A Black Widow spider is classified in the genus Latrodectus and in the family Therididae. All together there are around six different species of Black Widows and all of them are venomous.
A Black Widow spider is also referred to as the “hourglass” or “shoe button” spider. The Black Widow is a shy and a nocturnal spider. All species of Black Widows are found in warm climates of the north and south, which are approximately 45 degrees north or south of the equator. The Black Widow spider can also be found in four of the American southwest deserts as well.
Black Widow
The Black Widow weights about one gram; they are anywhere from one to one and a half inches long and their leg span is anywhere from one to three inches long. There are several differences in appearance between the male and the female Black Widow spider.
Both have a spherical abdomen, but the male is usually half the size of a female. The female is a shiny black color and on the underside of its abdomen there is a reddish colored hourglass shape. On the other hand, the male Black Widow spider has yellow and red bands with spots on their back. When males are newly hatched they are a white, sometimes with a yellowish tint. Newly hatched Black Widows are harmless and resemble the males more in appearance. The Black Widows do spin webs, however their webs contain no specific patterns or shapes but their silk is stronger than any other spider. Also, the female spider will rarely leave the web.
It takes anywhere from 70 to 90 days for a Black Widow spider to sexually mature. The Black Widow typically mates during the springtime. A sac will contain anywhere from 250 to 700 eggs. A Black Widow typically lives up to three years and their main diet consists of a variety of insects.
Black Widow Spiders – Bites
The adolescent and male Black Widow spider is harmless; leaving the female as the only one that is venomous. The female Black Widow spider’s venom is not only more venomous than any other spider, it’s actually deadlier than a rattle snake bite!
The danger of being bitten by a Black Widow is that the victim most likely will not feel it. However, there are some symptoms to look for, which may include but not be limited to: abdominal pains, sore muscles, especially on the feet, a dry mouth and paralyzed diaphragm, excessive sweating, and swollen eyelids. If a Black Widow spider bites somebody they should seek medical attention immediately. The victim is usually given antivenin or calcium gluconate.
i was bit on the foot well the spider was in my shoe and i put on my shoe with out socks i was diving home from a visit with family about 20 miles into the drive my left foot and leg hurt then i felt the pain go up my left leg then down my right leg by the time i got home the pain was going up my stomach so i checked my shoes and found the spider it was very big we live in so cal so i see them all the time.pain meds at the hospital in icu o i had a hmo and they would not admit me so after 1 night the sent me home with a perscription for pain meds i couldnt drive home or get the meds due to the pain.i was wondering if anyone that has been bitten has had effects years after thier bights,i was bite in 1988 have had bone pains in legs,depression
seemed to happen years after but wonder if related?
if you get bit by a widow does it mean certain death and what are the statistics of a bite and being bit
I have been keeping a black widow for the last 6 months or more and shes grown to about 1.5-2 inches in length. I feed her mostly flies and other bugs i find around my house and its great to watch. i was thinking about feeding her a pretty large wolf spider but i am worried that she might get eaten herself. I would be sort of bummed if her dinner ate her instead so if anyone could tell me which spider typically eats the other i would appreciate it.
Thanks
I was bit 13 days ago in MA.
The bite probably occured while I was working in my gardent hat day. I did not see it bite me, but noticed a welt on my knuckle that looked like one of my many mosquito bites I was dealing with. However, this welt was painful to touch and did not itch. The next day it was a blister and two days after I noticed tthe bite, the blister popped. I did not know it was a spider bite at the time and just washed it with soap and cold water and put a bacitracin and a band aid on it.
Four days after being bit two things happened that I did not put together. First I was extremely exhausted and I was having terrible back aches. It was the time of the month for me, so I assumed that it was lower back pain radiating up.
The second thing that occured was that I developed a red circle around the blister that had popped that was about 1/2 inch around the permiter of the blister. It was a Saturday, so I decided not to worry about it until Monday.
By Monday, the bite was burning, painful to touch, my back pain continued and I began to feel clammy with slight fever and chills and a terrible headache. Eventually developed nausea and dizzyness and almost fainted twice. Then fever and chills went away about 7 hyours later and I FINALLY called my doctor that night.
In short, I am an idiot. He saw me the next day and removed the necrotic tissue from the bite, verified that it was indeed a bite and not MRSA (as that was my first thought), and put me on a round of antibiotics. He then explained that I should have paged him on Saturday when my symptoms started. I have never felt more dreadful than I did in those days initially following the bite, but I kept brushing it off as a cold, flu or typical monthly cramps. Don’t make the same mistake if this happens to you and see your doctor RIGHT AWAY.
We have no idea as to what kind of spider bit me, and at this point it is so late in the game that it doesn’t matter anyways.
13 days later and I still have waves of nausea and incredibly achy muscles in my back and headaches. The bite is finally starting to scab over, but it is a deep pit on my knuckle and will not be healing very pretty. I am heading back to his office tomorrow and I get the feeling that this will not be the last I will have to deal with.
How can something so darn small cause so much trouble?
My 5 year old son was bite by a black widow . The symptoms started at the bite site on his left thigh. With in 5 min his groin hurt then his stomach down to his legs and knees. He couldn’t stand any more and he was screaming in pain. Took him to the doctor they gave him Motrin and Tylenol and sent him home. He was still screaming in pain. I took him straight from the doctors office to the hospital. They gave him morphine to relieve the pain and he was admitted the first night in the hospital his pain was controlled but his face began to swell his eye lids and his lips. They wanted to give him prednisone . I was told that prednisone lowers the immune system. I decided against it due to the fact he was trying to fight off the venom of the black widow. Instead they gave him benadryl the swelling did not get worse but stayed the same. He was in the hospital for three days before the Motrin and Tylenol with codeine was enough to control the pain so he could come home. it has been 6 days and he still has pain on and off. but he is able to stand now.
I am a Los Angeles Firefighter/Paramedic and was bitten by a black widow spider on my toe. At 2AM I was barefoot in my garage at the time checking a circuit breaker. The bite felt like someone touched a cigarette to my skin. I witnessed the large black widow gripping my toe and aggressively biting. I smashed it. I applied betadyne and ice pack to the wound site. The pain relieved somewhat but I was unable to sleep all night.
The pain began increasing and traveling up my leg. The bite causes “tetany” or severe contraction of the muscles. If you are bit below the waist, it causes severe abdominal cramps. If above, it causes respiratory distress due to the diaphram/chest muscle tetany. Mine began causing severe abdominal pain. Repeat: SEVERE PAIN.
After 6 hours of increasing pain, I drove myself to the local emergency room with the spider’s remains. They knew me there and I explained the situation. The resident said they normally only observe a patient, but with my accurate history and the spider visible they began IV Calcium Gluconate which is infused at a slow rate. (This is cheaper than antivenin). Immediately I had relief from the horrible cramps pain and my muscles relaxed. I feel asleep for 8 hours.
I’m now an expert on Black Widow bites at my work.
i live in southern indiana. last summer i kept finding huge black spiders in my garage. all summer i killed them and destroyed the egg sacks. they’re no longer in my garage, but today i killed two and a sack on the outside of my house. thanks to this site i found out that they’re black widows. should i be freaking out for the safety of my family now?
My Chihuahua/Cocker (20 pounds) just got bit 3 days ago by a Black Widow. I too live in the NM desert, where we have tons of them. She must not have seen it because she is very desert smart and warns me of snakes & scorpions. For the last 3 days it’s been a touchy situation! Several times I thought I was going to lose her. Couldn’t afford the antivenin shot ($150) even if our vet had it on hand. Been giving her Children’s Benadryl for her breathing and aspirin for her pain. Her appetite is still good, once the aspirin kicks in and she can walk! This is a scary experience with a dog, let alone have a person get bit. I feel for you who have! Been stung 2x’s by scorpions but that’s nothing compared to what I’ve read everyone who has been bitten has been or is going through. I will definitely be getting the house and yard sprayed asap!! Good luck all!
hey my girlfriend got bite a few days ago by a black widow and she didnt relize it was a black widow untill the following day when she went to the hospital and got all these shots and stuff but the doctor said she still gonna die andybody got any tips for me and my girl the Dr. said that its in her heart and they said she has 2-3 days to life she had a mini heart attack yesterday and she felt like she gonna pass out today so any tips would be helpful thank you
I live in the desert and black widows are everywhere, along with scorpions, mili/centipedes and all kinds of other lovely creatures. We have recently been in the lovely predicament of having an egg of black widows hatch somewhere around/in my house. Honestly they are not aggressive at all and run from anyone or thing that is bigger than them. They are not scary in the way that most people think. My 3 year old knows what they look like and to come and get me if he sees one but not to touch or go near them. I have lived in the desert for appx 10 years and neither me or any of my family has ever been bitten or hurt by these spiders my entire family 30+ people. Just be careful and squish them they won’t create problems for you either.
i need to know if i will die because i was sitting on my sofa when a black widow crawled into my pants and another website said that you don’t feel the bite, if you were bitten, and i don’t want to die.
I’m from southeast Wyoming and I used to catch black widow spiders when I worked on the railroad under the rails between railroad ties. Best time at night where the sun doesn’t shine much around storage tracks. The females bodies get much larger than 2 cm. It was not uncommon finding them twice that size. The easiest way to find or identify black widows is their thick silky webs and of course their shiny appearance with the famous orangish redish hour glass on their stomachs. I stopped “spider hunting” after being bit and yes they are very painful. Easily identified by two small fang punctures and feeling like you have the flu for a couple days. Just thought I’d share my first hand experiences with black widows thanks. On a further note I didn’t go to the emergency room or doctors office and I lived through it just fine after a couple days of flu like symptoms and a painful bite.
Guess we caught a world record black widow today in our office. It’s abdomen was the size of a nickel and with its legs out, it was as large as a 50¢ piece. (Maybe it was loaded with eggs………)
We captured it in a glass and checked that it did, in fact, have the distinctive red hour-glass on it’s underside.
We assumed our co-worker was taking it outside to kill it, but instead, he let it go in a vacant lot across the street from our office! What an idiot!
Had I known that most Black Widows are much smaller, I would have taken a photo of it.
i was riding my dirt bike in the woods when i saw 2 people walking around with gloves and a tank looking for an escaped tunnel web spider. I knew they only lived in Australia so i kinda laughed and ignored them. right after i went through some trees i felt some pain in my back almost as if i got shot with a slow bullet. i fell of my dirt bike and remained motionless until moments later i gained consciousness and i awoke in a hospital. Ive never been more scared in my life.
after about 6-7 months i resumed riding my dirt bike and in the woods i saw a black widow spider while i was taking a short break. of course with my luck of spiders i was petrified from the tunnel web spider incident so i didn’t go near it. as a prank my friend flung it at me and of course i was bit in the back of the neck. i got rushed to the hospital a second time and never rode dirt bikes ever again.
Today I smooshed a Female Black Widow Spider. I lifted a log bench in my yard to clean it offf with the hose, and there is was! Tucked in the corner. This really got me thinking…. what if one of my children had sat on the bench or my infant pulled up on it! Do these spiders come in numbers? Or are they solitary? Sinc emoving here, we recentl;y got the house sprayed for bugs, ants and spiders outside… does this kill black widows? Do they easily come inside? How worried should I be?
This is so sick why did you even put this i did not get
bit by spider before but i got bit by a mosquito a lot of times and i wish they would go away and i know why they have to be alive it just bothers me.
Interesting site, it has been very helpful. I was bit by a Northern Black Widow 2 weeks ago. I live in a log cabin and was reading at night before bed. I must have drawn her in to my pillow. Did not now what was wrong with me in the morning, thought my neck was out of alignment. Pain was horrible. I thought by night maybe sinus infection, maybe my lymph gland is going to explode. On the second day I knew that I was wrong when 4 tiny marks appeared on my neck and swelling. By night of the 2nd day breathing became constricted. I live in a remote area and had to rely on ourselves. I had Benadryl, aspirin, cold compresses and a calming yogic breathing that I believe saved me that night. By the third day bruises on my neck and severe muscle pain. Felt like acid being poured down my neck, then followed by complete numbness. This has continued for two weeks now. The more active I try to be, the more it stirs in my muscles again. One night I thought my knee and stomach were melting. A few nights it was around my heart. Had to sit up and practice a calming breath, felt like a possible heart attack. I would like to add that I am early 40’s and snow board all winter so I am in good shape, but I am a small person. I weigh 110 in winter months.
I have seen a friend who is a retired doctor. She thought I am very lucky. I do too!
Thank you for this site. Everyone reacts differently and unfortunately for me I had
just gotten over a lung flu and my resistance was low. Not to mention being bit over a lymph gland. She must have gotten caught between my hair and neck roll pillow. Funny, I grew up in the deserts of Arizona and had never been bit by a Rattle snake, scorpion, or spider (encountered many). Now that I live in snow country, one almost took me out. I lived to tell the tale!!!
I hope this might help someone whether through research or a fellow sufferer.
I will let everyone know when I fully recover. My advice is too stay calm, and breath. It will save your life. Thank you for this site!
Sorry no photos, the marks were too small for the camera.
Hey Kathleen #112, I was bitten by a Black Widow spider close to 10 years ago when I lived in Tennessee. My husband at the time, was doing leaf and yard cleanup. When he came in I shook out his coveralls that he had on. I believe that is when the spider got on me and crawled up my leg. I was bitten on the top part of my butt right in the middle of the “crack”. I started feeling really bad and he took me to the emergency room. I told the nurse that I had a small insect bite on my butt, she never informed the doctor that was on call about the bite. By the time I went in to see him I was already out of it, writhing in pain and couldn’t talk. My husband didn’t tell the doctor either about the bite. They probably thought I was exaggerating. The doctor said I had the flu and gave me a shot fot the pain and some pain pills and sent me home. By the time I got home (only 10 minutes away) the pain shots had worn off. I spent the next 2 weeks in bed in the most excruciating pain I ever felt. I though I was going to die.
After I recovered I got on the internet and started searching under insect bites to find out what really happened to me. All my symptoms were a classic case of a Black Widow bite and the pictures confirmed it.
NOW TO GET TO THE REAL FACT OF MY STORY, Ever since I was bitten, I get a rash flare up about the size of a quarter at the same place I got bitten, coming back every few months for almost ten years now. It is kinda blistery, oozy and itchy. I spray Benadrill on it and it will clear up in a few days. I just told my new husband about all this yesterday and he wants me to go our doctor and have it checked out. He said I might have to have the area dug out to get rid of it once and for all. I will let you all know how I make out. Also has anyone out there had a similar reaction like me????
Hello all,
I am an entomology student studying at the University of CA, Davis and would like to make a few contributions to this page, in particular some of the misconceptions/questions here.
The widow family (Latrodectus) is a worldwide spread group of spiders, found on every single continent besides Antarctica. therefore, if you live in the U.S., Europe, or virtually anywhere else in the world, chances are you will run into a widow or its cousin sooner or later.
The appearance of the widow is different based on the species, but generally speaking they all universally have a shiny round dark body with red or orange markings either on the back or underside. the Western and Southern U.S. widow spiders are the ones most commonly recognized with the hourglass. The Northern U.S. cousins have it too, but may also have markings on the back as well. As a rule of thumb, if it’s shiny, round, and is black and red, leave it alone.
The bite is not generally fatal, but prompt medical treatment is recommended as the reaction to the bite can vary greatly from individual to individual, as well as from spider to spider. The venom injected, place of bite, etc. all are important factors. It is a cocktail of neurotoxins (Affect the nervous system) and hemotoxins (affect the blood), mostly the first. This is why widow bites cause severe muscular spasms yet leave almost no tissue damage at all. As an addendum, the venom of a widow ranges from 6 to 16x the potency of rattlesnake venom.
Tips for avoiding widow infestation:
-Widows prefer dry, dark places. Airing out garages, sheds, etc. and allowing regular sunlight to enter will do wonders.
-Removing widows is safest with a vacuum or hand-held vac. There are pesticide sprays that are designed for widows as well.
-If you suspect that a large building is heavily infested (A barn, etc.), I suggest hiring an exterminator to be on the safe side.
I live in Mobile, AL. Last night my son was closing the curtains looking out into the front yard. He noticed a black widow in the window between the glass and screen, the hourglass shape was so “perfect” that it literally gave us both chills. I went to the window on the opposite side of the picture window and sure enough there was a second one. This is not a dark area, I have lights in my yard that make it look like daylight in the dead of night.
After seeing this, I know that I have a infestation problem, because black widows lay so many eggs and they are not scarce. I am currently at work. My son is at home spraying (the sprayer sprays 18-20ft) around the outside of the windows and I have called an exterminator. My house has lots of windows and is surrounded by trees although I am not in a wooded area. I will be leaving work shortly and will go home and carefully go through my house and check the insides of all of the windows. Just thinking about it give me chills again.
I have grandchildren that visit and I will not let them come back until I “believe” that the problem is under control. I just thank God that none of us has been bitten thus far. I pray that He be with me while trying to take care of this problem. I am a Cancer survivor that went through a lot of pain and I really don’t want to go through anything that some of the readers have described.
PEOPLE…. start saying where you live so it is easy to identify better.. I live in chatt, Tennessee and we have caught 2 black widows in 48 hours from back yard.. We have and eye clops( 50 dollar toy that magnifies anything up to 200 xs) so we have played around with the idea of how we could somehow observe these creatures..
we have frozen one in the freezer which worked alright but as it thawed,, it drew up… we also dipped the other one in a polyurethane which worked good too..
Black widows DO play dead.. both of these spiders did and did it very well.. be careful not to get bitten
I lived in Las Vegas growing up til I was about 9. I got bitten many MANY times by the Black Widow. They are poisonous, and it’ll make you really sick. Fever, vomiting, etc….but I never got treatment for it. It really isn’t that bad…now I wouldn’t want to go up against some of the other spiders out there. my brother lives in Australia and the Sydney Funnel Web chased him across the room of his apartment. the video his wife took of it is funny…but the thought of getting bitten by a SFW…not so funny. Another brother of mine was stationed in Hawaii. When they took guard at night, they got live ammo to take on the Banana Spiders.
My husband works for a phone utility company and is always opening up what they call phone peds(we live is Mississippi)there are always spiders and nests in them when opened. One week ago today my husband was bitten by a spider but did not realize it until about 15 minutes later, he has been in terrible pain since have been to Doctor he thought he was having a heart attack did a EKG, stress test this has cost us over $3000.00 and still getting worse-If you think you have been bitten by a spider go to the ER as a regular doctor is not able to handle the problem. We use to be in the extrermination business and he had never been bitten by Black Widow But Now He has. Don’t wait as we have done get to the ER as you never know what type of reaction you are going to have. Don’t know how long symptoms will last but being off work from a Nasty Widow Bite sure does hurt the pocket book.
I had the misfortune of picking one up, that wouldn’t go away. It started webbing me right away, so that each time I brushed it off, it actually was able to come right back to the same place over and over again, well after the venom was exhausted, and continued to bite me. A friend had laughingly gone insane watching this spider continue to fight me off, and volunteered to smash it with a napkin. The spider quickly webbed him as well, spinning and jumping in the air until it was back to where it had first landed on him. Biting his finger each time he tried to smish it until he started crying from the excitement screaming this spider just ate my lunch. Tables and chairs were knocked over, as he ran wildly about the lunch room, still swatting at the spider.
Hey #8 Are you still alive?
We have dozens of black and brown widows in our back yard – in the middle of the summer I can guarantee to find at least ten within a few minutes of looking under things. I got bitten on the arm moving boxes around last summer and although the bite itself wasn’t painful, I had a lot of cramping in my back for about 24 hours. If you mess with them you’ll get bitten, so the moral of the story is leave them alone – they’re not aggressive and will try to hide rather than attack you. They keep bugs down so they’re not all bad.
I live in London, Ontario, Canada. (Between Detroit & Buffalo. We have Black Widows here. I’ve seen many in my mothers garage, however quite small 1/2 inch diameter (including legs. I just wanted to share that as all the sites I’ve seen so far say nothing of the black widow being in the northern usa and Canada.
these spiders are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As i was walking out my back door i noticed in the corner by my door a black spider that was going down to the ground by its web…i freaked out and tried to catch it to kill it…i knocked it down and was able to get it into a container to get a better look…it wasn’t moving…so i dumped it out on the ground to stomp on it and it took off running…do black widows play dead?? i’ve never seen one here and i live in Illinois…i’m so scared and hate spiders especially having small children at home….any advice on what i should do…what if there are more or what if there is a nest…how can you tell a black widow nest from a regular spiders nest…please help so that i can sleep at night!!!!!!!
my dad was bit by a black widow and he died on my moms birthday!!!!
about only 1/200 spider bites are poisonus maybe. the males are harmless maybe. I am having a phobia of them.
My name is Timothy Williams and I currently live in Corpus Christi, Texas, but spent much of my growing life in Edmond,Oklahoma. I was in the Boy Scouts as a Life Scout and First Aid Chief in my troop. Around my house I would commonly lift a shovel or an ice chest and come about that close to being bitten by a black widow. One of these incidences was due to me being an extraordinarily dim witted individual. I had already seen the spider and knew she was there, and that her bite if this occured would be very serious. But I seemed to be quite enchanted by her beautiful appearance. Shiny jet black with a crimson hourglass mark. Good thing I came to my senses in time in ceased the operation of trying to touch the mark with a stick. I did learn something from this, however. Just because a black widow bite is dangerous (yes #1 it is extremely dangerous), does not mean freak out. She will do everything in her power to escape and evade rather than bite. Imagine for a moment that you were just waking up and going out for your paper and you stumbled onto a giant (which is what we are to spiders). Would you be more likely to fight the giant or run?
When I was on a camping trip with the scouts I stumbled onto what at first appeared to be a black widow, although closer inspection told me she wasnt. She was indeed a female widow spider, but not black. This was a female BROWN widow spider (twin sister to the black widow except brown with a light orange hourglass), which is just as poisonous as her sister and rather common to gas pumps wich gives her the common name “gas station spider”. I sprayed her with a can of spray paint I was going to use in a sign I was making. Spraying a highly toxic liquid or gas substance directly at a spider will kill it instantly, just a relieving fact for you there.
Sorry but I dont have any bite pictures but I’ll do my best. My dad is a Paramedic so maybe he can help. Anyway, I hope this helps. Best of wishes to you all.
I live in SW Washington State,and have seen a smaller black widow about 3 years ago. We took it to a pest place to have it identified,and they said that Western Washington does have them, but not nearly as many due to the colder and wetter temperatures here. Has anyone else that lives in WA or OR seen them? If so, get them identified by a professional. I have 3 small children, and a hubby who has severe reactions to even a house spider bite.
I’m curious, my brother was bitten by a spider this morning. By early after he was so very uncomfortable, he went to the er. He showed the doc the bite, and questioned if it was related. His symptoms were nausea, achy back, pain and swelling of the bite area. The bite is the two distinct fang marks. On the ride to the er, he was having chest pains and difficulty breathing. In the past 9 hours, they have done a multitude of tests,including 3 ekg’s and determined he has blood in his urine. X-rays do not show kidney stones, etc. Could the bite also cause the blood in urine?
well i dont know what this is…there is a spot on my rabbit with no hair and a deep hole and i just seen it today (dec 15 mon 2008) and i dont know what it is..ive been trying to figure it out can u help me???
I don’t know where you lucky people live, but my mother and I once found a female black widow spider with an abdomen approximately the diameter of a penny (it was not, of course, perfectly spherical). Not that that size was common, but it was quite rare to find any with abdomens as small as peas.
I have been seeking information with respect to a bite and found this site interesting like others have. A month ago, I was sitting in my hot tub on our patio of our Phoenix home in the late evening. I didn’t feel anything immediately but noticed a small red area on the top of my right index finger with a very small black spot in the middle. (Sunday Morning) I didn’t think much of it but the next morning (MOnday) this site was much larger ( a couple centimeters) and was now an open wound.
A rash was also developing on my body on my hands, part-way up my arms, on my chest and back, and on my legs. I contacted a doctor through my medical provider and he didn’t seem particularly alarmed – though my blood pressure was elevated. He wrote me a prescription for antibiotics and asked me to return Friday. When I returned, my blood pressure was really spiking and he sent me to the emergency room of a local hospital where I was admitted immediately. I was in from Friday to Sunday. I’m on a bunch of medications right now (4 weeks later) and my rash is fading but still there. The wound site has healed but has left a substantial scar. I thought it was a brown recluse but now think it might have been a black widow. Doctors that I have met don’t have a clue. They took a culture from the wound site but I haven’t heard any conclusions. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
I live in Arizona, and one day my aunt caught a little light brown spider with the same body type of the black widow (she put it in a jar). It had dark brown marks on the legs and two white stripes on both sides of the abdomen with a white stripe running through the middle; it also had a white hourglass on the abdomen. I told her I suspected it was a baby black widow spider, she didn’t believe me. So I used Google images and used the search term “baby black widow spider” and found a picture that matched the spider. I showed my aunt the picture and she proceeded to freak out. The spider now is dead and preserved in a jar of alcohol in the 7th grade science teacher’s classroom. (I’m in *th grade and intrested in spiders)
Felt like I was dying… I’m an extremely healthy 33 yr old woman, former model, very athletic. Never had a thing medically wrong with me. Spent a day at the Palms pool on Las Vegas. ( was staying with a friend a block north of the Palms Hotel) I woke up the next morning with a nickel-sized “water” blister on my backside. I stuck a pin in it to drain it. There was zero pain at the site. That morning I had incredibly scary abdominal seizures, reminiscent of when I’d pulled rib muscles years before. I had a very hard time breathing, and was pretty much knocked on my butt every time these seizures consumed my body… every 10 minutes for about 5 hours. In the days that followed, it felt like someome was grabbing my liver/stomach/pancreas/diaphram and squeezing. I sweated profusely the 4 nights thereafter, taking only shallow breaths, being I felt as if I were having some sort of heart attack, like a stack of 30 books were balanced on my chest. This heavy, dull but firm pain continued for 3 weeks. Then was just… gone. The scab/blister/whatever it is is still there, 6 weeks later. Looking exactly the same as it did from day 2. It will not heal!! Probably a black widow. I’m stuck with a big welt on my butt. People… if you see a spider resembling black widow or brown recluse… KILL IT!! They are not your friend! And it will not rain if you step on one!! (Old superstition)
i live near augusta, ga. I was bitten by a black widow yesterday about 3pm ( not realizing what had happened as i thought it was a pricker bush). about fifteen minutes later i felt a burning, numb sensation. I left work about five pm and drove home with this burning sensation when i looked at my left upper thigh it had a 4″ red circle with a hard center about the size of a quarter. it continued to burn and i went to bed about 9pm. at about 2 am i woke up with stomache cramps, muscle cramps, general weakness, and chest discomfort. i was a little freaked so i drove to the er. when i talked with the doctor he was sure it was a black widow as they see this quite often. he said that it would not effect me long term and he updated my tetnus and gave me a prescription for muscle relaxer and pain. he told me that most adults have to just go through the symtoms where small children and the elderly are affected much worse. as i write this i have slept about 2 hours since leaving the er 14 hours ago. i feel like the symtoms are starting to break. earlier i felt as if i was going to die with the worse flu like symtoms i have ever had. right now my legs, buttocks and feet are the most painfull. hope this will help someone, by the way i could never see any fang marks at the bite location.
I was bitten by a black widow three days ago. I actually took it with me to the ER and it’s body was as large or larger than a penny. The bite itself was barely noticeable within two or three hours but the effects were horrible. The first trip to the ER was mainly concerning the pain were the spider had bitten me. I was bitten on my lower back (I had actually rolled over on it in my bed). It began as a small whelp and then a red-rash spread around the site. The pain was intense and I was given morphine at the ER to help with the pain. Within an hour I was released to go home but had to return about four hours later due to intense muscle spasms. The spasms were in my lower back and legs and were so bad that I could not walk. The pain was worse than labor pains of having a child. I was kept in the ER for almost five hours enduring a tremendous amount of pain and vomiting. Now three days later I am still experiencing pain in my legs and feet and am very tired. I can not do a lot without having to sit and rest. The bite from a black widow has been an experience I will not forget.
Hi All,
for Lilliana and those with black widow spiders under a house or in garage, I used to use holiday bug foggers with great success in killing them. First time I used one in my garage there were 11 Black Widows hanging dead.
Think how many were up in the rafters that I didn’t see. I don’t know if Holiday still makes a fogger but any bug fogger should work, I used black flag fogger last time. You have to do it again in a couple of weeks to get babies that hatch since the foggers don’t seem to kill the eggs. Oh, be sure to read the usage on the foggers, you can blow up your house if you fog in an area with a pilot light. We have a lot where I live. The are usually only out on their wierd web at night. I avoid going outside at night and never walk close to anything since the spiders usually are on the web off of some vertical structure 1 foot off the ground. Wasp sprays usually do a good job of individual kills. Last time I had nothing so I grabbed a clorox bathroom cleaner spray bottle and used it. It worked because I checked on subsequent nights and they were all gone, and I saw one dead on the ground.
One of my classmates is a mechanic and has been bit 5 times from the black widows under the cars. This is easy to believe when you look at all the webs on old cars that have been parked for awhile. He says each bite has been less tramatic – the last two he didn’t even go to the hospital. My Aunt was bit in the 60’s and my mom says she had a low grade fever for 6 months. There probably wasn’t antivenom then.
my roommates and I just found a black widow living on the outside of our California duplex that measured almost 4 in. leg span. It was a MONSTER!!!
HI:
Back in 1995-1996; I was a victim of a black Widow Bite. However, part of the information is correct. I didn’t know I wasbit, as i didn’t feel it. It was approx. at night time, when I was with my ex-wife then.
However, the other informatio is questionable. It should be stated, that feeling abdominable pains, is based on the persons body weight, and immunity. I never suffered these symptoms. BUT, it went from a small red rash, to a large burning ring. At first i thought it was a bee sting, and just ignored it.
Then, it went fro the burning ring color, (and it burned bad every day when I went to put pants on;) to an even larger size, jet-black spot on my leg. At that time, it burned slightly; and was hard when tapped on. But hurt when tapped on. I was worried, and I went with the (now ex-wife) to the emergency room; explaining everything, and tat I had suspicions of a spider bite; but not certain.
The first thing they did, was take a syringe, and penetrte thehard black spot like shell on y leg. It burned sooo bad, they had to give me a pain killer, cause of the burning sensation that followed, after some work of the needle tip penetrating the black shell like top layer.
The hen the took it to the lab, and the rest of the pus, came out a yellow-green color. They came back, gave me a penicilan shot, and prescribd some anti-venom meds for the next 2 weeks. They stated that the lboratory confirmed i was BLACK WIDOW bite.
And, that it was in stage 3; of the infected area. I waslucky, cause at stage 4- it is gang green. Thus, with a rotting leg; they stated they would have to amputate the leg just belw the knee, but about 8-10 inches above the foot.
Present day, I have a scar, where only a ti-pinky finger size of flesh, is missing. I thank God for making the decision when I did to get to the emergency room. Or, I would have a prosthetick foot and leg now.
For any and all reders; if you think you were bit by a spider; any species: DO NOT WAVE OFF, even if like me, you think it might have been a bee sting. Chances are you might be right…But, what ifyour WRONG?!…I almost learned the hard way.
I just want to warn everybody about the black widow spider bite. I was bitten two nights ago. I was sitting outside on a porch chair when i felt something crawling on me, and a slight feeling of a bite on my foot. The bite felt like less than that of an ant, until about 30 minutes later. I had thought nothing of the bite, and went inside to watch more football. All of sudden, my foot was on a fire, as if a whole mound of fireants were underneath my skin. I scratched and scratched, and went into the bathroom to look at the bite. The whole top of my foot was red and swollen, and I tried my best to ignore it. I looked back outside, and underneath my porch chair was a black widow on her web, guarding her eggs. Great, I thought. I better look this up on the internet. I was relieved to find that the majority of black widow bites are not deadly, only for little kids and elderly adults.
About 30 minutes later the swelling had gone down and the pain on my foot was not as bad. I noticed two small fang marks, with half of a red circle to the left of the fang marks. I decided to go to bed, and try to forget about the bite. That’s when the real pain started.
At first, my foot started to hurt again. Not too bad of pain, just enough to be annoying. Then the pain began to shoot up my leg. It just felt very achy, and I tried to ignore it and go to sleep. I had dozed off, and woke up to, from what I have read since, would be a typical reaction to a black widow bite. My foot and leg hurt, my abdomen hurt and my abdomen muscles were extremely tight. I had the chills all over my body. It felt like I had the flu, with very painful muscular aches. I took a couple tylenol. The chills seemed to go away, but the pain was still there. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. I eventually made it to the doctor the next morning… and he blew my symptoms off because there was no major swelling or bruising on my foot, only slightly red areas and two fang marks in the middle of those. He only gave me antibiotics, and said to take them just in case my foot gets real swollen.
He seemed to not belive me that my body was in pain, based on the fact that my bite site did not look like it was having a very bad reaction to the bite.
My advice to anyone that gets bit, is to go to a doctor or ER immediately. Tell them that you want some pain medication, it doesn’t have to be narcotic, and some muscle relaxers. The two main symptoms for me were extremely tight muscles in my abdomen, shoulders, and lower back. This causes a lot of pain because it just made me feel like I was so stiff, as if bracing myself for a car accident.
I also want people to know that you will not necessarily have a huge welt at your bite site, but you will probably see the two fang marks. Unfortunately, not every doctor is educated on spider bites.. and apparently this one thought that any painful reaction in the body to a spider bite must be confirmed by a huge welting site where the person was bitten.
I hope nobody reading this here gets bit by a black widow and has to feel like I felt. It was very painful, and now it is two days later and the pain has gone away for the most part, but I still feel very exhausted and lathargic, like I have the flu.
I had just moved from Michigan to Virginia. Once I moved down here I noticed the vast amount of spiders compared to Mich. I am deathly afraid of black widows. So just to overcome my fear I caught one and want to keep it as a pet or actually more of a look at and feed spider, and just leave it alone at all other times. I have been looking all over the internet and cannot find out how to take car eof a black widow. Will someone please help me out. Right now I have it in a 3 inch height, 5 inch long and 2 inch wide clear container. I have had it for three days. What should I have it in, what should I put in the tank with it for enviroment, what should I be feeding it, and how much/ often should I feed it?
Email me at superm054 @ msn.com
I am very curious about this and want to take care of it the right way without putting myself in any SIGINIFICANT danger even though I already am by have one. It is also female and about the size of a half dollar. Thank you.
Wednesday, Oct.1,2008, was tearing down a shed and saw a Black Widow, killed it and proceeded. That night, while sleeping, got a cramp in my left calf muscle. It wasn’t too bad but in an unusual place, as mostly my cramps appear in thighs.
Thursday was normal.
Friday morning I couldn’t hardly walk on my left leg. The calf muscle was very sore to the touch and the muscle feels drawn and would not flex to take a walking stride. It feels like walking with a peg-leg with no flexibility. The muscle almost feels pulled away or detached. Have been cold all day and can’t seem to get warmed up. Friday evening, used a TENS massage unit on calf muscle to try to loosen it up, but had no results.
Saturday morning same as Friday (muscle stiff and sore, cold). Visualized a red spot about the size of a green pea just above sock area on back of leg (calf area).
This may not have any relation to a bite at all, but wandering what happened to my leg made me think of the Black Widow we saw and if there were more overlooked. Surfing on the web and reading the posts this site, makes me believe that’s what happened and I’m having a very mild or beginning reactions.
I”ll bookmark this page and keep you posted as I find out more.
I also live in New Mexico about 40 minutes north of Santa Fe and was bitten by black widow spider two times five days ago. I was bitten while sleeping. I think the spider was hiding in a quilt that I was trying to pull up. It bit me on the elbow and the inner arm.
I woke up because the arm hurt so much it felt like it had been broken or seriously injured. The bites looked like little gnat bites. I thought I had been bitten by a gnat on my funny bone and that’s why it hurt so much. I went into my daughter’s room to sleep, thinking for some reason, that I would be more comfortable. I was up all night because I could not find a comfortable position and no matter what I did, my arm felt as if it had been broken or severely sprained.
My thinking was muddled all morning, and I felt confused and groggy. I went out to run errands but each time I got to where I was going, I forgot why I was there and didn’t complete the errand. I went grocery shopping and came back with six boxes of ice cream and nothing else. I was very clumsy. My hands were shaking and I kept dropping things. My legs felt weak and I was tripping a lot. My knees hurt and gave out a few times for no apparent reason. I didn’t connect any of this to the troublesome “gnat” bite, although I was talking to people about how funny it was that a gnat could hurt so much if it bit your funny bone. In short, my brains were severely addled by this bite.
My daughter decided to investigate and found a black widow in my bed. By this time, I was sick to my stomach and in severe pain everywhere. It felt as if I had broken my arm and both legs. My back, neck and head ached too. I went to a private urgent care across the street from the hospital, as it is much cheaper than the ER. They said they couldn’t do much. They gave me a shot they said would be effective for sic hours, and some lortabs, and kept me an hour for observation.
The lortabs did almost nothing for the pain. I was completely bedridden for three days. Yesterday was my first day out. I went to Rosh Hashonah services but the soles of my feet felt like they were being stung by bees and I was so tired I could barely make it home. I am staying home today and plan to return to work tomorrow. I feel normal except for my feet which are really hurting. Nothing seems to help other than baths.
Also, I have developed an extremely uncomfortable yeast infection possibly because the lortabs changed my ph balance. I’ve been to the doc twice now, and he said that the yeast infection symptoms are the only symptoms I’ve named that are not typical of black widow bites. He checked for necrosis (there was none) and said that most of the “spider bites” he sees are actually MRSA but that this appeared to be a spider bite.
Oh yeah, a big black bruise suddenly appeared on the inside of my arm. It turned out to be one of the bites. I don’t like using poison but I have seen several black widow nests in my yard, one just outside the bedroom door. I usually spray once a year. I have two dogs, three cats, two kids and a hubby so I called the exterminator.
To the lady above from Albuquerque who thinks her neighbor may have planted a black widow in her car…it’s possible, but they really are ubiquitous in New Mexico. They especially like to come inside in the fall when it gets cold. And in response to Jim, the bites look less threatening than mosquito bites…except for the one with the bruise. I was genuinely puzzled by my response to a “gnat.”
I had two babies without anaesthesia. This pain was comparable to childbirth. Really nasty experience (the spider bites, not childbirth) and I would not care to repeat it.
Creepy little girl. She went and hid before I could get a picture of her next to a ruler or something to verify her size. I’d say she is an inch and a half long including the legs. Enjoy!
To keep black widows from getting in your bed, make sure your bed is not on the ground. Put sticky fly paper traps around the bottom of the bed post and make sure your blankets are NOT touching the floor ( now you can sleep in peace )
I live in Huntsville, AL and in the past two months I have probably killed about 20 Black Widow spiders. Most have been unmistakable, however, some have had either white and yellow markings. Most have been under rocks, bricks and logs. The largest one I have killed had an abdomin about the size of a green pea, a very small cephalathorax, and a leg span of about a nickle. I feel confident in saying I think they could pack a real wallup!!!
Today, after killing about six large female Black Widow spiders I felt a slight pin prick on the back of my leg and immediately slapped at it. I never did see a Black Widow on me and so I didn’t think much of it, as I had been very carefully in turning things over and proceeding to kill the little buggers. I also didn’t think to much of it as I assumed that the pain from the bite would be unmistakable. However, from what I have read on this site, one might not be to sure about a possible bite until other symptoms occur later.
I decided to search the web for symptoms of Black Widow bites and stumbled across this site. I want to thank everyone for their useful and informative posts, especially Cynthia! I will also be trying the Wasp Spray trick in the future. For now, I am just trying to keep an eye on things to see if I develop symptoms similar to those some of you have posted. So far, just a little red spot on the back of my leg, and for some reason it feels like my eyelids and checks are tingling as though I just rubbed BenGay all over them. I am curious if anyone from previous or future posts has/have ever experienced the tingling eyelids? I am just thankful to have stumble across this site to learn about the various reactions others have experienced.
As a nurse, I can say for sure that everyone reacts differently to any bite so it’s completely incorrect to say that widow venom is only dangerous to small children or the elderly or people with a compromised immune system.
My husband works outside & often gets bitten by spiders, mosquitos, yellow jackets, etc. He has no known allergies. So we weren’t at all concerned when he noticed a cluster of itchy, mildly painful bites on his side one evening when he came home from work. As the evening wore on, he began having GI upset & nausea but I had just gotten over a 2 day stomach flu & assumed he had the same.
His symptoms worsened during the night & he decided to stay home from work. Within about 2 hours of callin off, he went downhill rapidly. He had a fever & chills, with a cold sweat & clammy skin. He was having severe abdominal cramping & suddenly broke out in hives all over his body, even on his eyelids. He began to have difficulty breathing & was having excruciating muscle pain throughout his body.
In the ER, they immediately began an IV anti-histamine, which helped the itching & breathing problems. Tests ruled out a heart attack & appendicitis even though he had classic symptoms of both. When the doctor said he suspected a black widow bite, I thought he was insane. But he explained that multiple bites or sensitivity to the venom results in the same type of allergic reaction one would have from consuming shellfish if you were allergic to shellfish (anaphylaxis).
After some IV treatments, he was sent home with an antihistamine, antibiotics & something for heartburn. But the breathing problems continued & he was back in the ER within 36 hours. My husband described it as similar to a horrible case of bronchitis or pneumonia — heavyiness & constriction in his chest, felt as though he couldn’t breathe deeply enough.
He received more IV treatment & was again sent home with instructions to follow up with his family doc in a couple of days. Our family doc railed against the ER diagnosis, calling the ER doc a quack & insisting that my husband must have some severe & undiagnosed allergy. However, he called us at home the next day to inform us that he had done some research & now agreed with the ER doctor. He was quite contrite & admitted that here in Pittsburgh, he just hasn’t had much experience with venomous spider bites.
The most important things to consider if you suspect a widow bite is that the venom works on the nervous system which causes muscles pain & cramping. That leads to GI & breathing problems. The venom does cause an allergic reaction in some people. The symptoms can easily be mistaken for appendicitis, cardiac problems or an undiagnosed allergy. If you know that you’ve been bitten by something & experience any breathing problems or signs of allergic reaction, go to the ER. It could save your life, which is worth any cost even if you have to pay it off in $20 increments for the next ten years.
Please keep in mind that no medical facility can refuse treatment for a life-threatening condition. They can’t turn you away for lack of insurance or for not being able to provide some payment up front. Breathing & allergic symptoms may be fatal so they MUST treat you.
While in my house last night, I flicked a spider off of my shoulder, then my arm and while it was dangling off, I saw the lovely little hour glass. Not sure how it got in the house.
I just found a black widow in my garage in Enterprise Alabama. We have a lot of brown widows and “Banana” Spiders, but this is the first black widow for us. I took a picture and will send it to this site. Now I will go kill it since I have 3 small kids and I don’t feel like sharing my garage work area with it.
wow you people are crazy i hate spiders dead or alive they all are really scarry i have been bit twice by a black widow when i was 11 and now at 18 the first time it was on my leg and the second time was on my arm, it was really scarry cuz i dont know when i was bit but i had seen two or three in my room so just the fact of thinking that i am sleeping with them at night gives me this creepy freeling!! thanks
hi i was wondering i was out flipping on my bike in dirt and grass and i came in ad washed my hands ten i noticed that my middle finger is hurting ALOT!! lik when i put prusher on it is that a sign of being bittne? please help im terrified or dieng and i really dont want to! can youdive me some more signs please thanks ill check in in a couple min thanks bye
I just found a fairly large black widow in our garden today under a pile of leftover trex deck in Denver Metro today. I have killed one in our garage and a few in So Cal where I used to live. This is the first time to ever see one outside. I think it’s key when you see a dirty non-symmetrical wed to be cautious as this tends to be their trademark. After I killed this garden dweller sure enough messy, ugly web close by.
I actually feel lucky. I was planning on jumping down in basement window wells and cleaning them out without spraying but now I think I will spray first clean after! I just happened to use wasp killer as it was handy, took a few squirts to kill this sucker. Carb cleaner works well too.
Found a black widow in my couch. luckily i just stayed still till it went away then i just sat their for another 40 minutes. I was scared to death
We live in Northeast Georgia and find black widows all the time. All the one’s we have found like hiding. Usually under things, which makes turning anything over a little risky. Found the best stuff to kill them is wasp/hornet spray. The kind that shoots like 10-20 feet. It takes a little longer than when spraying a wasp, but it works!
message for joe if u was bitten buy a black widow spider and left it a few days you would be dead!!!! dead dead so why lie being bitten is clever and isnt guna give u a rep…. its pointless
Tuesday night of this week I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. I woke up with a burning red circle on my arm that had two deep fang marks in its center. The circle was about the size of a quarter. By evening it was the size of a silver dollar and had red streaks radiating away from it. By the next morning my entire upper arm was swollen, the fang marks were blistered up and there was a bright red spot about 6 inches long around the bite. I checked with a nurse friend who advised me to see a doctor asap. The venom had entered my lymph system. I felt very much like I had the flu. My head hurt, my stomach ached, I felt exhausted, and I was dizzy, hazy and slow. My arm hurt a lot to move. The doctor gave me an antibiotic and ibuprofen. I can’t take stronger pain meds due to allergies. I still wasn’t sure what kind of spider bit me, so I called a local entymologist. I described the size of the fang marks (which were 5mm apart, 2mm long, 1mm wide) and my reaction. She said her two top choices were a black widow or a wolf spider (although the wolf spider isn’t truly venomous one can have a severe allergic reaction and/or a staph infection from the puncture). I asked her where to look for the spider. She said, “low to the ground in a dark, undisturbed place–like under the couch or bed.” She also advised that if we felt webbing that seemed extra strong or crackled when disturbed that was Black Widow webbing and to move your hand as quickly as you can.
My husband up turned the couch and right where I had been sleeping was a 2″ wide black widow, the male was near by and she was sitting with an egg sag (white ball). She quickly got vacuumed along with mate and eggs. Today is Sunday and my arm still hurts, I’m still feeling very sleepy (although I slept over 24 hours straight) and hazy. The fang marks are white and flaky today. The swelling is down, but the redness remains.
Just found a black spider on a piece of clothing hanging on my bathtub. It was dead, but was not there a couple hours before. It was very black like a black widow and had red on its underside and up close to its head. I couldn’t tell the shape of the red on its underside. The body was not very large like a black widow. It was about one half inch, including the legs, best I can figure. Is there another spider other than a black widow that is shiny black with red on it? I live in western North Carolina. Thanks for your help.
I have been bitten by a Black Widow and I can tell you about my experience. I purchased several hundred used concrete blocks when I built my house. A friend and I were loading them onto my trailer when I was bit. We were down to the last row of blocks when I felt something bite me right above the cuff of my left glove. I instantly dropped the block and smashed what I thought was going to be a wasp. It felt like someone had stuck a lit cigarette to my left wrist. I felt the bump of the bug I had smashed with my right hand, when I pulled my hand away to see the culprit is when I saw the spider. She was dead and I dropped her. I picked her back up to verify what I just saw, and yes she had the red hourglass. I was scaird I had heard all the horror stories. I had a welt approximately 1-1/2 inches in diameter raised up approximately 1/4 inch within the first ten minutes.
I started to feel nauseated, my friend knew I was allergic to wasp and bee stings. He asked me if I had any Benadryl in the truck, I did and I had forgotten about it. I started feeling sicker and I was 30 minutes from civilization. My wife is a RN so I called her on my cellphone and asked her if Black Widow bites were really deadly, she did not know for sure. About twenty minutes after the bite I started to feel my throat tighten up, this really scaird me. I had been stung by wasps and bees before and never reacted that bad.
We started driving back towards Savannah, Ga. in the direction of the hospital, my wife’s hospital was over an hour away. My wife called me back on the cellphone and told me she had called the poison control hotline. They told her the bite was only deadly if you were having an adverse reaction to it. She told me to take a Benadryl, I told her I had already taken one. About twenty minutes after I took the Benadryl capsule my throat quit getting tight. That is when I figured I would be OK to drive on home and see my wife and the doctor she works for. An hour after the bite the welt was still very pronounced and red, and the center of the bite had started to turn black.
An hour and a half later I saw my wife and the doctor. He told me to take another Benadryl capsule and he thought I would be OK. The antihistamine had stopped the reaction for me. There is not a doubt in my mind if I had not taken the Benadryl right away, I would have had to go to the nearest emergency room for treatment. I had the welt for several days, the black spot at the center did not go away for over a month.
i was bitten by a black widow about six hours ago…i looked at this site for advice about home remedies, but it wasn’t a whole lot of help. I’m in a lot of pain right now and my whole body has severe muscle cramps. i might have to go to the emergency room, but i’m trying to avoid it because i have no insurance. anywho…i wouldn’t wish this feeling on anyone, so be very wary if you know you have widows!
cynthia # 77 thank you so much for your posting and encouragment and wise councel.my daughter become very sick two months ago and still deals with symptoms rotating the severest is gone but there are symptoms that come and go and the medical help has been frustrating almost defeating .and guess what the experts with poison cotrol say there are no black widows in minnesota so you can imagine the medical protocal won’t even aknowledge the possabilities. she has been in physical therapy for two months .I called her and read your blog and she said thank you.I live in colorado.I would love to get in touch with your doctor. kay G.
Okay, just went out to our patio for a smoke, we have lots of great tropical plants out there, came back in and felt (still feel) like I have a small numb marble in the ball of my foot right below my 2nd toe. Couldn’t find any bite marks, but still concerned I may have been bitten by something. Killed a large female widow last night who was just hanging out on our candle stands. Had to bring the husband out after I noticed her and asked him to confirm what she was. I normally don’t kill spiders with the exception of widows, her corpse is still where we left it…hope her spawn didn’t come get me! I was barefoot, and put my feet up on the bottom rung of the chair I was sitting on. Never felt a thing until I went inside. Seriously feels like a little marble under the base of my toe. Live in tropical North County San Diego, so who knows what it may be. Got onto this site to make sure I actually have a spider bite or perhaps another odd bite. Will check back when symptoms subside…or not…
i found 1 baby back widow today
A friend of mine was bitten by a black widow while hiking a few years ago. Some people have said that bites go away after an hour or two but his took months to disappear. He told me that it was very painful and I hope i will never get bitten. Also Yesterday (July 31 2008) I found a Female Black Widow right next to my house. I killed it and its body was a little smaller than a dime. BTW they are fast little buggers and they jump so watch out.
Actually The Black widow is not the most venomous spider in the world 2 other spiders have much more toxic venoms. The most venomous is the Brazilian Wandering Spider followed by the Sydney Funnel Web. The most poisonous spider in the Black Widow Family is the “Red Back” spider found in Australia. US Black Widow venom is about 10,000 times more toxic than rattlesnake venom, where as the Red Back’s is about 100,000 times more toxic. The worlds most venomous animal is the Box Jellyfish, who’s venom kills 100% of all human heart cells it’s exposed to. Just a little FYI
I should have taken pics but I didn’t. 2 days ago my daughter was bitten by a black widow. She felt the bite but it didn’t bother her for etleast 15mins. The pain started at the site(right behind her right knee) and worked its way up to her abdomen. She was screeming in pain w/i an hour. In 3 hours time they had her on morphine and IV fluids. She had extreme pain in both legs, feet, hips, and abdomen. Her eyelids were swollen, her mouth was dry. 48 hours later she is home but had to be put on vicodin, the pain is still coming, just getting less severe. The bite initially looked like a little red dot, and a while later it swelled in about an inch circle and had white spots around it. By the time we were at the hosp. it was all gone but the tiny red dot. Thats it, it’s hard to believe what that bite did to her.
July11 2008 I was bitten by a Black Widow on my left shoulder blade. I knocked it off and killed it, putting it in a baggy we took it to the hospital with us. The pain from the bite at first felt like someone punched my back hard hurting from the back into my chest. One and a half hours later my belly was getting sore. 2 hours later my chest and belly were geting worse. They gave me a shot of Morphine, it worked for about 5 mins.
The pain was getting worse. 3 hours after the bite the pain in my chest and belly was worse then the pain I felt from kidney stones. My legs were now hurting along with my chest and belly. I was given morphiprone time and time agin with the pain subsideing for a few mins each time only to come back just as bad. I was given the antivenom 4 hours after the bite. The doctor gave it very slowly as not to cause anaphalaxis.
It started to relieve the pain after 30 mins or so. After 1 hours I felt alive again. The next day I was sore but nothing like before. Today, almost 48 hours later, my kidneys are sore and I am have a little bite of nasuea. Much better. Go to the Emergency Department if bitten. You may not die, but at the time you sure think you are.
does any one know if you can sell black widow spider venom
I live in Washington state, north of Seattle. I didn’t think black widows lived here. Replacing a light fixture on the side of the house one day, a large, shiny, plump black spider emerged. I captured it in a jar. It had no markings on the abdomen below, but rather the red marking was on the back of the spider’s abdomen. I have always wondered if this was a black widow, but have never seen one in photos or described in this manner. Does anyone know? Thanks.
Joy, that is not true that this cannot be from the spider bite. I had symptoms for several months that kept changing – apparently as this toxin went through my body. Most general doctors are not well trained about this sort of thing and maybe you should look for an expert or toxicologist (poison specialist) or at least, a better doctor. I finally found a decent doctor with a very good background. I started calling doctor offices and asking their training and experience.
If it is exceptional, they will tell you – otherwise, likely they will think this is strange and blow you off. At least, that was my experience. But it worked and I found a good doctor finally whose staff was quite happy to brag about her exceptional training and qualifications. This doctor said it was not that unusual to have a long reaction to the bite as I had, depending on how sensitive the person is to the toxin. Since you can only get the anti venin in the first three days, your daughter will have to sweat it out now. I used ice on the bites to help with the swelling and pain and it just took a lot of time. It can’t hurt to have your daughter drink a lot of fluids to try to flush this stuff out of her system as best as possible. Apart from water, you can try having her drink Pedialyte or Gatoraide or some other fluids that have electrolytes in them that will help restore the natural balance in the blood too. And then there is the usual stuff to watch, good diet, vitamins etc.
Deal with the symptoms as they arise and try to find a better doctor. By the time I found one, my situation was mostly under control, but it took months. — Good luck and don’t let them try to tell you it is in your daughter’s head or she should be better faster. Some people do recover quickly, but then, sometimes others die or would die without medical help. And some take a long time to recover even with medical help – so it is different for everyone. There are lots of ignorant doctors out there.
umm…i though you would like to know
that in australia the Black widow spider
is more commonly known as the Red Back
Spider…there is alot of good info on
this site…thanx i enjoyed reading
sbout spiders
This morning I saw a black widow (I recognized it by its markings) It was about an inch in diameter and it was hanging upside from I guess the eave of my house. My question is if there’s one is it likely that there are more?
My daughter was bitten on the wrist by what we think was a black widow spider in a hotel room in Alabama. The next few days she was very sick with fever chills, abdominal pain, joint pain, cramping and all the classic symptoms. Her little finger became numb the next day. Now it is several months later-the numbness has traveled to now include her entire arm and hand .
There is at times pain and itching in the entire arm and hand but the numbness is always there. Doctors say “no way” is this related to the spider bite. She is quite debilitated by this and very depressed. What could help her at this point? Is there anything that can be done? I appreciate a response from anyone who has found a treatment that has helped.
Momma Joy
In regards to #7 from Ana, Since1988/89 I have had a swelling in my left foot. I went to a pediatrist and he found a fractured sesamoid bone in the ball of my foot and assumed the swelling was from that and prescribed orthodics. I remember seeing red lines going up my leg and pain “initially”. It’s June of 2008 and till this day my foot is or get’s swollen, and about 4 years ago I noticed two small marks akin to fang marks. I will go to the doctor in July when my medical benifits kick in. Black widow bites are treated by antivenom from horse syrum which can have alergic effects/reactions and / or calcium gluconate injections. I have cramps at night in my feet and legs and have experienced some abdominal cramping.
This past winter/spring I went to the doctor (without benifits) due to symptoms of lack of bowel movemments, sour taste in my mouth, acid indegestion, and lack of appetite. The doctor gave me stuff for the symptoms but it didn’t solve the problem. Doctors aren’t trained to check for parasitic infection because we aren’t in a third world country. I actually got great info on parasites and the product that eliminated my symptoms.
The reason I mention this is, WE need to be well informed when going to the doctor for diagnosis! Ask questions, read the symptoms of spider bites on sites like this. I am going to the doctor in July to get rid of being woken up by cramps in my legs and foot at night and the swelling. I know the symptoms, have a set of fang marks on my foot, and know the treatment. This is a great site, thanks for the info!!!
ok first #1 your wrong the funnel web spider isnt that venomous….ive been bit by one and it just hurts a lot because it has really big fangs…..and #17 i think you just found a normal american house spider….i just caught one and it fits the same description
This is Thurs. and I stepped on the black spider lady last Sunday in my basement. I stepped back onto a t-shirt someone left on the floor and thought I had been stuck by a rose thorn as we had been cutting them all week. I jumped up and screamed and my husband laughed saying, “there’s no bug there”. Wondering what stuck my toe I picked up the shirt and the black widow crawled out. We just stared at it, then my husband with his shoe killed it and put it in a baggy. I read that I did not need to go to the hospital so I just sat around all day.
It was weird, I had chills on my left side only for hours, with nausea, and horrible stomach cramps. Today the stomach still hurts really bad and woke me up last night. My foot is slightly sore but there are no marks left. I was wondering how long the stomach pains last.
I was worried as I have an auto-immune disease that is similar to Lupus. Even though I was bitten on my toe, my left arm muscle hurt severely for days too. it felt as though it had been beat with a hammer.
If it had been one of my kids I would have rushed them to the ER but for me I didn’t want to pay my insurance co-pay unless I knew I had to.
Hello,
I saw a small black spider on my hose in the garden about the size of a female black widow but it had 3 black circular-ish markings on its back and i wondered if anyone new what it was?
Thanks,
Ken
I live in Canada (western area) and in my shed i saw 2 of the exact same spiders as the picture on top, on the same web my brother (genius straight a’s) said that Canada is too cold to have
black widows to live here. I don’t know if this is true but my i go in there a lot to get tools and I’m worried if I’ll get bit by one. Can they survive in Canada?
Thanks,
I live in Northern Michigan where it is very dry. We have desert like conditions on our property, we even have prickly pear cactus. We have an infestation of Black Widow. Some that we have found have different markings than the regular black widow pics that you see. So I captured some and brought them to the University of Tennessee for identification.
They came out to have the same venomous properties as the southern black widow variety. Every year I kill between 50 to 100 black widows around my house. I even found a couple in my room. There was also one in my sons boot, luckily he looked in his boot prior to putting it on. I have taught everyone in my family about the black widow web type and to check boots and other items left outside prior to bringing them inside.
I have also been studying them the last few years and discovered that the females do kill the males sometimes right after the egg sacs are made and sometimes right before the sacs hatch. Regardless, every nest has a dead male in it. I killed about 20 with my son last weekend and every nest had a male and a female and about half of the nests (webs) also had an immature male. Interesting, I haven’t seen that before.
We wanted to see what the most effective chemical agent was that would kill them. So we used all sorts of chemicals on each nest and found that wasp spray and a good squishing instrument works the best. Its hard to kill them with chemicals. Every year we collect several in jars, its neat to watch them make their web and their behavior is interesting. In fact we have one on our kitchen table right now.
Another curious spider that many people do not know about is the Hobo spider. Its a relatively newly introduced species in the US and is on the move to different states. Its bite is that of a Brown Recluse but can cause hemolytic properties where you can have bleeding out of your ears, eyes, and any other hole, like eboli virus.
This spider is on the move and could be in YOUR backyard. This spider was just named in 1994 and classified as a highly toxic species in 1996 and added to the toxic spider list in the US as #3, the first 2 are the black widow and brown recluse. I am in Michigan and they aren’t supposed to be here yet, but I believe that I am staring at one right now in a jar. I’m very familiar with all Michigan spiders and I know it can be misidentified easily, but it looks just like one. I’ll send it to a local university for further evaluation. Look it up and see if thats what the bite is caused by if you were bitten by a spider, sounds like some of you could have been bitten by this one.
hello ..i live in Chattanooga tn and i just noticed two red dots right at my neck no swelling are redness and i was just wanting to know if anyone new what it was?i was outside cutting my grass this afternoon but i didn’t really see anything…i don’t think it is a brown recluse cause i have been bit on the leg by one …it kind of had me scared cause i have heard that a black widow can kill you…if anyone knows please let me know… thank you …missie
I found this baby black spider in my house yesterday i thought it was a baby tarantula but i don’t know
I once lived in an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles that was infested with western black widow spiders. They were everywhere, especially along the cinder-block walls and flagstone steps in front of the building. Occasionally inside as well. There must have been several hundred to a thousand or more on the premises.
I wasn’t very conscious of spiders then, but there were so many I suggested the manager call an exterminator. Most of them were pretty small, but one was gigantic and could be seen from the other side of a wide street . Anyway, I must have stepped in a web one morning coming home from breakfast. By the time I got to my apartment on the second floor, I was nauseous and dizzy. I had a very sharp pain that went up and down my whole leg, so bad I could not walk on it. It became difficult to breath.
I remember, though, that as I lay on my bed I felt kind of amused: It was the first and only time in my life that I had washboard abs. I did not know what was wrong with me, and after a while, I felt like I might die, so I started off to the medical clinic down the street, hopping on one foot. Eventually I decided it wasn’t worth it and went back home. The worst effects were over in about an hour, and by the next day I was fine.
The advice I want to give is to kill black widow spiders when you see them in and around your house. Widows can have up to 500 young in one year. The last thing you want is a widow infestation in your building. The other problem is that they tend to build webs on steps, and so it’s very easy to step in a web and get one up your pants leg. Spray and stamp — hit them with insecticide first and then smash them with a nice flat-soled shoe or flyswatter. Make sure you completely smash them, because they will play dead. Light, water and other spiders also create an inhospitable environment for them.
i live in western new york and happen to run across a black widow spider today a work, i never thought that a widow would be found in buffalo ny, scary !! has anyone else hear or found anything in the area ?
Hi, I was bit by something in my sleep 5 days ago, because I woke up with a one side of my neck swollen. There is no real sign of bite marks or redness. Symptoms include headache, chills, sweating, fatigue, and weakness occasionally.
Sometimes my knees will feel stiff and weak after walking too long. The sweating and chills aren’t constant, but I know something is wrong. Does anyone have any idea what it can be? I am thinking it’s a black widow or another venomous spider even though there are no bite marks or redness.
I live in southern California, and we do find black widow’s near and around the house all the time, but rarely do they ever get inside. They enjoy dark places.
I went to take the trash out last night and to my horror found one of those creepy things crawling on my trash can, get this… the weather was chilly, in the low 50’s and it was raining. I live in Middle Tennessee and have never seen a black widow in real life until now.
I put her in a jar and screwed the lid on tightly, put a few holes in it so she could breathe. I don’t want to kill her but I have 2 kids, one is 13 the other is 2, I don’t want them bitten.
I’d love to keep her, in a tightly sealed jar of course, but the thought of it being in my house, the jar crashing to the floor and breaking while the creepy crawly spider runs to hide is enough to make me change my mind!
i have a pet black window spider that is a female. they’re actually fairly intelligent creatures. My spider can sit, lay down, and roll over at my command. It also helps to hold up a treat. They’re good house watchers if theres ever a burglar all they do is bite me to let me know someone is here. Everything goes blurry, i wake up in extreme pain(must have been from that fight with the burglar) and best of all theres no sign of the burglar ever again.
I have a long background with Black widows mainly because we have them thriving around outside our house all the time… The venom of a Black widow spider is NOT that deadly as stated in this article, believe me I have been bitten with one and all I got was a small red dot. In-fact only 1 out of 10 Black Widows Spiders are deadly, mainly because it differs on their size and how much pile of venom is stored in their sac. It is however critical and sometimes deadly to babies and pre-mature children who don’t have a strong immune system yet.
They are more scared of us then we are afraid of them and most of the time they don’t attack humans unless they see you as a threat or you are attacking them, preferably it is best to leave them be, they save me the money of getting rid of our fly problem.
I have been married to a Paramedic for 18 years. The Black Widow venom is a combination of a hemo (blood) toxin and a neuro toxin, and researchers still don’t know all the components. If you are taking an MAOI or certain other drugs, GO TO THE E.R.~black widow bites can be fatal, and ALWAYS need anti-venom, available only with medical facilities. Before you go, wrap ice in a cloth and keep it on the bite (always 2 invenomation spots) to keep the toxin from raging thru your body. My adult cousin was in the hospital for over 2 weeks due to a black widow bite and nearly died. Don’t take this so lightly~if bitten, YOU NEED MEDICAL TREATMENT!!!! Get It!
I’m a shadetree mechanic and while working on a parts car I got bit by a black widow (the car is infested with them).
It bit me in my armpit and swelled to the size of a gumdrop. I’ve had a few nights of sleep apnea and I’ve been terribly sleepy as well. I didn’t even know I got bit until yesterday when I put two and two together (my wife thought the bite was a cyst or something but my complexion is usually very clear). I guess that I have a very mild reaction to the bite as it really hasn’t affected me to much. Just some muscle ache and the aforementioned problems. The apnea was probably the worst of it (scared my wife and concerned me as well, but went away after two nights).
I guess you body weight has a bit to do with it (I’m about 200 lbs) and if you have an allergic reaction to the bite. I imagine where you get bit would play into the severity of the symptoms.
I pulled what looked like a cacoon out of a bird house. Something black stung me, but got away. Was not at all like a spider web, but what makes a white nest like a cacoon and bites or stings? There might be 1 tiny red spot, not sure. There are definitely not 2. It’s been about an hour. My thumb hurts a little, but is not swollen. I used ice immediately.
My wife and I just purchased a new home in south Louisiana. The home was completed about 6 months prior. Once we closed on the home and started moving boxes in, I saw them … BLACK WIDOWS! They were in the garage, and in one or two spots in almost every room in the house … I killed 14 of them in two days. We had moved about 10 boxes in the kitchen about a week ago … and guess what? A rather large widow had made a home/trap between them. We are fairly freaked out to be honest. Tomorrow an exterminator is comming out and hopefully will shed a lil light on what seems to us a very scarey situation. Amost all posts have been about getting bite by them … what I want to know if how to get them to leave!!!! Any good advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
I Just discovered 2 black widow webs in my yard today. I’ve never been bit and hopefully never will.
Hey my name is Scott I was biten by a Black widow last saturday and had to go to the Hospital. It bit me on the tip of my litle finger and the pain was the worst pain I’ve ever had it made my finger swell and i had red line going up my finger to my arm. I had to get a shot and i was put on meds Ive been off from work about a weeknow but im doing better but my chest and arms stil hurts bad and i cant feel the tip of my finger
This is for post #22 (Sydney) It sounds like you were bitten by a brown recluse, I was bit by one three times and had all those symptoms, once they dug out about 2 sq inches of damaged tissue from all three bite areas I was given antibiotics and had to get the gaping holes in my arm and leg packed and sterilized every day for two weeks. You are lucky you did not lose a limb! and as for your doctors they should have known better. The doc that knew what was wrong with me was a navy corpsman. If anyone gets a mosquito bite symptom or pimple/rash looking area that keeps spreading, red or purple in color, after a week the skin hardens and becomes very painful, go see a doctor immediately (recommending a dermatologist or ER if it is serious), every hour the infection is spreading and your tissue is dying…This could save you a limb!
my daugter got bit by a black widow and i dont know what to do
How long does it take for a black widow egg pouch to hatch out?
I am afraid of all kinds of spiders and now for the science fair I’m using a Female black widow. (Its weird having a black widow in the house).I now no that I could get used to spiders. On 2/13/08 we feed the spider crickets (3 crickets).Well I hope you liked my little story.
Hey #32 Joe Its called a recurring bite wound. I did a research paper on Loxceles Reclusa aka Brown Recluse and they are common among recluse bites but I don’t know about Black Widow bites for sure if they can reccur or not :).
Josh #46 they don’t travel far from their nest/web/homething (i don’t care if that’s not a word it is now) its home thing was probably not very far away.
I live in Florida just 15 miles north of Orlando an have been bitten 7 times now on my hips by black widow spiders, the bite area gets very hot an sore an can swell to the size of a grapefruit! I was bitten on Jan. 11, 2007 on my left hip and I still can’t sit down.
I sat on a bench on my patio and I guess there must have been a black widow under the bench, always look before you set! It leaves a hole the size of a 22 cal bullet and after a few hours it feels like you have been shot!
Then there is the very painful procedure at the hospital!
I was bitten while mowing the lawn the day after Hurricane Wilma came through Southwest Florida in October a couple of years ago. I felt the sting, looked down, saw a larger than normal shiny black ball roll off my ankle, thought hmmmm that’s a really big ant and went on mowing. I’m overweight and on blood pressure medicine, so to be honest that might have helped me. I felt the sting, noticed it but thought nothing of it after that. That night, about 6 hours later I woke up really thirsty and went to get a drink. Right then the shakes started, I was trembling like I was freezing, my teeth were chattering, it was so strange.
I woke my husband up, of course he said it was all in my mind and I laid there for about an hour and finally fell asleep shaking the whole time. A couple hours later, I woke up and felt like my insides were turning to concrete. That was the first thought I was able to put together through the fog of the pain, it felt like someone had poured concrete into my body and it was hardening up in my stomach. The next morning, I was ok. Not great, but ok. We talked about what was wrong the night before, figured I ate something bad but I decided to stay home from work, sure enough a couple hours later, same thing, the shakes, the pain in my stomach and the added bonus of sweating like I was running a marathon.
On Thursday I was so out of it and shaking so bad, saying I was cold that I ended up on my couch with my Rottweiler under 9 blankets and made my husband lay down wih me to keep me warm. Off and on for hours at a time it went for 4 days. Every time we were headed to the hospital I felt better (insurance was an issue).
Finally on Saturday when I had a lucid time and we were talking about what the heck was wrong with me, we just kind of looked at each other and at the very same time, said spider bite. I told him about the thing that bit me while I was mowing, showed him the spot which was just like a slightly oversized red ant bite by that time and we searched the net for the symptoms. After that, he went on a spider hunt. He killed over 20 female black widows in our yard and on the outside of our house and over 100 egg sacks. In one day. They had just proliferated to the point where there were so many, and one got blown into the grass from the storm and was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.
I got bit again 4 months ago, same symptoms, same everything, but not as bad. If I had known it was a black widow the first time I would have gone to get the shot, but I’m glad I didn’t because even though spiders scare me, snakes do more and once you are treated with anti venom for a spider bite, it may not work for a snake bite. I’ll save it for the important one. Plus I am now Spiderwoman.
I think I was bitten by a Black Widow Spider on the wrist while I was sleeping. I woke up with something on my arm and when I tried to shake it off I felt it bite me. It just felt like a pin prick. The spider ended up getting away but from what I saw of it I believe it was a Black Widow. I have seen several Black Widows in my house just in the last few days. I decided to just go back to sleep after that.
I slept for a few hours and then woke up that morning. I had mild to moderate stomach pains and felt like I had a lump in my throat. I vomited that night but only once. But the main thing I noticed was a feeling of anxiety and depression. It was a very strange feeling that’s hard to describe. I took some asprin and xanax which made me feel a little better.
The area on my arm where I was bitten didn’t hurt at all that day unless I pushed on it. It was just a dry light brown patch with no visible fang marks. It didn’t hurt and neither did that arm. The main thing that bothered me was how weird it made me feel mentally. I was very anxious and was in a very depressed mood. Before I got on the web I knew Black widow bites could cause stomach pain but I had no idea it could cause anxiety. The anxiety wasn’t caused from fear of the bite because I knew the bites aren’t usually deadly in healthy adults and I was in a position to get help if I needed it.
What I would like to ask you guys is your opinion on if you think it was a Black Widow Spider bite. My stomach was the only thing that cramped and it wasn’t all that severe. It did get bad enough to vomit once but I probably could have held it back if I had wanted. I don’t remember having any other cramps or pains. Not even in the area I was bitten.
The bite didn’t exactly look like what is described on the net either. I was much better the second day but still had some stomach pain. I also never had a fever. Do you guys think I was bitten by a Black Widow or was I bitten by something else and then just happen to get sick with something the next day? I know this is a long post but I would really appreciate any of your opinions. Thanks in Advance.
Josh
About 30 days ago I got bit by something on my left index finger when I put my hand on a bale of hay. It felt like a needle prick. Then it started burning and hurting. Next day was still hurting, red around area of bite a little swelling. Found two fang marks about 1/4 -1/2 inch part on finger. One hole was pus filled. After about a week the finger was back to normal. no pain or redness. Now a month or so later, I got a massive headache, muscle soreness, felt like flu, and low back pain. Went to Chiropractor, got an adjustment and he tested me for toxins and said I was poisoned. Hum? I hadn’t used any pesticides etc. that would be toxic. He gave me some detoxifying supplements.
Pain started to get worse and moved into my legs walking was getting more difficult. Spasms were more frequent, hard to sleep, lay down, sit down, walk etc. Went back to see him again after developing a red bumpy rash on leg and foot and on lower back, point of most pain. He said that was from the toxins coming out. Told him about the bite I had gotten about a month ago and said this must be the poison you were seeing. So he doubled up on the detoxifying supplements. Next day I can hardly walk because the sole of my foot is so sore and swollen a little. My little toe hurts the worst. Rash started to burn last night. Muscle pain seems better, and I don’t have a headache. I’ve read these posts on this site and it has been helpful in trying to determine what bite me. I believe that it was a black widow spider but am not certain. What else can I expect, or what else should I be doing? and how long will these symptoms last?
Hi, about a year ago I was bit by a black widow while sleeping on my couch during the night. I felt the bite, but immediately went back to sleep thinking nothing of it. The following day, I felt a little unusual pain and still didn’t think anything of it, it was under my left breast.
Another day past and the pain gradually got worse and i started feeling a little sick, i then looked and noticed it started to turn purple and was very painful to the touch, so i then called and went to my doctors, which they confirmed was indeed a black widow bite.
I became sick for few days, and was put on an antibiotic, and something else having to do with calcium. it took a good week or so for the bite to go away, and it hurt really bad, but other then that i didn’t have any other symptoms, it was just a purple and greenish sore that got a little bigger each day before the medicine kicked in, and cleared up. i then had my house searched and was found that every house and backyard here in Florida has them, not many just realize it.
I was told if i see a web, to take the web down, and they will go away. Although i am lazy, and don’t feel like it often, but it does work. I recommend that if anything seems out of the ordinary, call a doctor and immediately go in before it gets worse.. 🙂
I was bit last October. It was on my upper thigh with a red mark, and purple marks within 2-3 inches below it. These were caused by broken blood vessels. I felt sick after 15 min (headache-y and lethargic.)
After 30 min I had to lay down because I felt so bad. For the rest of the day (Guessing I was bit around 11:45 am) and through the night, I was terribly weak. I had nausea, excruciating muscle pain, and went from feeling hot to cold many
times. At the time I didn’t know why I felt so sick, and assumed I was getting the flu…except it was the worst flu ever.
It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized I had a bite on my leg. From various sources we figured it must have been a black widow, although we couldn’t verify it. Also, I had awful headaches for a week or more afterwards.
I found a large female black widow on my porch this weekend (Santa Cruz CA). My wife is very freaked out as we have 2 small kids. What is the likelyhood of there being more ? Or a nest nearby ? Do they travel far, if there is a nest would it be within a short distance of where we found her or could it be next door ?
Thanks.
Justin, I don’t think you will die in your sleep, at this point. I did same as you and toughed it out. I am still going through symptoms. Except for getting antivenom, I apparently did all the right things on my own – cold packs on the bites and took pain killers and muscle relaxants. I was told they only give the antivenom if your system is crashing (to keep you from dying) and that usually happens right away, if it is going to happen. I have also had the feeling when walking that my legs felt like lead and also severe lower back pain. I also had cold sweats and felt hot when it was cold and vice versa. do not think it would hurt to see a doctor, though.
I was bitten by a black widow in the spring of 1993. I had been relieved for a break and came back in and my shin was itching badly. I looked and and it looked like to small puncture wounds. Asked somebody about it and they blew it off. So I come in to work the next afternoon and my head was hurting and if I moved my eyes without moving my head, talk about some pain. So I go another day, back to work, the pain is still in my head but it had also moved down into my neck, back and arms. I worked through the shift and the next day, I cried rivers on the way to the doctors office. He looked at the wound and confirmed a spider bite, and from the symptoms he said that more than likely it was a black widow.
my name is justin from lethbridge alberta. yesterday i began to feel some flu like symptoms and weakness. then later that day my arm felt like it had a bruise on it. upon further inspection i found what looked like two or three very tiny dots with a very small circle of skin that peeled somewhat with very little to no discoloration. later that night i had very bad chills. i got up to go to the bathroom and all of a sudden i got very cold and my teeth started chattering. i returned to bed and wrapped my self with like three blankets. this morning i awoke to see that i had shed all three blankets and my girlfriend told me i was in a cold sweat. after getting up my feet felt like i had walked miles the day before. i toughed it out as it seems many men do( of course) i feel pretty weak and alot of my muscles are very sore including my hands and fingers. like the day after a workout but i havent worked out for weeks. also my mid to upper back feels very stiff. i have had lower back troubles before so this was odd to me. usually my lower back hurts. anywho my girlfriend is freaking out and wants me to go to the er. could this be a black widow bite and if not what other spiders have similar effects. i beleive i must have rolled onto a spider in my sleep thus prompting it to bite. furthermore if i have survived over 48 hours with mild to mid discomfort can i still die in my sleep or something or has the worst passed? stumbling upon this site kind of scared me a little just to see that most of my syptoms are the same except the actual bite is almost indestinguishable. i thought it was a mild case of flu at first but i have no sore throat and it just doesn’t feel quite like a flu. thanx for your time and i hope to figure it out soon.
I always read black widows were not aggressive. So I wondered why the one in my car crawled up my pants, biting along the way. I guess they are aggressive at times. I have seen a bunch of black spiders with red tops (not stomachs) and am wondering what they are. I read somewhere on the internet that all red and black spiders are in the widow family somehow. But supposedly only the female has that hourglass shape (or close variation) on her stomach. Someone here in NM told me that black widows are more accurately identified by their shape, than by exact markings. I have heard more about these spiders since I got bitten than I ever wanted to know. I am still having strange problems, over a month past the bites. But then, I got bitten 9 times. My Dr. is sending me for a MRI for low back pain. He said venom from a black widow bite can cause a staph infection of back discs. He seems to think the spider bites are cause for my back pain – he even wrote it on a prescription for physical therapy. The physical therapist wouldn’t treat me, stating they don’t treat for spider bites, but let her know if the MRI showed anythng else. Today, when driving, my head started spinning and I felt quite dizzy when I came to a stoplight. I feared I would not be able to continue driving. The episode passed, but I also felt a cold tingling sensation in my face before it did. I wonder how long it takes for that poison to get out of my system and stop causing problems. Last night was the first night in weeks that I did not take any pain meds before sleep, so I cannot blame the dizziness on that.
Black Widows freak me out! I’m doing a project on them and would appreciate any helpful tips or ideas on how to study them. I’m most interested in the reactions to their bites.
I live in an area with an overabundance of black widows and recluse spiders much to my dismay. I have to say that the few widows I’ve had close contact with have always been aggressive and come after me right out in the open. I did not seek them out but was merely sitting on my patio until a shiny, black patent leather spider toting a bright red spot decided I was on her turf and needed to leave. It has scared the daylights out of me but I’ll take them any day compared to the recluse and their passive aggressive behavior. Those spiders terrify me along with the Hobo spider.
Oh, and spiders can get into anything so be careful.
It has been about a month since I was bitten and I am still having problems from the bites. I got bitten similar to the lady above, the spider got in my pants and I felt it on my thigh. I had 6 bites on the thigh and 3 on the calf that I could make out after all the inflammation and swelling went down.
I talked to the state entymologist about this. She did not say it was uncommon to be bitten more than once and she said that on average. only 15% of bites are ‘dry bites’. That is, it is much more common for them to inject venom than not. 9 bites, as I got, are about equal to the venom in a rattlesnake bite – even leaving room for 15% being dry bites.
Even a rattlesnake doesn’t always inject venom or full venom – I didn’t know they had any control over this before. I asked this question above (how many bites equal a rattlesnake bite) and no one answered. If anyone is interested, it is about 9 (which I got.)
This expert said the spider apparently got scared and was running up my leg and biting as it was going as it was trapped under my pants. She said they run up, not down, and will go as high as they can and if trapped, will bite. I guess that is why I got bitten so much in the thigh and same for the lady above.
I was on my way to a physical therapy appointment and the therapist put ice packs on the afflicted areas. It felt better, so I did this too and am still doing it. I read this slows absorption of venom. I wonder if this is why I am still having symptoms and different ones than I first had, now.
The bite marks are still visible and turn black and blue and discolored sometimes after the ice packs and sometimes not. I have not been able to keep down any food on a consistent basis. The past week or so has been really bad because now I have horrible pain in my low back and can’t walk much. The day before this happened, I was walking and realized my legs felt like lead, for some reason, so I stopped. But the next day, I had to finish what I was doing and after that, came the severe back pain and much difficulty walking.
I am taking vicodin and valium. I just take it at night to help me sleep, as even vicodin does not kill the pain. I am wondering if all the ice packs slowed down the absorption and that is why the symptoms are playing out as they are.
Tomorrow I am going to an orthopedic institute about my back to see if they find something else wrong.– I am also very suspicious how this spider got into my car in the first place. My car was in a hot driveway in the Albuquerque area and this is not where these spiders like to hang out. The state bug expert agreed with this and said maybe it got in there in a bag of groceries that I bought. But I had only bought paper goods. I had left my car windows partly open and have a neighbor with a long criminal record. I had just had words with them the day before I got bitten and suspect they had something to do with this.
I talked to some cops who also said the spider should not have been there, esp. if there were no overhanging trees (there were not) or some reason for them to go there. People generalize and say spiders get into everything, but on closer questioning, it would appear to be a very freak thing for a spider to go into my car like this. Most people I have talked to about this say they have lived in this area their whole life and never been bitten by a black widow, though plenty are around here.
joe.. didn’t you ever take Highschool Biology? You’re supposed to finish the anti-biotics completely. This is what has caused the new strain of incurable TB, because the bacteria that causes these things have the natural selection to make it through most of the anti-biotics. If you stop taking them before you’re supposed to, the remaining bacteria now have a new immunity to that biotic and it will spread again.
That being said, I don’t necessarily know if that is the case with a spider bite. I’d watch it for awhile, and it starts puffing up and getting really irritated, go to the doctor and see what’s going on.
My sister (age 34) was bitten about 3 weeks ago by a black widow. I was told by the doctor that had seen the spider that it’s body was the size of a dime…just the body. My sister was cleaning out her already very clean garage. She was complaining that her pants were pulling on some hairs on her upper thigh and went upstairs to change her pants. When she took them off, her husband saw the huge spider in her pants…immediately forced it into a container and rushed my sister to Williamson Medical Center, a major hospital.
My sister was bitten 3 times on the upper thigh and was completely unable to walk within a few minutes of getting the bite. She spent 3 full days in the hospital and was suffering so much pain that the doctors said that if they had given her any more morphine for the pain, that her heart would have stopped. She required close care and attention for 2 weeks and is still working hard to come out of the affects. She was told that she may not be “back in the swing of things” for another 6 MONTHS…She was not given the antivenin (or antivenene or antivenom), which is derived from horse serum, because some people are allergic to horse serum. Also, if you have been given antivenin once, it will no longer be affective against a bite from a rattlesnake or spider again. The doctor told us that.
I use to wonder how I’d know if I got bitten from a black widow, now I know that there will be no doubt. The doctor said that most widows, when bitting, will not inject venom…this one did obviously. Apparently widow spiders get very aggressive when their nests are disturbed. They claimed they had never read or heard of anyone being bitten 3 times. Widow bites are especially dangerous for small children and the elderly. My sister was complaining of excruciating pain all over her body, difficulty breathing and said that it felt like her legs were in a vice clamp being constantly tightened.
I used to be an EMT and my sister’s vitals were normal throughout this emergency. Most medical staff and hospitals do not carry the antivenin on hand and will not give it unless vitals are at dangerous levels. However, 1 vial of antivenin will apparently produce immediate results and often the person comes to recover in less than an hour. PLEASE know that if you has small children as I do, that these bites are often surely fatal because most hospitals do not carry this antivenin. If your child is bitten or an elderly person is bitten have them transported to the closest BEST MAJOR hospital. We live about 30 miles south of Nashville, TN and the only place that was thought to have it was Vanderbilt Medical Center. BE CAREFUL!!!
Hi, i live Va. last Jan. I was getting in to the shower when i felt something on my back bite me. it was a black widow spider, did’nt go to the doctor for a few days, became sick and the bite became swollen and had temperature in it. went to the doctor to get antibiotics, got better, but now october, nine months later and still have a place on my back. it is back because I did not finish all my antibiotics, or so i believe. My skin is still peeling, itching and burning where the bite mark is.
Anybody with any conclusions, please post them!
My husband is as stubbern as any man and as i read all the posts here, he is just like all the other men I have read about, making us wives or girl friends completely worried. What can we do if they dont get it looked at, if not for them, for us at least (that would be the gentle man thing to do).
The picture above (bite on knee) is what i think to be a Black widow spider bite not for sure. I say this because my husband is a at home mechanic and at night he has noticed tons of black widows around the area.
My Gosh I cant even stress the fact i am a major major, not minor like, oh a spider and you hear a cut little girl scream, no i am a major run from a sitting spider that aint chasing me. The fact that i looked on this site or saw one will make me have nightmares for a very long time. Oh my gosh i hate them all.
My husband was working which has him on the ground working around the spiders. At night when he’s working he would see them moving around everywhere. On aug. 26th when the picture above was taken, the day after another bump formed just like this, it was right next to it.
Behind his knee a week before these pics he had one like that and now here they are in the front, one, then two the second day. he has popped them they look like a zit so he pops them and gets the stuff out and then puts meds on. Before it went away the only other symptom he had was his knee locked up and he couldnt move it but now he is fine but he has another one of these blister looking things and he keeps getting them but without the locking of the knee, very wierd and its a huge coincidence for a spider to bite the same knee every time just that one knee. can it be caused by him popping the blister and maybe it’s spreading or something? I dont know but i am worried and he wont go to the doctor at all. Any ideas?
Thanks!
The reason I looked up black widows is because we have one in our house and i wanted to know how deadly these spiders are. I only meant to look up how they defend themselves. and i did learn something. wow, female spiders i was surprised. i never knew. i though only the male that was much more deadly than the female. i guess i better watch out. and i am really scared of spiders specially the deadly ones.
I was sitting on my couch watching a TV program with my two Dachshunds and felt something on my arm…- look down and its a black spider, of course jump up and do the freak out dance and it landed on the floor. I put it in a glass and to my horror it seemed to be a Black Widow. I have only seen like two in my life (I live in Boise Idaho) and I just couldn’t believe I just had one crawling on my arm.
I immediately looked for any bite marks didn’t see anything- that was last night and all seems to be well w/ me today. I don’t know which way it came from but we may have been sharing the same blanket. The one thing that is throwing me off is it appears to have three red dots on its back, it has the classic red hour glass shape on its belly, and it looks just like all the pictures I have seen so far of Black widows (shiny black and the front and back legs seem to be longer, red hour glass shape), its a tiny bit smaller than most of the pics, but I am pretty sure that’s what it is.
So my question is can they have red dots on their back? Also if one bit one of my Dachshunds would that most likely be fatal? I hope not… I found them playing with a hobo spider a long time ago, so I know they wouldn’t hesitate to check out a black intruder crawler on the floor. My mom has a hobo problem at her house, bad- she lives up in our foothills where they most likely are abundant- anyway I read that a lot of pest poisons out there are not strong enough to kill black widows but she has these little sticky traps, that attract insects and she puts them by all her doors and some outside the house, would that be a good idea to try and control Black Widows from entering your house, I know I don’t want a repeat of what occurred last night. Thanks
Ahhhh. I have so many spiders at my new house. But yesterday we saw a spider like no other. Very large, very long and very black. It did not have a shiney round body like a Black Widow but it was definately very black. Does anybody know what type of spider this might be?
I am now dealing with several black widow spiders that I have let be in the back yard/back porch area and have produced webs full of baby black widow spiderlings which I am not pleased about! I hate killing them, but I’m not willing to host a black widow nursey outside my back door!!! yikes!!!!!
I live outside Albuquerque, NM and apparently got bitten by a black widow spider. Someone had pointed one out to me in my yard last year, so I know they are around here. I took my jeans out of the clothes dryer and got into my car and was driving to a physical therapy appointment. I felt much pain in my thigh and was wondering what was going on and if a plant sticker had gotten caught there somehow. I tried to pull off the road a few times, but obviously could not take my pants off, so waited until I got to my destination, about half an hour later. There, my whole thigh was red and inflamed and also there was an inflamed area on my calf. I have to guess while I was trying to get rid of what I thought was the sticker, the spider was going nuts and kept biting as it ran down my leg.
The physical therapist was quite shocked and put ice packs on the areas right away. This made it feel a lot better, so I did same when I got back home. The whole area was very painful and later that night I got nauseaus and threw up. I kept putting on ice packs and also had a bad low grade headache since then, now 8 days ago. Also, I had trouble sleeping and woke up in a sweat one night. Yesterday was the first day that I did not need ice packs. After all the redness and swelling went down, about 7 bites became visible on the thigh and 3 on the calf. When my physical therapist saw this, she said she thought I should see a doctor. But I figured I was getting better, so did not want to go. Also, it is hard to get a doctor appointment here and I didn’t feel like going to the ER.
Today I canceled lunch plans with someone due to feeling sick and she also thought I should call a doctor. I started calling exterminators to try to find out what kind of spider bit me and reached one very knowledgeable who said it was a black widow, as only they and brown recluses are poisonous here and if it was a brown recluse, this would be getting worse with necrotic skin.
He said it was unlikely the spider got into my dryer and thinks it ran up my leg under my pants. After this, I looked up the symptoms on the internet and saw that I had many of them.
I am curious why I had so many bites, but not such a severe reaction as some people here describe. I think the ice packs helped a lot, but also this exterminator agreed that the fleshy thigh is one of the better places to be bitten, if one must be bitten at all – as opposed to the neck, which is one of the worst.
Two of my cats were also bitten by spiders last year and now I feel sure they also were bitten by the same type, as I read this effects the nervous system. I had one cat near having seizures. I have some medical training and I had him on subQ fluids, Ringers Lactate, for about 3 weeks and liquid vitamins and antibiotics. He had much trouble breathing, which I read now is common with this sort of bite and was panting a lot and other things. Fortunately, he pulled threw and was able to eat on his own in about a month. He went through about 3-4 (maybe more) big bags of Ringers Lactate, which is electrolytes and also flushes the system of toxins.
Same thing happened to another of my cats, but she was less sick and only had to go through the above regime with the fluids etc for a week. Very fortunate they both lived. I never saw these spiders in the house, but they must have been there. The exterminator guy said likely the cats played with the spiders or tried to catch them as to why they got bitten.
I read this venom is more poisonous than a rattlesnake. I wonder how many black widow bites equal one rattlesnake bite, if anyone knows.
Hi, A couple days ago, I was bitten by a spider in Waterloo, Kitchener, Canada. Where the two fangs went in, it’s red and blistered, around it is all purple and there is a large black bruise surrounding the entire thing. The bruise spreads about 5cm apart and the fang bites are about half a centimetre apart. When I was bitten, I got sick and my arm was numb, by the way, I was bitten above my elbow and below my shoulder. Was it a black widow?
Hi all,
I live in Southern California the capital for black widows, everywhere I look I see them, and they especially like to live in dark spaces. I purchased the house I live in over 10 years ago and not once have I been bitten by one. I learn to live with them and the number one rule is not to disturb them….if you are afraid of them, just make sure you use a bug spray to dispose of them.
PS, if you are going into a dark section of your house or underneath your bed, make sure you look before sticking your hand in there.
I got two bites on my belly right next to each other a little more than a week ago…they started out as what looked like normal mosquito bites, which i’ve been getting a lot of recently, but then they turned real red, and swelled just a little bit. they are still red and itchy, more than a week later, and i can see two bites marks.
Last night, i picked at them and something like a whitehead came out, but hard, not pus. i can still see the bite marks and it’s all still red, without any improvement. I’ve also been using anitbiotic ointment and cortizone cream.
I live in central mexico…we have a lot of black widows living in our house (i’ve killed more than ten in the past month), but we just had an exterminator in a little more than three weeks ago. Could it just be a different kind of spider?
Should i go to the doctor?
Last summer while working at a day camp in central NJ, I noticed that my arm was itchy and there was a small bump that looked like every other mosquito bite that I have ever had. This was right before a meeting I had and during the meeting, the bite area continued to swell and was extremely itchy, and when I would scratch it would hurt. After my meeting, I went to the nurses office because the bite had at least doubled, maybe tripled in size. The nurse blew it off as a mosquito bite and sprayed a numbing spray on it.
The bit continued to expand until it was the size of a small avocado pit so I obviously went to the doctor, but they believed that it was just an allergic reaction to the mosquito. That was Friday, then on Sunday morning I woke up and the area that had been inflamed had turned a deep red/ purple/ black and the surrounding area was a dark pink/ red and had also begun to get puffy- the entire area was the size and shape of an avocado, but the discoloration was very prominent.
I showed my mom, and the doctor said that they would see me the next day. This area dramatically faded and the inflammation went away within a few days leaving only a red streaky area where the black area had been. During this week I had extreme fatigue where I would lay down to nap at 5pm and wake up at 8 am the next morning still feeling exhausted. I also had a decreased appetite. That Friday (one week after the bite) I experienced horrible stomach cramps and GI bleeds. I told my parents, and we decided that if the bleeding occurred again we would go directly to the ER. Fortunately the bleeding did not reoccur, but the abdominal pain continued.
Monday came and I went to work and was experiencing such pain that I though I had an appendicitis. I went back to the doctor who sent me straight to the ER. in the hospital they found out that I was experiencing hemolytic anemia (when the red blood cells burst) and that my liver and spleen where enlarged and my liver blood tests were really high. The PA felt that the stomach issues were not connected to the bite and sent me home.
I was barely able to eat anything and I continued to go to countless doctors, none of whom acknowledged the bite as being connected to the other symptoms. I was tested for everything known to man, and still they found nothing. About six to eight months later I stopped losing weight (45 lbs later) and I was finally able to eat normally again and the fatigue was gone. This summer I returned to the camp again and I was speaking with the nurse and he told me that they had found a colony of black beauty or black widow spiders on the campgrounds (he couldn’t remember which) and that all of my symptoms seemed to line up perfectly.
If you or someone you know is encountering these same symptoms please try to get them seen by a doctor as soon as possibly. I was subjected to many unnecessary tests, I was a human pin cushion because of all the blood they took, I had a colonoscopy and an endoscopy and a GI series done (am 18 years old should not have to go through that unless it is completely necessary) and maybe the doctors could have prevented all of the symptoms from occurring.
Good luck and feel better!
A Black Widow bite just occred to me. I just got bit by a Black Widow on the inside of my 2nd to biggest toe while working in the yard at dusk. I must have trimmed a bush containing its web and pissed it off. The bite was actually “in-between the toes”. The bite left two little red pin holes about 1/32 of an inch apart in case anyone wants to know what they look like. It looks like this : yes it looks like a colon :: would be two bites.
How did it feel? It hurt like hitting your finger with a hammer but more sharply into one point where the bite occured. I guess you could stick your self with a couple needles dipped in lemon juie to get a feeling for what it feels like.
Side effects. I guess I am lucky so far, No real immediate side effects for me except it hurt like hell for the last 6 hours. I have taken asprin and washed out the bite immediately with water. I also tried to squeeze the “spider juice” out of the bite area as soon as I could. Not sure if it made a difference but so far I have not has any of the side effects.
We just move to the hill side in Ventura Ca from the beach area. If the damn sand fleas don’t get you its the spiders in the hills!
I live in Georgia and have found 3 black widows in the 4 years that I’ve lived in this house. One was in the garage, one was in the cracks between stones in a wall, and the one I found yesterday is living under the crack of the siding of my house with it’s web going to the ground in my garden.
I’ve been a nurse for 7 years and have worked in a 400+ bed hospital on med/surg floors and in ICU. I’ve seen many, many patients in ICU who received brown recluse bites, but have NEVER seen someone with a black widow bite. Widows very rarely leave their webs, so if you don’t bother them the chances of being bitten is very rare. They really only bite in defense. Usually people who have received bites have rolled over onto them in bed, or put their foot into a shoe where a widow was. Widows do not hunt you down like someone asked in an earlier post.
I agree with the last post’s best advice as being aware of your surroundings, shake out your clothing, and look before putting your hand in a blind spot if you live where widows live. Be careful!
Just to clear up a couple of misconceptions: first, though the spider itself may be fairly large (I work out in the Colorado foothills and do see my share of big ones), their mouthparts are tiny. A single bite from a black widow (or practically any spider smaller than a tarantula) will not leave two marks far apart enough to be distinguishable as such.
Many two-mark “spider bites” people find are actually marks from flying biting insects that bit twice, but of course watch for symptoms if you notice bites at all. Second, though the black widow’s venom is extremely dangerous, they only inject a tiny amount when biting. Ounce for ounce, a widow’s bite may be more powerful than a rattlesnake’s, but a rattlesnake bite can and will kill people who will only get mildly sick from the widow.
The best advice for dealing with them remains, be aware of your surroundings, and if you don’t antagonize them, they won’t go after you.
I live in Albuquerque, NM and every year from August through December, it seems to me there are black widow spiders everywhere I look. I never realized that these spiders often like to live in places that are more exposed (windows, door corners, under the kitchen sink). I keep finding them right outside my back door in the path of human movement. Frustrating and scary! Anyways, I don’t like using pesticides-does anyone have good suggestions for moving them or any natural means of deterring them near doors and windows?
Thanks!
I’ve been looking at black widow pics all night because I think I cought one but I can’t be sure. I’ve seen the red hourglass ones in my yard but this one is weird. It’s not the size of a pea but more like a caper and its body is the same shape as a black widow, kinda spherical with a slight point (which i assume are the web organs) at the underside in the vary back.
It has black and brown banded legs and it has white spots on its sides with a white stripe running down its back almost to its point but it has no hour glass, if it does I can’t see it (20/20 vision). Basicly it has everything but the tell-tale red markings. Is a spider that is simaler to a black widdow or the real thing. Is it male or female?
Hi, I am very scared of spiders – my parents and I were looking at a new house with are realtor and in the garage, there was a spider the size of a half dollar with a red hour glass shape. I could not tell if the shape was on the stomach or the back but I am wondering if they attack in defence? If I am sleeping will they come attack me or what? Also, if I get bit, what are the chances of death? Is there a certain bomb or spray we can buy to rid us of these beasts?
Thank you!
Donna, you don’t have to worry about adolescent widows because they are harmless. Especially the tiny tiny babies. I think you just have a bout of the flu but if you really feel bad you should go to the doctor.
I was out at our pool and killed a large female black widow. However I noticed a lot of small round white spiders when I hit a egg sack. This was two days ago and I have felt flu like symptoms, aching muscles and abdominal pain. Is it possible that one of the small ones bit me.
I thought I was bitten by a black widow spider until I found this website. After reading the comments on this site, I decided not to wait and went to my doctor. The doc couldn’t tell what type of bite it was, but the meds helped and put my mind at ease.
Thank you!
For starters I would like to thank all of you that posted comments they are most informative. I’ve often wondered what the effects are to a black widow’s bite. I live in Tennessee and the underneath of my home and yard are infested with these little buggers. I know that they are great for pest control but I’m also scarred to death of them too.
As I was sitting out at my picnic table tonight (July 9th 2007) I was bitten twice by “something” I can’t even say it was a spider let a lone a widow. It was to dark to see anything. It left two welts that sting like crazy but tolerable. I don’t see any puncture marks on either bite. And seeing how they’re only sting like a bee sting I’m going to assume they’re not widow bites. To be on the safe side how long does it take for symptoms to appear? Are immediately?
On Friday the 6th july 2007 I was biten by a black widow spider three times. Once on my stomach where she injected venom and then under my arm pit on the same side and then just a little over from that bite on my back.
The bites were excruciating! The welted up, but only a small amout. I didn’t know what it was and I shook the towel out I had put on after getting out of the pool (spider must have crawled into towel). I saw something pretty big and black and my cousin and mother helped me catch it. I was certain it was a black widow because the bites hurt so tremedously. Sure enough it was shiny and black and had red hour-glass shape on it’s stomach.
We called 911 and they said to go to the nearest hospital. It was a 30 minute drive and at that time I could feel the poison spread through my body. The worse bite of the three, the one on the right side of my abodomin hurt enough to have me in tears and I have an amputated leg so i know i have a high pain tolerance.
In a few moments the pain had spread to my groin and I was worsoned by a throbbing ache from my groing down the inside of my leg down. Then it went up into my intestines area and I felt like I had eated something bad an my “gut” felt like they were being wrenched. It spread into my solar plexus and I could barely breath. It felt like my chest was being crushed and I got even more afraid as i felt the venom move until every inch of my body was hurting like the worse flu I can imagine.
At the hopital they started an IV and gave me fliuds and morephine. At this time I was crying and writhing in pain. The first 3 shots of morphne barely helped with the pain
After they admitted me and after asking for some relief from my pain I checked myself out and had my husband drive me home. I figured I could the pain meds I take for my knees and amputatel leg. I then looked on the internet and saw i had a bad enough reaction to the bite that i would have been stupid to just tough it out here. So this time we went to a large hospital about 40 minutes another direction.
IV again and pain meds. also some kind of injection that make my hands and feet feel like they were on fire. It is sunday moring and I got about three hours sleep last nigh. i am tired, but thank god awake and the pain is almost gone. I remember almost nothing but pain, weakness, and well, pain. I am much better today, but must say I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Laura l
by the way , the reason you don’t see any widow bites is that the welt is only there for about an hour and then it just leaves a small pink spot that doesn’t even a whole in the skin you would miss it if you didn’t look for it in it’s exact spot. Also the spot of the bite is not tendor.
My mother in law is currently in the ICU due to a black wodow bite. She was unknowingly bit on the elbow and with in 12 hours of having irritation was admitted to the hospital. Her arm swelled up 3 times the size and has cellulitis around the lesion that had formed. She is 62, with a weakend immune system.
I believe she could have recovered quickly from it, but our doctor didn’t listen to our suggestions of it being a widow bite. The internet was extremely helpful with the few pics it does have, unfortuatly our Dr. didn’t take them into consideration until it was too late.
The bite has affected her blood pressure, mental status, and site of bite. Hope this helps anyone who may read it. Also, I am in school to be a nurse and have a little addition to this…
Bites from any insect will be different in everyone. If the victim is allergic to the venom the outcome will be more severe than of someone who isn’t allergic to the venom. Some people die from being bit by fire ants, it all depends on how your individual bodies can react to it.
I recently went into my smokehouse and retrieved a bag of charcol that was stored in there. As i opened it 7-8 black widows started falling out of it. These had more of a whitish-yellow hour glass on thier abdomen. They also were super fast, running all over the place making several of us jump around and dance.
The next day my wife who was there at the time was putting on her shoes and just happened to shake them out before she put them on and had one fall out of her shoe. It’s scarry how close she came to getting bit. I bet she carried that spider around all day and it ended up in her shoe. I live in east Tennessee.
i have a spider bite now it was so bad the doctor had to drawl blood and give me 3 shots will i die?
Hey, I was wondering if someone could post a pic of a black widow bite because I’m curious if I got bit by one a while ago. There were 2 fang marks above my knee less than a cm apart. Some symptoms i had was that I couldnt stand, I kept collapsingand had pain in my stomach area. There was more but I can’t remember it because it was a while ago. My mom made me go to the doctor and he admitted me to the ER because he did some tests on me. He said my movement was very brisk and stuff….I wasnt that responsive and could barely walk without collasping every 2 feet….if someone could help, that’d be great
I deal with black widows all the time, and have caught numerous of them about an inch in diameter. They can get quite large. Most do seem to be around 1/4 to 1/2 an inch in size. I can’t help anybody with bite pictures, I haven’t found any yet, either. It seems the internet caters only to the Brown Recluse.
Could you please get pictures of black widow bites. I am curious to see what it looks like. Everyone always talks about the brown recluse spider but the black widow is such a wonderful specie. If you could get more pics of the black widow’s bite I would gretly appreciate it.
I have accidentally caught a black widow and it was bigger than 2, so you should check your facts on that. The one I caught the body measured over a quarter inch.
I don’t know much about spiders, but I do know that they don’t charge. If you see a spider don’t freak out, if you don’t like it then get a thick object and kill it, nothing thin though and for you spider lovers, catch it and let it go. If you intend to have the house sprayed then keep the spider (DON’T SQUISH IT); put it in a bag and let the exterminator see to conform it
Hello. My name is Zachari Larsen and I am currently a Biology student at Montana State University getting my four-year degree so I can become an Arachnologist. I may not have any fancy letters behind my name, but I am fascinated with poisonous spiders and have had to misfortune of being bitten by Madames Latrodectus Mactans and Latrodectus Hesperus. Living in Las Vegas for ten years, probably the most Widow (L. Mactans) infested community in America, will tend to do that to you. Moving to Billings, Montana in the Heights where their northern cousins, L. Hesperus, are also quite common was just a coincidence.
However, the fact is that the bite is incredibly painful and produces a feeling very similar to having the worst bout of flu in one’s life. Their is no necrotic damage from the bite, and in both of my cases, the ordeal was over after about 12 hours. For those wondering, I did not go to the hospital as I was told over the phone that the innoculation and stay would amount to over $2,000. The math got me and my wallet stayed closed and 9-1-1 went undialed.
The danger is this, the venom makes breathing incredilby difficult and the feeling of lethargy is something that makes one not want to breathe at all. I took shallow breaths and due to the venom of the animal it still caused a feeling of intense pressure. I would recommend to anyone, so long as they are not as cheap as I am, to bite the bullet and call 9-1-1. It is VERY easy to see how a child under 10 and an adult over 60 could succumb to the venom and go into a coma, or worse if the immune system is dampened, death.
I believe that although these voracious predators are wonderful pest control (I have a slight allergy to mosquitos that makes my skin look like a golf ball if I get bit more than a few times) they are to be treated with utmost respect, the pain is not worth making your dumb buddies laugh or recoil in shock when you pluck one off it’s web. They’re docile and unassuming… Just don’t wreck their house. (How would you feel if someone bulldozed your house? Open fire you say? Shocking… And people wonder why they get bit…) Which is how I found out that even in a life-or-death situation, the American Medical Community enjoys being paid upfront, thank-you-very-much. But to end, don’t wreck their webs and you should be fine, get bit and take the antivenin. Unless you truly believe in the “If you’re going to be dumb, you’ve got to be tough” philosophy.
The black widow spider is not acctually that big and is ussually about 2cm max. The bite is also not more venomous than any other spider although it is very venomous, and i am not sure if it has more powerful venom than a rattlesnake. In fact the most venomous spider bite comes from a “Funnel Web Spider.”