Black widow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Black widow |
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Latrodectus
Walckenaer, 1805
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Black widows are spiders. Their scientific name is Latrodectus mactans. They are shiny black and have round abdomens with a red hourglass pattern on its underside. They are closely related to another group called Steotoda (sometimes called "false widow spiders") that contains species that are not dangerous to humans. All of the true widow spiders can give bites that are harmful to human beings and may kill children or people who are not in good health.
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Description
Female black widows are about 1/2 inch (12 mm) long, not including their legs. That's about the size of a paperclip! Males are much smaller, only about half the size of the females.
Males are brown or gray, with red or white spots. They are much less dangerous than females.
Habitat
Black widow spiders live in warm places all over the world. They like to build their webs in safe places under something like an overturned box sitting on the ground. Often they are found under the seats of outdoor toilets. They like to be left alone, so they rarely come inside places where people live.
Diet
Black widows are predators, which means they hunt other animals for food. They prey on flies, mosquitoes, and beetles. Sometimes, they even eat other spiders!
Black widows catch their prey using their webs. When an insect gets stuck in the web, the spider rushes out and wraps it in silk. Then, it bites the insect and injects venom, which paralyzes or kills it.
Web
Black widow webs are not as neat and organized as some other spider webs. These webs are usually built close to the ground, in dark and sheltered places.
The silk of a Black widow web is very strong. It is even stronger than steel of the same thickness! The spider uses its web to:
- Catch prey: Insects get stuck in the sticky threads.
- Signal danger: The spider can feel vibrations in the web.
- Protect its eggs: The spider builds a special egg sac to keep her babies safe.
Baby spiders
Female Black widows lay eggs in a silken egg sac. This sac can contain hundreds of eggs! The egg sac is usually pear-shaped and is about 1/2 inch (12 mm) long. The mother spider guards the egg sac until the spiderlings (baby spiders) hatch.
When the spiderlings hatch, they are tiny and white. They look like miniature versions of their mother. The spiderlings go through several molts, shedding their skin as they grow bigger. During this time, they disperse, meaning they leave their mother's web to find their own homes.
Biting
Like other spiders, black widows bite for two reasons: to kill things to eat and to protect themselves. They catch flying insects in their webs and bite them so that they will stop fighting to get free. When people put their hands into this spider's web they might get bitten by mistake, but usually people get bitten when they squeeze a spider and the spider defends itself. Unfortunately, humans are very sensitive to the venom that the spider gives in its bite. The good thing is that widow spiders almost always run away if they can. If something big hits their web then they drop straight down to the ground and run away.
Interesting facts about black widow spiders
- Their venom is 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake’s.
- They live for about 1 to 3 years.
- Female black widows sometimes eat the males after mating, which is how they got their name.
- Their most recognizable feature is the red hourglass marking on the underside of their abdomen. This marking can sometimes be orange or yellow.
- Black widows are nocturnal, which means they are most active at night.
See also
In Spanish: Black Widow para niños
