Widow Spider facts

While investigating facts about Widow Spider Uk and Widow Spider Bite, I found out little known, but curios details like:

There exists a less venomous, invasive Brown Widow Spider that is slowly replacing the Black Widow

how to identify a false widow spider?

Despite its reputation, the black widow spider's bite very rarely kills humans and has accounted for 0 deaths despite nearly 2,000 bites annually.

What is a false widow spider?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what is a black widow spider. Here are 32 of the best facts about Widow Spider Types and Widow Spider Ireland I managed to collect.

what does a black widow spider look like?

To produce black widow spider antivenom, horses are injected with black widow spider venom, then bled and antibodies are extracted.
In 1933, a University of Alabama professor voluntarily allowed a black widow spider to bite him as scientists recorded him suffering in agony for three days. Before this there were skeptics who believed black widows were not dangerous to humans.
A 37-year-old injected herself with a crushed black widow spider and water with the intent of "getting a high." She survived after a brief stay in the ICU.
There is a spider that hunts black widow but its venom only would cause mild burning sensation to human.
The black widow spider's bite is almost never deadly, despite ~2000 bites a year.
That, despite their infamy, black widow spiders are not particularly dangerous or aggressive and most people who get bit do not need medical attention. Since the venom is not likely to be life-threatening, antivenom is mostly used for pain relief and not to save lives.
Only three cases of deaths associated with (black) widow spiders have been reported in the world medical literature.
Black widow silently waits for the prey in the upside-down position. Once the prey is in the web, spider uses comb-like feet to wrap it into the silk. Like all other spiders, black widows do not chew their prey. They inject digestive fluids into the victim and consume (better say drink) already digested (liquefied) meal.
A 37-year-old woman with a history of using heroin crushed a whole Black Widow spider, mixed it with distilled water, and injected it into her vein. She said that she had given herself the injection with the intent of getting a high.
Black widow is the most poisonous spider in the North America. It produces toxin that is 15 times stronger than the venom of rattlesnake.

widow spider facts — What are the symptoms of a black widow spider bite?

Why does the black widow spider eat the male?

You can easily fact check why black widow spider eats mate by examining the linked well-known sources.

The black widow spider in New Zealand is called the "katipo", which makes its habitat on beaches in driftwood and trash. It is a protected species, and killing one is punishable by up to a $100,000 fine and a year in jail.

Female black widow spiders rarely eat their partners after mating and much of the documented evidence for mate cannibalism has taken place in laboratory cages where the males could not escape. - source

The legend that daddy long-legs spiders have the most potent venom of any spider, but their fangs are too small to puncture human skin was debunked after Mythbusters found their venom was less potent than black widow venom and they were able to elicit a bite on a finger of host Adam Savage - source

Black Widow spider silk was used in WWII to create cross hairs in rifle scopes and periscopes.

Before the introduction of indoor plumbing, around half of all Widow spider bites were to mens’ genitals. [mildly] - source

What to do when you find a black widow spider?

The web of a black widow spider is stronger than high tensile steel by weight.

How to get rid of false widow spider?

There is a Brown Widow spider that is technically more venomous than Black Widows, but are less aggressive and inject less venom so actually the safer bite

Black widow produces the strongest silk in the world of spiders. Shape of the web is not very pretty, but it is durable. Web is designed to catch flies, mosquitoes, moths, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and other spiders - major source of food.

The famous red mark of the Black Widow spider is only visible to its predators, but invisible to its prey to avoid detection when hunting

Nan Songer grew Black Widow spiders in her house to harvest spider silk for the construction of Sniper scopes

What happens when a black widow spider bites you?

Black widows can control how much venom they inject in their prey. The venom's enzymes break down the insides of their victims, which the spider drinks up like a milkshake.

There is a Northern Black Widow spider that lives in the Mid-Atlantic states, New England, and as far north as Canada.

In Spider-Man (2002) The genetically modified spider that bit Peter Parker was not a black widow spider but a Steatoda spider, which was chosen by Steven R. Kutcher and painted red and blue by Jens Schnabel while the spider was anesthetized.

Black Widow is a just a general name. There are actually four different variety of widow spiders: Northern Black Widow, Southern Black Widow, Brown Widow, and Red Widow

How to get rid of black widow spiders?

One third of the genes in the WO virus have all the hallmarks of animal DNA, including spider DNA. The virus contains part of the gene for black widow spider venom and it's most likely it got the gene from spiders themselves.

Only two spiders in the United States are known to be able to bite humans, the black widow and the brown recluse. You likely will not need to see a doctor, but can use over the counter medication to treat a bite from either species.

In 1930s, a researcher allowed a black widow spider to bite him. Unsurprisingly, he discovered that it caused what he described as "excruciating pain". He lived, but died of cardiac arrest a decade later, which was probably related to the experience.

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about Widow Spider. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is Widow Spider so important!