violin spiders..
But I was looking for info because A friend in LA was bitten repeatedly by a spider that caused swelling around the eyes.. The Apartments were fumigated with something toxic enough that the tenets were sent away, and that worked. But it was 6mo ago and they are coming back.

By her description it is either black or brown, although I think the size of a Quarter or 50 cent piece is fear talking. What are the odds your Brn widow is the culprit? frankly, I am not sure it’s even the spider that is causing the symptoms. how common is swelling of the eyes as a singular symptom of frequent bites? She thinks they are biting here there. But has never seen actual bite marks, so I think its a result. Who ever heard of a spider that bites your closed eyes in the dark? If it were her lips and a rash I’d say Redivid….
deanna vanosdale
#4. October 7th, 2007 at 8:24 pm

Sorry, no photo. 78 y.o. man living in Naples, FL was bitten by something about 4-6 mos. ago. Didn’t pay attention to it as it continued to grow w/ infection. Within 1 mo. after bite, lost sight in one eye (continuously going from one Opthimologist to another, test after test with NO specific results), then irregular heartbeat (back to emergency for meds. to regulate) now walking w/ use of walker. 2 mos. ago showed the bite to regular Dr. (now the size of “tearing a dollar bill in half”, quite deep w/ black center surrounded by progessive inner very pink to dark pink/red outer ring. Dr. drew circle around it stating: if it goes outside the circle he drew..your in trouble!? Thank you for comments and information (I believe he’s very much in d e e p trouble)

By: elisabeth

elisabeth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:53:31 +0000

I was bitten by a garden variety spider while watering my plants. I had an immediate bad reaction and took benedryl. Then went to the
Dr. who gave me a shot. I got better slowly.

I was just on the phone when a black widow appeared on my kitchen counter amid some papers. I quickly killed it, tho. it tried to get away.
It left an oozy clear sticky looking substance with about 5-6 small
specs in the ooze. The back was solid black and very round and large.

I live in N. San Diego.

By: Autumn

Autumn — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:48:08 +0000

Do black widow spiders live in Louisiana??? If they do i dont want to move there

By: Pam Garcia

Pam Garcia — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:54:19 +0000

I live in Northwest Florida.. and about two weeks ago, I removed the tarp off my kayak (been sitting there for several months on a trailer) to get it ready for spring fishing. I worked several hours on it, cleaning etc... and I can't even remember if it was Sat afternoon or Sunday morning, I had this HUGE itch on my left shoulder. I reached to scratch it and almost freaked out. I found 4 good size lumps within several inches, 2 right off my shoulder and 2 about an inch down my back and they were about an inch apart. In scratching, I removed the blisters. From then on.. things went downhill. I had no idea what bit me but I knew it wasn't good. I had previously aggravated an old injury in my neck and could move it a little more than half way, well after that bite, it got really bad... I couldn't hardly move it at all, so made an appointment with my chiropractor. He sent me back to get a massage and the lady doing it said she had the exact same markings about 7 years ago on her chest and it was a spider bite. I never saw or felt anything biting me so I am still wondering. I did finally go to a Dr and he said I had Merser. Well.. I KNOW I didn't from all the research online on spider bites. All I know is that something bit me and from looking at the picture, I think one of the widow's got me because you can see two little spots and then their appears to be three poison pockets. After taking two strong antibiotics, I was finally able to remove the black parts and they are now healing, but still itching like crazy. I wish there were more pictures of widow bites so people might be able to figure out what bit them. It's been a terrible two weeks.. with horrible neck, shoulder and back pain, terrible muscle spasms and chills and fever. Oh.. before I started and a few days after the antibiotic, the burning continued in cycles. It burned like it was a crater and had a raw feeling to it, then a few minutes later, it started itching like there was no tomorrow then the pain. OMGGG.. it hurt like nothing I've felt before. It would continue doing this over and over again... until finally the meds kicked in and the cycle was broke. Now it just itches like crazy and it seems to have developed a rash around the bite (with the two little spots in the picture. The other 3 spots are healing and no longer bother me). I hope no one has to go through this ever... it's been a terrible experience that I never hope to go through again.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:48:35 +0000

Picture of a Brown Widow Spider

By: John L

John L — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:57:26 +0000

They are everywere in So. Cal. The problem with them is that they are non aggressive — thus they don’t mind sitting under your patio chairs. But really, how often are you bitten by a spider? If you see one, your are not taking care of your yard — or at least have not been there for that long. Keep your yard clean and if you see them — spray vinager on them. For a week or two after spray with water. No spider wants to live where we do. The brown widow is here to stay — i live in a normal cookie cutter house and had 200 in my yard (a repo). A little viniger and good house keeping will do wonders. Remember if you keep your yard clean they wont live there. If bitten go to the ER, but dont worry. There has been not one spider bite death in california in 10 years.

John