Black Widow Spiders

Adult black widow spiders have a shiny, black, rounded, circular abdomen and

are about 1/3 inch long (about 1-1/2 inches when their legs are spread).

Adult spiders have two reddish or yellowish triangles on their bottom which

looks like an hourglass marking, and their body color is dark colored usually

black or sometimes dark brown. They are usually recognized because of their

red or red-orange hourglass design on the bottom of their abdomen. This

pattern is changeable and may look like two separated spots. In some spiders

there is no pattern on the abdomen. The immature stages of both sexes of the

widow spiders have red or red-orange or yellow spots and strips on the top

of their abdomen. Females are colored gray or pale brown. Their color gets

darker as they get older. The hourglass pattern on the underside of the

abdomen forms throughout their development. Male widow spiders are smaller

about 1/4 inch long, and they're usually not black in overall color, instead

it looks like a light brown or gray. Male widows have an hourglass pattern

too. When they are full-grown they have large knob-like shapes called

pedipalps, which start from the head. But to females they still look the

same. Newly hatched spiderlings are white or a yellowish-white, eventually

turning blackish when they get older. Adolescents of both sexes look like

the male.

Black Widow spiders build loose and uneven mesh-type webs of rough silk in

dark places usually outdoors. And build their webs near the ground

(sometimes inside of houses) but mainly they build them outside. Black

Widows can be found near the ground in dark undisturbed areas. Nest sites

are near holes made by small animals, or around construction openings and

woodpiles. Also they can be found around low shrubs which are usual sites

for widow spiders. Black widows are also found inside in dark undisturbed

areas like behind furniture or under desks and in undisturbed