Is this a black widow?

[terpsucka]

Hi all,

This past weekend I started my annual chore of moving the next-in-line woodpile up to my house for easy access. As I was taking down the old woodpile, I found tons of these spiders that may or may not be black widows. I mean tons of them-- I'd say there was at least 1 per 5 splits. I've attached a picture. There is no red on them that's really bright, but there might be some that doesn't stand out, but I couldn't really see any. These buggers were tiny-- the one in the picture is on a tulip poplar split, you can see how small it is compared to the grain. One odd thing about them-- there were almost always two of them fairly close together on the same split, one larger and one smaller. Anyway... there were so many of them I'm nervous I might have missed a few and don't want to bring them into my house!!

Oh, and I live in Maryland.

 

[Montanalocal]

It sort of looks like one. Is it a very very slow moving spider? Black widows are extremely slow moving>

 

[LocustBurner]

Only thing missing is the red hourglass.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Well, I zoomed up your picture and did not see a comblike or bristle on one leg to spin web over its dinner.. Widows also are loners, don't think they would be huddling up together. Still that's my opinion, so don't touch them until you can flip one over for the telltale red hour glass mark. Dead giveaway. Be careful.

 

[jatoxico]

Signed up to watch this thread because I have those same guys in my wood piles all the time. Looks like it may be this guy (girl) here?


Adult Female

Steatoda grossa
(False Black Widow)
Summary


The “False Black Widow” belongs to the same family as true black widows, and is easily mistaken for its dangerous cousins. However, note that this spider does not have the red hourglass on the underside of the abdomen. It is common in buildings, but may live outdoors in sheltered spots such as wood piles, under bridges, or in rock walls.

 

[LocustBurner]

When you do see red on the belly it is creepy.

I have heard of some serious Black Widow infestations in woodpiles but around my place we see 'em mostly on masonry block, around large rocks and used to have at least one in my old, round, above-ground well housing year 'round.

My vet helped to clear an infestation of Brown Recluse spiders imported on a bunch of rugs bought by a historical group in Winston-Salem, NC.
Very fragile little spiders whose seven eyes glow orange when hit with a light and will 'hop' sideways if probed with a long cotton swab. My vet got a lot by 'hopping' them into a container from their nests in the rafters of the attic where the rugs were stored.

 

[Whitepine2]

Brown Recluse spiders may-be worst than the widow.A pilot I know brought some wood from down south to
the Cape while bringing wood in the house got bit on belly. He was out of work 6 mounts and nearly died of
skin infection,very bad dudes these Recluse guys.

 

[Montanalocal]

Spiders are one of the main reasons I do not cover my woodpiles. They seem to really like dark places, and I have noticed under-cover, woodpiles seem to attract them. If I can get by without covering most of the time, that is what I do.

 

[bboulier]

Looks like a black widow. Flip it over. If it's a female and there is a red hourglass on the abdomen, you will know for sure. You can't tell by looking at the backside. Males have a similar shape, but are much smaller and don't have the red hourglass. Fortunately, the males are not poisonous. Only the female of the species is dangerous.

 

[Rossco]

Wow, Creepy, I always step back for a second when I see a spider here (We ain't from North America)

-10C here last week so the threat is gone.

 

[blades]

Looks like a black widow. Flip it over. If it's a female and there is a red hourglass on the abdomen, you will know for sure. You can't tell by looking at the backside. Males have a similar shape, but are much smaller and don't have the red hourglass. Fortunately, the males are not poisonous. Only the female of the species is dangerous.

Seems to go that way for two legged variety as well .

 

[Applesister]

So you'd have to catch a bunch of them and flip them over to find females? Ick. I always thought the red markings were on top where you could easily spot them.
Maybe stick em in a freezer first.
They kill their partners after they mate with them, is that the story?

 

[Jags]

They kill their partners after they mate with them, is that the story?

Yes.
I doubt that they are black widows if they are grouping up like you are seeing. I see quite a few like your picture and have hosed them down with carb cleaner or wd40 (kills them) and upon flipping over quite a few have never seen an hour glass. I am not making a positive ID here, just casting my doubts.

The recluse? Now that is a nasty little sucker.

 

[kennyp2339]

This is why I like living in the Northeast.. very few if anything poisonous, We have copperheads and the occasional timber rattler, but there bites aren't that bad from what I'm told, no poisonous spiders here (thank god)
On a side side note - I remember handling a baby timber rattler (bare handed) when I was around 12 years old, I thought the dark camo coloring was awesome, it was only ten years later when I found out it was rattler while looking up snakes on google images. Amazing what you do when you don't know what your doing.

 

[terpsucka]

I actually was able to see the underside of a few (it was really cold out so they were pretty inactive) and I couldn't make out any red there either. I had always thought the red was on top so I didn't look too closely at the bottom. Next time I move some more (in other words next time its cold on a weekend) I'll take my daughters' magnifying glass with me.

 

[firefighterjake]

This is Black Widow.

 

[jatoxico]

To die for!

 

[ZZ Tom]

Yep, roll her over and look for a red patch on her hourglass shape

 

[terpsucka]

Yep, roll her over and look for a red patch on her hourglass shape

Heh, If my black widows looked like that, I'd never leave the backyard.

So I moved some more wood this past weekend, and saw lots more of these spiders. They definitely have some markings on the bottom, and when I looked at them in person, the markings looked more brown/tan than red, but looking at some of the pictures they do look a little red-ish.

 

[HybridFyre]

This is why I like living in the Northeast.. very few if anything poisonous, We have copperheads and the occasional timber rattler, but there bites aren't that bad from what I'm told, no poisonous spiders here (thank god)
On a side side note - I remember handling a baby timber rattler (bare handed) when I was around 12 years old, I thought the dark camo coloring was awesome, it was only ten years later when I found out it was rattler while looking up snakes on google images. Amazing what you do when you don't know what your doing.

Where in the northeast are you? I'm from CT and we have brown recluses here.

 

[bob95065]

I don't know if there is a different type of black widow back east but I can tell you that the spiders on your pictures do not look like the black widows here in Northern California. I have lots of them around my property and kill them every chance I get.

The black widows here are jet black and pretty large. The abdomen can be as large as 1/4". The red hourglass is on the underside and is BRIGHT red. They are hearty spiders. Bug spray doesn't work. My size 15 steel-toe work boots are very effective.

 

[msherer]

(broken link removed to http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/black-widow-spider/)

 

[osagebow]

They WILL group up in the fall/winter in my area. We saw several groups yesterday and today while moving a 2.5 year CSS stack from the woods here in western VA. I'll try to get a pic of a group if I move a bit more tomorrow. I've gotten to the point where any sketchy wood with crevices/holes stays outside until burning. Kids wear long sleves and rubberized gloves, and fight over the drywall hatchet to smash them lol. We only let the kids move old stacks when it is, or recently was, cold. This slows the spiders down. They CAN move fast if warmed up. Loose bark sometimes holds them, but most were between splits. We have had many close calls in the house, even in winter,until I wised up.

 

[osagebow]

Hi all,

This past weekend I started my annual chore of moving the next-in-line woodpile up to my house for easy access. As I was taking down the old woodpile, I found tons of these spiders that may or may not be black widows. I mean tons of them-- I'd say there was at least 1 per 5 splits. I've attached a picture. There is no red on them that's really bright, but there might be some that doesn't stand out, but I couldn't really see any. These buggers were tiny-- the one in the picture is on a tulip poplar split, you can see how small it is compared to the grain. One odd thing about them-- there were almost always two of them fairly close together on the same split, one larger and one smaller. Anyway... there were so many of them I'm nervous I might have missed a few and don't want to bring them into my house!!

Oh, and I live in Maryland.

That looks like one, but they are quite variable in color. Red marks can be absent, or on back. It may be a false widow, also. I treat any round shiny black spider as a widow, the others (competititors and predators) get a pass.

 

[Oldman47]

When I worked as a telephone guy in SoCal I used to open up the connection boxes at the top of poles to connect people and find lots of these guys. You haven't lived until you find a black widow inches from your face and have no place to retreat.