BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS

Description:

Female is about ½ inch long and about 1 ½ inches when the legs are spread out. Males can be a quarter to half the size of the female and generally a grey to brown in color. Females are shiny black with a globular abdomen that can have a bright red hourglass marking on their abdomen.

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Habitat:

Not an aggressive spider will try to flee or move away from large animals. Generally will hang upside down in the middle of it’s web and most human bites are accidental. Black Widow Spiders are not common in Wisconsin.

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Life Cycle:

Females will live about 1 year and males about 3 to 4 months. Females will lay several batches of egg sacs (up to 750 eggs in each sac) only 1 to 12 spiders will typically survive due to cannibalization.