Characteristics of black widow spider?

Question

Characteristics of black widow spider?

Answer 1

Physical or behavioural?

I think black widows are the most beautiful spider there is... absolutely gorgeous (photos don't do them justice).

http://re3.yt-thm-a01.yimg.com/image/25/...

http://re3.yt-thm-a01.yimg.com/image/25/...

Answer 2

Black widows are broken down to three species within the genus Latrodectus and the family of cobweb spiders called Theridiidae.  These three species are the Northern black widow (L. variolus), the Southern black widow (L. mactans) and the Western black widow (L. hesperus).  They also have many close relatives (31 species in the Latrodectus genus) world wide, such as the Brown widow (L. geometricus), the Red widow (L. bishopi), and Australia's redback spider (L. hasselti).

Black widows are known to be identified by an hourglass shape on the underside of the abdomen.  

Like all cobweb spiders, widows make decent sized tangled webs in dry, dark undisturbed areas such as garages and sheds.  They have been known to raise families in the area, and as long as food is supplied they will not resort to cannabalism.  When at rest they hang upside down in their web, making the hourglass mark clearly visible.  

When immature, female black widows can actually be quite colorful, with patterns of red and white.  Males are the same way, although males look like a very different and smaller spider.  Males are also harmless to humans, since they don't have the fang power to pierce human skin.

The story about black widows eating their mates is a bit of a stretch.  They do not do this nearly all the time, and this is not unusual for spiders.  Spiders are, by nature, cannabalistic.  All male spiders have to do a little dance or drum their legs or abdomen to try to see if the female is in the mood to mate and won't eat him.  The female will do a little dance back to show the male she is receptive, but things do sometimes go wrong.

It is widely known that these spiders have been known to cause death in adult men, and are known to be the spiders responsible for the most deaths world wide.  However, they are often over hyped because not many people realize that this just isn't saying that much.  In all reported bites from widow spiders, the death rate is about 5%, with many bites not needing any medical attention.  Also,  the grand total for all human deaths as a result from the bite of any spider is very low, most statistics I see average about 2-5 a year.

Answer 3

they kill you?