Although the majority of people now recognize the black widow, some do not, hence they kill all dark-colored spiders on general principles. This is neither necessary nor desirable.
The female black widow is a medium-sized, glossy black, solitary spider with a globular abdomen spectacularly marked on the underside with a bright red spot roughly the shape of an hourglass. The normal position of the spider is hanging upside down in her web so that the “hourglass” is plainly visible if she is below the level of the eye. Her overall length is 1 to 1¼ inches.
The males are much smaller and, like the immature females, are grey in color and variously striped and spotted.
Adult females spin egg cocoons during the warm season; each cocoon contains approximately 300 to 500 eggs which hatch in about 30 days. As many as nine broods per year have been recorded. The young grow fast but do not mature until the following spring or summer.
Black widow bites
Although black widows ferociously pounce upon insects or other spiders much larger than themselves which become entangled in their webs, they are by nature retiring and bite humans only when restrained from escape by contact with the body of man.
The fangs, which are about one-fiftieth of an inch in length, serve to inject from two large glands the venom which is reported to be much more virulent per unit than that of the rattlesnake.
There is some pain and swelling at the site of the bite. The pain spreads throughout the body, centering at the extremities, which become cramped, and over the abdomen, where the muscles become rigid. There is nausea and vomiting, difficulty in breathing, dizziness, ringing in the ears, and headache. Blood pressure is raised, eye pupils are dilated and the reflexes are overactive. Medical records, according to Bogen[2], show that “despite its severe symptoms, arachnidism (poisoning by spider, tick, or scorpion) is, in the majority of cases, a self-limiting condition, and generally clears up spontaneously within a few days,” although cases of death resulting from black widow bites are on record[3].
Treatment of black widow bites
Since the venom of the black widow, among other properties, appears to affect the nervous system, its effect is almost instantaneous, and most first-aid measures are of little value.