They use their neurotoxic venom as a defense delivering the most toxic spider bite. Despite their many benefits, black widows can attack humans if they feel threatened. How Long Do Black Widow Spiders Live?Īlthough the expected lifespan of black widow spiders is one year, some specimens have been known to live up three years. Female widow spiders are typically dark brown or a shiny black in colour when they are full grown, usually exhibiting a red or orange hourglass on the ventral surface (underside) of the abdomen some may have a pair of red spots or have no marking at all. Black widow spiders help maintain balance in the ecosystem by eating pest insects like flies and mosquitoes, and insects that harm plants, such as locusts and caterpillars. When warm weather returns, they finish developing into adults. Spiderlings find a hiding place to survive in the winter. Black widow spiderlings then begin to spin their own webs and capture their own food. During the ballooning process, black widow spiderlings release strands of silk into the air and are carried to new locations. Surviving hatchlings leave the web within a few days, at which point they experience ballooning. Black widow spiderlings are cannibalistic and consume other spiderlings from their brood for nutrients. Spiderlings are white and orange in color and resemble adult black widow males. Many spiderlings overwinter as immatures, and then they mature fully the following spring. Surviving spiderlings undergo molting stages known as instars. Black widow spider eggs may also be deposited within neglected materials or animal and rodent nests. Barns and other secondary buildings are likely to host these spiders, as well. However, only a handful of these young survive, as black widows are cannibalistic during the early stages of their lives.īlack widow spider eggs can be found in dark crevices beneath stones and in natural debris such as woodpiles. Belonging to the genus Latrodectus, widow spiders encompass 31 known species that exist on every. Each egg sac contains hundreds of eggs, from which hundreds of spiderlings emerge. A brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus, climbs in its web. Egg sacs are white, tan or gray in color, have a paper-like texture, and measure 12 to 15 mm in diameter.
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