Brown Widow Spiders

So, while Sherry and I were setting up for GDTVD, we saw a spider making a web over by the pool shed. The spider looked very suspicious, and on closer inspection, it turned out to be a black widow. (Or so it seemed at the time. It was black and had the distinctive red hourglass marking on its abdomen.)

I tried to capture it in a jar to show the kids the next day, but I ended up wounding it pretty badly so I had to kill it.

The next day, Sherry was cleaning out some swim goggles for the kids, and there hiding in the corner was another black widow. Yikes! However, this one was more brown than black. In fact, it wasn't a solid color at all; it sort of had black and brown and yellow markings. But that red hourglass was unmistakable.

The next day, Sherry was cleaning under one of the TV trays that had been outside, and she found yet another widow. This one was brownish like the one that had been in the goggles. But this time, there were three egg sacs sitting in her web. The egg sacs proved to be the crucial key in determining the true identity of these spiders.

Turns out these were all brown widow spiders. (The egg sacs of brown widows are unique in that they have pointed projections, giving them a shape similar to a World War II naval mine. The egg sacs of other widow spiders, including the black widow, are smooth.) Brown widows vary from light tan to dark brown or almost black, and their hourglass marking is typically more orange than red. Their venom is twice as potent as black widow venom (however that's measured), but they do not inject as much venom as a black widow. They are very timid and do not defend their web. They're also slightly smaller than the black widow.

The chances of getting bitten by a brown widow are low because of their skittishness, and dying from their bite is quite rare, but it can still be painful. Of course we've told the kids to watch out for them, and we're going to do some cleaning to try to wipe out any webs.