| Author | Content |
| fleursdefouquet Ferndale, AR Zone 7b May 9, 2008 |
It is not a black widow - we have black widows. They have a red hour glass shape on their abdomen. This spider came out of a potted shefflera plant from a florist. It was black, about 1/2" in diameter, and had a orange/red mark on it's back. The mark was shaped like a fat exclamation point without the point or a baseball bat. It was wider at one end than the other. I did not think to get a photo. I was a little freaked - have never seen anything like it before and aren't red spots supposed to signal 'danger'???? It was in the bathtub so it got washed down the drain. When I started trying to id it on the internet all I could find was this venemous spider from Austrailia - the redback spider - which isn't making me feel any better. (do sheffleras come from Austrailia???) I'm trying not to be too worried but I keep thinking there are others now in my house. We already have black widows and brown recluse. We don't need any more scary spiders! Can anyone tell me what kind of spider this might be? |
| peachespickett Huntington, AR May 12, 2008 |
I live in Western Arkansas, and too have seen the red-backed spider. I also thought maybe it was the Australian Redback, having heard that it has escaped into parts of the deep south from shipments. But after looking the red-backed spider you are talking about is a variation of the regular black widow...here's a site with some more info. [HYPERLINK@entomology.uark.edu] I save spiders when I find them in the house, I even leave the black widows alone if they're not too close to the house, but I kill the brown recluses when I find them, though I hate seeing a spider die. Weird, I know, but I had tarantulas as a kid, and it's a little known fact that if it were not for spiders, mankind would not exist...the world would have long ago been taken over by insects. |
| fleursdefouquet Ferndale, AR Zone 7b May 12, 2008 |
Hi peachespickett, where is Huntington? Did you get an invite to the Arkansas Round-Up being held at my home this Saturday? If not, go to this thread to get details. We would love to have you join us. [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com] When googling 'black spider red back' all I got was the Australian redback spider. Creepy! It appears to have a rounder body than the one in my tub. And yes, you are right, it is their version of our black widow. I learned more about black widows than I wanted to know a few years ago when discovering they are the favorite food for dirt daubers. They paralyze imature spiders and stuff them in their mud nests for their babies to eat when they hatch. Yuck! When we knocked down the nests there were all these small yellow and brown spiders inside - alive but paralyzed. Who would have known immature black widows are yellow with yellow and brown legs! |
| peachespickett Huntington, AR May 12, 2008 |
I have to work Saturday, which I hate with a passion, but I thank you very much for the invite. I imagine the Round-Ups are a fine, friendly time ...I'm also not a paid subscriber, I am what I refer to as a 'DG bum', or 'DG mooch'. I do believe it is the immature female black widows that are yellow, and they have a white swirl on their sides, I think. That wasp thing is weird, I guess it's another version of the Tarantula Hawk...people think aliens must be weird, when there are things more strange and terrifying than anything we could find in space, here on our own planet. |
| fleursdefouquet Ferndale, AR Zone 7b May 13, 2008 |
LOL! Guess you're right about the strange and terrifying things! No need to be a subscriber to come to a RU - everyone is invited. Thanks for the link. That was an interesting article. This isn't a very good photo, but it's of the immature black widows from inside the dirt dauber nest.
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| claypa West Pottsgrove, PA Zone 6b May 13, 2008 |
I couldn't come up with anything for your black and red spider, fleursdefouquet, but you really had me scratching my head with your description of juvenile widow spiders - now I know why! Those are orb weaving spiders in the genus Neoscona: [HYPERLINK@bugguide.net] What an amazing photo, a bunch of paralyzed spiders! |
| fleursdefouquet Ferndale, AR Zone 7b May 13, 2008 |
claypa, I hope you are right. I cannot find the site where I found photos of spiders exactly like these and were identified as immature widows, but it didn't help that the article talked about black widows being the favorite food of dirt daubers. Here is a link to a similar photo. [HYPERLINK@nathistoc.bio.uci.edu] I agree that your orb spiders do look very much like my paralyzed spiders and it's possible the source I found had them misidentified. I'm hoping.....I'm hoping...... The original red backed spider is still a little worrisome. Can you convince me it was just a harmless orb weaving spider???? |
| imzadi Jackson, SC Zone 8a May 13, 2008 |
[HYPERLINK@www.amonline.net.au] Argyrodes |
| fleursdefouquet Ferndale, AR Zone 7b May 16, 2008 |
Thanks for the link, imzadi. That doesn't really look like the one I saw and, again, it's found on another continent! lol! That's what worried me - that the one in my tub was some kind of spider that had been transported over here with tropical plants or something. I DO NOT want to see one again, but if I do I will definitely get a photo of it. I'm still searching sites for something that looks like it but haven't seen one yet. |
