Black Widows in Grapes....*PICS*

[Removed_2815]

Greetings,
I just wanted to share my newest stowaway rescue story: a beautiful Latrodectus hesperus that hitched a ride into Ontario on a bunch of grapes to be sold in a grocery store.
First, this arachnid is absolutely amazing! The tensile strength of their web is incredible (in fact, the silk is used for the cross-hairs in some rifle scopes). She is a voracious feeder: I will put a cricket in the freezer for a few seconds to slow it down and then I will wind the cricket in her web, as the cricket warms up and starts kicking she is alerted and quickly encases it in silk and spends the rest of the day externally digesting it and sucking up the contents. Another thing I find interesting is how active they can be, as is the case when I give her a weekly misting. She will roam her quarters and ingest any small water droplet she can find! Very neat.
Anyway, enough rambling, here are some pics:
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666BW1.JPG
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666BW2.JPG
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666BW4.JPG

For those interested in a quick taxonomy lesson (I find this very interesting), I have a photo of her underside that aided in my identification of L. hesperus:
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666BW3.JPG
L. hesperus is also known as the Western Widow, they are blackish in colouration with the ventral red hourglass mark complete (no separation between the triangles). Also the anterior triangle part is usually longer and broader than the posterior triangle (as is evident in the photo). Also, there is no red spot above the anal tubercle (just above spinnerets) which is characteristic of L. hesperus. The Western Widow occurs in the Western United States and Canada, which to me, is consistent with the likely origin of the grapes.
For comparison, I also just happen to have a nice underbelly shot of Latrodectus mactans:
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666BW5.JPG
Now, L. mactans usually has a separated hourglass mark, this girl doesn't (there is obviously some variation within populations). Also, the anterior triangle is usually more of a round rectangle than a triangle (as can be seen in the photo). Also this spider often has a red spot just above anal tubercle (just above spinnerets) (very evident in this photo). L. mactans occurs primarily from Massachusetts to Florida and West to Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, but is most common in Southern states (I found this girl in Virginia).
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and thanks for letting me ramble about the taxonomy, I just think it is very interesting to see the differences visually (instead of just reading about the differences between L. hesperus and L. mactans).....
Cheers,
RMB

[dank7oo]

:) my dad used to work with the guy whose grapes it was in - lol

[daver676]

Thanks for the info and pictures! What are the husbandry requirements like?

[snakehunter]

great....now i want one! thats some great info RM you sure know your stuff

[BoidKeeper]

I say put it in the freezer! Can they survive in Canada if they become introduced?
Great pics,
Trevor

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
I say put it in the freezer! Can they survive in Canada if they become introduced?
Well that would certainly defeat the purpose of my 400km trek to spare her from such a fate......

Originally posted by RMBolton
The Western Widow occurs in the Western United States and Canada
Most of my professional work is in conservation biology, you can take my word that she is no threat in her critter keeper.
R

[Dani33]

Great pictures, congrats!

[Soul_Reaper]

I love Black Widows, very nice spider!

[burmer]

Very cool. Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

[Simon]

Great work from sparing her life~
A job well done!!!
The photos are great too and great explaination of the taxonomy~ a lesson learned~

[C.m.pyrrhus]

Really neat widow there...
I used to keep widows and other personal interesting inverts as a youngin'. Widows are common down here if one knows where to look. A few years back when I was removing a few rattlers from under a trailor house, I removed the skirting to reveal literally 1000's of the lil' black beauties. A bit shocking to know for the home owner (I also was a resident in the household) but I thought it was pretty cool none the less. I also would find many widows in the grapes I got from the local grape producers. Found a few AZ Recluse as well. Great place to live if your food source is small bugs.

[mykee]

Very nice, but keep it the heck away from me.

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by daver676
What are the husbandry requirements like?
Pretty simple as far as I can tell. Information is seriously lacking with regards to captive rearing (and rightly so). It would be irresponsible of me to advocate the keeping of these arachnids, however, since they do possess a potent neurotoxin (however they are not dangerous at all in the sense that they will only bite if crushed).
Cheers,
R

[daver676]

Originally posted by RMBolton
Pretty simple as far as I can tell. Information is seriously lacking with regards to captive rearing (and rightly so). It would be irresponsible of me to advocate the keeping of these arachnids, however, since they do possess a potent neurotoxin (however they are not dangerous at all in the sense that they will only bite if crushed).
Cheers,
R

Understood. I don't think I will ever keep a spider as a pet, but I do find them very interesting, from a distance. :p

[nolagurl]

i'm not a big fan of spiders. pretty though!

[morph]

Hey Boidkeeper they don't need to be introduced too Canada they already are here. There's loads of them around Victoria. Quite common in some areas actually.

Scott

[unknownclown]

I have always liked spiders and widows are my favorite they are so beautiful! Id keep them myself if I didnt have a 3 year old who gets into everything.

[Linds]

Very neat! :cool:

[Kyle Barker]

just thought i may piss ya off :D

Western Widow:
http://www.angelfire.com/ky3/animalpictures/images/wid2.JPG

No red.... I also breed these. Rearing is super easy, in fact seperation isnt need for a while. I have watched time and time again babies eating off mommy's kill. I chuck a few large crickets in, mom does her thing, and babies go for dinner (often 10-15 babies per cricket)... They are way to interesting for their own good! They may be very toxic, but like Rm said hardly very dangerous. Very difficult to get them pissed, cept when mom has a sac goin.

[Cockroach]

Widows are awesome spiders, and I'm going to try to get one in the spring time. I've never seen a Widow that hasn't got an hourglass. Very nice pics:) .


laters,
Bill:D

[Oliverian]

That's so wierd! I thought they were everywhere up here in Canada. They're almost a pest in our house, as they always go into the hockey gear. I could go outside in my backyard in summer and find one or two just by looking around quickly. They're neat spiders though. Congrats on the find!
-TammyR

[Scales Zoo]

The widows in Saskatchewan have small red hour glasses, or sometimes just triangles, or a stripe. Very hard to get pictures of, I've got a few poor ones - others who've been out here have some good ones, and I suspect Vanan will make it a goal to take as many pictures of them in the spring as is humanly possible.

Ryan

[Emily-Fisher]

Geez, she is GORGEOUS!! Way to go.. now I want one too :( (Hah, like mom will ever let me bring one of those into the house... I'm allowed to keep pokies but not black widows. Hrrrmm..)
lol I really can't tell you how she pretty she is... words just aren't enough! Those pictures really took my breath away.
Mmmm... black widows...

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by dank7oo
:) my dad used to work with the guy whose grapes it was in - lol
Oops, I just read this now.... Likely not this particular spider, I believe there have been 3 or 4 confirmed instances in Ontario. This girl never left the grocery store.
Cheers,
R

[skinheaddave]

Originally posted by Emily-Fisher
I'm allowed to keep pokies but not black widows. Hrrrmm..)


I wouldn't push this matter with evidence like Vernier's bite report, or you might very well be out the pokies.

Cheers,
Dave

[Removed_2815]

Well she has just created a giant egg sac! She is now half her original size! Crazy.....
Cheers,
R

[Kyle Barker]

have you ever watched them eat after laying? I swear you can see them fill up...its like blowing up a baloon.

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by Kyle Barker
have you ever watched them eat after laying? I swear you can see them fill up...its like blowing up a baloon.
I'm watching her eat right now, it's unreal....
R

[Dom]

Awesome pics.. anyone have any pics of imature ones??

I have a nice little girl and also just wondering when they become jet black..

Tx
Dom

[Kyle Barker]

female finishing up her sac
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464blkwideggs-med.JPG
Last of the babies. Usually they only have a little hole and come out 1 by 1 but a cricket wrecked the case. There are some unfertilised eggs in there too.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464blkbabies.JPG
2nd shed
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464wid12.JPG
3 week (i think male) eating a roach.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464IM000278.JPG

Colour change happens at all different periods of time. They get darker at every shed, the faster they grow the faster they change.

[Dragoon]

Ooooohh, the babies are smokin'! Wouldn't it be cool if they STAYED that way?
Hmmm, I still have no idea what their head looks like, what a funny spider. Thanks so much Kyle for all the pics! Do you keep more than one species of Widow?
D.

[Yness]

Said it before and I'll will say it again...Even the pictures make me shudder. Beautiful pics and it was nice to learn about the Black Widow...but from a distance is fine by me...

Yness

[Dom]

Thanks so much for the pics of younger spiders.. I really apreciate it ..

Next tiem I have a digital camera here I will take pics of mine and post it for you - maybe yu could tell me what type it is as there is 6 different species if I have read correctly..

Dom

[Kyle Barker]

i am horrible at telling the species, i used to guess by colour but that isnt very acurate seen as many are found with NO red and major variations. RM probably knows the secrets....

I only keep hesperus and mactans, for now. I am very interested in getting the red&brown and almost any of the non-northamerican sp!

[manville]

Hey kyle the one that you sold to me a while ago doesnt have red stripes so what kind is it? western widow?

[Pirranha]

I found a spider in a cricket box that looks like a red widow,cept the pattern is white instead of red,right down to the 2 spots near the spinnerettes.Im trying to find out if it might be an immature widow,or a look-alike.Any sugestions?
Ive got 1 bad pic so far from the side : http://www.geocities.com/pirranha25/start.html

[Kyle Barker]

yes it is a western, how big is it now?

pirranha it may be that or a false widow "steatoda sp". I have some steatodas that looked VERY similar to that when younger and some still have white on them.

[manville]

hmmm...about the same size...a little bigger...pretty cool...is the black widow or western widow rarer? the scorpion grew a little bigger too...leo geckos are doing good

[Pirranha]

Thanks kyle,I got a good top view pic,and it looks exactly like a dark colored Steatoda triangulosa pic i came accross.

[Kyle Barker]

its actually "western black widow", westerns are very common...i have not seen too many solid black ones though.

[manville]

yeah i was wondering why mine is solid black...lol..

[daver676]

Isn't it also possible for Black Widows to have yellow hour glasses on the abdomen?