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Name This Animal

Black widows that aren't black.....

17 years ago

Hey, where is everyone? Are spiders considered animals? Oh well, I'll give it a try....My son has been having an outbreak & I mean hundreds of what seem to be black widows,big red hourglass on belly, but they're not black. They have patterns & lines etc. They're all over in his kids toys,in shrubs, just everywhere! Very scary with children around. This is in So. California. Can anyone shed some light on what's going on? Thanks for any info. Peg

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Comments (8)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
Would it be possible for your son to submit some images of these spiders? In the meantime, there is a spider called the Brown Widow that would do a pretty good job of fitting the description. I'll attach some pictures for comparison.

(Yes, spiders are animals. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here
mazer415
17 years ago
Get the hoover out. Suck em up. I went to a class on spiders and the instructor said there were a number of suspected non black - black widonws in California but people were not certain because nobody has been bit yet.
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I had some BW's in my Passionvine... I thought I'd "live and let live" until I saw them killing my Gulf Fritillary caterpillars! At least, the ones I had missed and didn't bring in to be hand-raised, anyway. I just knocked them to the ground and beat them with my hand spade. Yuk! I agree that wasps are an enemy of many spiders including the BW but they also prey upon caterpillars. So, I probably have a different feeling than many others here about wasps. Some are predatory, while others are parasitic. The parasitic wasps will lay eggs on a butterfly caterpillar and the larva burrows into the caterpillar. One may never know this has happened until the time draws close for the new butterfly to emerge from the chrysalis... only to have nothing happen except for a bunch of bugs to come out and a dead butterfly. Certain flies do the same thing. I just had that happen to a Giant Swallowtail... the chrysalis began to darken as though it were getting ready to emerge... I could see the markings of the new butterfly inside... but then the pupa just burst and all these bugs came out. Made me mad! Megan :)
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How did you find a spider from Australia living here? It is poisonous, but it is a redback spider. http://australianmuseum.net.au/Redback-Spider Redback bites occur frequently, particularly over the summer months. More than 250 cases receive antivenom each year, with several milder envenomations probably going unreported. Only the female bite is dangerous. They can cause serious illness and have caused deaths. However, since Redback Spiders rarely leave their webs, humans are not likely to be bitten unless a body part such as a hand is put directly into the web, and because of their small jaws many bites are ineffective. The venom acts directly on the nerves, resulting in release and subsequent depletion of neurotransmitters.
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Black widow venom also packs quite a wallop...to almost anyone. It's very important that you do all you can to make sure that you aren't transporting these spiders to the market. I think what I would do is take some time to unstack and wash the pots out very well...don't forget under the rims, too. Restack them and store them in heavy duty plastic bags that you can keep tightly closed. I've had a major problem with them this year, too. Also in my stacks of pots and flats of cell packs. It will be a darned miracle if I don't get bitten before the summer is over.
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BWs are quite adaptable. Living in close proximity with them is a way of life for us. If I were you, I'd concentrate on a major clean up OUTSIDE of the house using rake, broom, weedeater, and a hose. Turn all of the patio furniture over, toss stacks of old pots, etc. The primary breeding area at our home is the attached garage. We now keep it rather spartan and clean it frequently. We dust the perimeters with diatomaceous earth and /or boric acid, both of which help a great deal. Inside, housekeeping is very important, too. Turn the furniture over and vacuum the "innards", move the fridge and any other appliance you can in order to vacuum and sprinkle the diatomaceous earth. I can't have any toxic chemicals around me, but I really don't think that the spraying is any more effective than actually making it impossible for them to set up housekeeping in the first place. Make sure that the seals are tight around all of the doors and windows, too. Don't rely on chemicals. I'm speaking totally from experience, by the way. BWs are extremely common around here and at one time they seemed to be everywhere, inside and out. Good luck.....they really aren't that difficult to get rid of. I'm speaking from experience, by the way.
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socks
17 years ago
We've found at our elementary school we have brown widows. Obviously, they are brown--and they have an orange hourglass pattern on their bottom sides. Their egg sacks are small, pale, round and have spikes sticking out all over them. I've read conflicting reports about them on the internet--that they are more toxic than the black widows but less aggressive, etc. but I really don't know what to believe.

I don't like spraying because spiders have a job to do, but cleaning out the places they live with a broom and a hose, removing any pot ghettos, excess "stuff" which might be lying around the perimeter of the house should help a lot.

Susan
socks
17 years ago
I'm in So. CA also.
hellpaso
17 years ago
in el paso, we had not only black, but brown and even yellowish ones. get rid of them!!
ok_wildlife_control
17 years ago
They are Brown Widows ... same family as Black Widows. Just as venomous ... here is more information ...

http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/IPM/BrownWidow.htm

Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Wildlife Control, LLC
jean001
17 years ago
Identification without a good image is guessing.

Can you post one or more images, please?
mazer415
17 years ago
Actually there are such things, they are called false widows. Apparently not many have been bitten by them because there are no reports. Use the same caution as with a black widow

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