Sunday, Jun. 27, 2010 - 9:56 a.m.
Black Widow Spiders
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It is the southern species who's bite is so dangerous. In S Ontario, we have an equally large but far less toxic sub species. It is very rare. I have only seen it a dozen times in my whole life . it is disappearing because it eats sprayed insects and accumulates the poisons in its body that either kills the spider or greatly reduces its fertility..I don't know what factor is greatest-- a loss of open sprawling meadows in S Ontario due to housing and agriculture is driving the S Ontario BW spider into extinction, Spiders do not have many friends in the ecology movement , not like whales and trees do
> the Ontario variety has a yellow hour glass motiff.. all varieties of the black widow spin a characteristic web.. that features a zig zag silken zipper the female applies at the final stage to tighten the entire web.. Webs can be 4 feet across and when wet with dew, look like eerie floating lace tablecloths
they are beautiful spiders, Graceful strong and agressive A bite by the southern BW is always very painful, and sometimes fatal. After mating the large female will eat the much smaller male..hence the name " Black Widow" mwah huh ha !
