This is the BLACK WIDOW that greeted me today...

[Hard Candy]

OMG I am so scared of these things and I have a one year old daughter. We have already found 2 males in the house now this female graced me with her presents. Should I be so scared of these things? I am terrified! (my husband got close enough for these pics..NOT ME..


http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o238/oliviamcconnell/DSC01487-1.jpg




http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o238/oliviamcconnell/DSC01483.jpg

[PMS Royal Cutie]

omg wtf YES U SHOULD BE SCARED OF THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!! those things are disgusting

[TeeRRoR]

Well, Black Widow's venom is strong enough to kill so yeah, I would be scared of them. I'm scared of spiders in general.

[PMS Cakes]

My parents lived in a house that had black widows almost EVERYWHERE... I found 5 in the garage, one of which jumped out of the vacuum hose at my mom - one in the living room, and dozens outside of the house. We got an exterminator, and luckily, haven't seen one since. They moved to a place that now only has two black widows so far - but the one that's being rented out still has an exterminator.

I would definitely call an exterminator, especially with a child in the house. Black widows inject a VERY potent venom that can cause harmful reactions to adults, but really severe reactions in small children and the elderly.

See an except of the Black Widow section of BugInfo.com (http://www.buginfo.com/article.cfm?id=101):

"Black Widow venom is a bit unusual, in that it is a "neuro" toxin, and it affects the nervous system throughout the body. While the actual bite itself may feel like just a slight pin-prick, or not even be felt at all, the results of the bite can be quite intense. Within about a half hour there may be swelling and redness at the bite site itself, and within a few hours this can progress to feelings of nausea, sweating, intense spasmodic pain that travels through the limbs and body and perhaps settles in the abdomen and back. Very young children and older people are at the highest risk of serious complications from black widow venom, as their immune systems are not as effective in warding off the venom and its effects. If you suspect that you or someone else has been bitten by a black widow it is advisable to seek medical attention quickly."

[H2O SkywalkerX]

beautiful creatures.

[PMS Royal Cutie]

haha TeeRRor awwwwwwww ur scared of spiders lmao :mvsuprisehug:

[Juggernaut v2]

Just thought I would give you a helping hand Candy.

Information. (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Entomology-Study-Bugs-665/Black-Widow-Safety.htm)

[PMS Cakes]

ShOoOT - I'm REALLY afraid of spiders... ALL kinds... arachnophobia :(

Almost had a heart attack when I found a bunch of these around my parents' new house... all over the neighborhood outside... eep. Had to get out of there!!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y188/leonxaimee/vacaville/051608%20BBQ/wolfspider1.jpg

[Hard Candy]

thanks for the info guys!! Im definantly freaked....ewww

[PMS Sacredstar]

ShOoOT - I'm REALLY afraid of spiders... ALL kinds... arachnophobia :(

Almost had a heart attack when I found a bunch of these around my parents' new house... all over the neighborhood outside... eep. Had to get out of there!!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y188/leonxaimee/vacaville/051608%20BBQ/wolfspider1.jpg

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

What IS THAT THING? EW Ewewewewewweweweweww
*shuts eyes real tight* *peaks at picture again*

AHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!

[TeeRRoR]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

What IS THAT THING? EW Ewewewewewweweweweww
*shuts eyes real tight* *peaks at picture again*

AHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!
That, SacredStar, is a spider. :)

[PMS Cakes]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

What IS THAT THING? EW Ewewewewewweweweweww
*shuts eyes real tight* *peaks at picture again*

AHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!

Hehehe that's what I said!!! We were having a BBQ and my friend almost stepped on that with his socks! That same day, we went around the neighborhood and apparently they were common since there were so many just standing in the middle of the sidewalks (probably because of the heat) and it FREAKED me out and I said 'F it, let's go home!' LOL. The pic I took was the smaller one of the ones we were seeing around the neighborhood - here's another one:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y188/leonxaimee/vacaville/051608%20BBQ/wolfspider2.jpg

My fiance said they're called WOLF SPIDERS - yuck. I did some digging and it looks like it's part of the wolf spider family: http://www.spiderzrule.com/wolf.htm - Click the link if you dare to see more spiders!!

[TeeRRoR]

What neighborhood are those common in? I just want to know so I can complete avoid that area. Haha. I'm not about to mess with something that is a wolf AND a spider. ;)

[PMS Cakes]

What neighborhood are those common in? I just want to know so I can complete avoid that area. Haha. I'm not about to mess with something that is a wolf AND a spider. ;)

HAHAHAHA funnyyyyy :D

From Wikipedia: "Wolf spiders can be found in a wide range of habitats both coastal and inland. These include shrublands, woodland, wet coastal forest, alpine meadows and suburban gardens. Spiderlings disperse aerially and consequently wolf spiders have wide distributions."

LOL so looks like they're everywhere! My parents live in the Northern Bay Area of California (Vacaville, 30 minutes south of Sacramento and 30 minutes north of Vallejo) and they're all over the place. The most recent time I was there, there was a HUGE one in the bathroom with me and I pretty much cried until I left the bathroom. LOL. Except I'm not joking - I really cried. LOL. Told yoU! Arachnophobia!!! We even took a video of it in the bathroom (when I finished) running towards the toilet and my fiance screaming, "Now that's a spider you don't want in your bathroom!" Hahahaha. I have to upload that one... I'll post it up when I edit it coz it's kinda long and split to 2 different videos :p

Apparently they're not as bad as black widows. I read up on them when we killed the one in the bathroom and it says that they're more shy than black widows. And when they bite, black widows will give that neurological response and with wolf spiders, you just get a large swell (a friend of ours got bit and it was the size of a mini golf ball). So it looks like I'd rather get bitten by a wolf spider than a black widow. Hehe.

OMG. Looking at these pix made me think there was a spider on my arm and I freaked out at work and slapped myself LOL. How embarrassing :x OK! Time for me to get back to work!!

[H2O Apocalypse]

You should see the camel spiders in Iraq. They are huge.

[H2O SkywalkerX]

yeah we had wolf spiders in my old house. they're fairly large, bigger than your average house spider, and usually pretty hairy and a dark brown color. we'd find them in the bath tub a lot. they're really cool though.

[H2O.pry0r]

A wolf spider is usually smaller than those, aimee. They also look different and are darker in color. They honestly look more like small tarantulas actually.

And yes, Hard Candy, you should be afraid. A black widow's venom has the strength to kill a full sized adult male. Should you be as terrified as you seem? Probably not. If I was to walk around the perimeter of my house at night I'd probably find them by the dozens, but then again I live in the desert so they are common here. The brown recluse spider is also common around where I live, they are much worse than a black widow.

Just for informational purposes (not to make you fear these spiders more) I know someone who was biten by a black widow. I personally sen the bite. It was ugly to say the least. The doctors had to remove an area of skin about the size of a U.S. dime for pus to drain from the infection. He got lucky and managed to get himself to a hospital quick enough to survive the bite, but many people are not so lucky. The total annual deaths caused by black widows is pretty surprising.

[ElFi PMS]

Eeek! *leaves quickly and wishes I never viewed this thread*

[Hard Candy]

i thought black widows were worse than brown recluse? All I know I am glad there doesnt seem to be many Brown recluse in So Cal. When I was in the Marine Corps we found Black Widows alot at work. They are all over Camp Pendleton. I am just scared because my daughter likes to explore around the house and this one was a little 2 close for comfort. eewwwwww eww ewwww

[H2O.pry0r]

A brown recluse bite is much more painful and also kills you faster. A black widow bite can have worse permanent effects though. So Cal. has plenty of brown recluse spiders, trust me, I live in So Cal. They tend to live in areas that are dark and damp. For example, a shed up against a fence with a bunch of decomposing leaves behind it. If it's just one or two black widows, I wouldn't worry about it too much. They also like to hide in dark areas so good house keeping, well, yard keeping I should say, is a must to keep them away. The most important thing to do is always make sure they don't have a good nesting area. Move things around from time to time to make sure they don't get tempted to nest there. Also make sure you remove their food source. Bug spray/poison around the perimeter of the house and the yard will do the trick.

[Black Capone]

I thought those sons of bitches were poisonous. Now is that the spider that eats the mate when he finishes or is that another species of arachnids??

[Hard Candy]

The next "spider" most familiar to Californians-the brown recluse-is a myth. There are no populations of brown recluse spiders living in California. In case, this upsets your applecart, I repeat, there are no populations of brown recluse spiders living in California. The common name "brown recluse spider" refers to one species of spider, Loxosceles reclusa, which lives in the central Midwest: Nebraska south to Texas and eastward to southernmost Ohio and north-central Georgia (see map). Only a handful of specimens (less than 10) have ever been collected in California and usually there is some connection between the spider and a recent move or shipment from the Midwest.

I found this and several others online. This is the reason I said I didnt think there were any around here. I know So Cal is the Black Widow capitol lol. I live in So cal as well. I have just read that there arent many recluse around here. O well.. all I know is I am scared of both of them.

[Freakstylez]

You should see the camel spiders in Iraq. They are huge.

They're actually not as big as you'd think. Some of the largest camel spiders are around six inches. Sure, it's big and I wouldn't want one crawling around my house, but they're not as big as they're made out to be.


Also, I did some Googling and came up with this for reference: http://www.termite.com/spider-identification.html

Just pray you don't run into one of these guys, who can apparently kill you in as little as 15 minutes...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/SydneyFunnelWebSpider.jpg

[Hard Candy]

I dont ever wanna find out!

[Freakstylez]

Don't wander into South Africa, then, where the Birdeater Tarantula lives...

All you need to know is that they can be as large as 1-foot in length, with fangs as long as 1-inch. I don't care if they're not necessarily deadly to humans, I would not want to see one. Ever.

[Hard Candy]

1 foot? Are you serious.....omg.....I just threw up in my mouth

[Freakstylez]

I don't have arachnophobia, but I absolutely hate spiders with a passion. Let's just say if I saw one... I'd scream like a woman and tear off at thirty miles an hour.

[H2O.pry0r]

The next "spider" most familiar to Californians-the brown recluse-is a myth. There are no populations of brown recluse spiders living in California. In case, this upsets your applecart, I repeat, there are no populations of brown recluse spiders living in California. The common name "brown recluse spider" refers to one species of spider, Loxosceles reclusa, which lives in the central Midwest: Nebraska south to Texas and eastward to southernmost Ohio and north-central Georgia (see map). Only a handful of specimens (less than 10) have ever been collected in California and usually there is some connection between the spider and a recent move or shipment from the Midwest.

I found this and several others online. This is the reason I said I didnt think there were any around here. I know So Cal is the Black Widow capitol lol. I live in So cal as well. I have just read that there arent many recluse around here. O well.. all I know is I am scared of both of them.

Somewhere I have this image, it's a map of the entire U.S. that shows spider populations. A good portion of So Cal does have brown recluse population. You might be lucky and not live in that area though. If you're close to the coast, you're fine. According to the map they stay more towards the east side of Cali.

[DFx SOVEREIGN]

I'm glad I don't live in Arizona anymore. We used to find black widows all around the house, and of course, especially in the garage around an area that was left undisturbed for a while. I'm not really afraid of spiders, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep in a house that's had three black widows appear.

[H2O Bunnys]

Hmmm that doesn't look like the usual black widow... but meh ive never looked at one close enough to really see its fur, and DFx Sovereign you should be happy thats all you had around your house at least they stay on their webs most of the time. At my house we had the very small clear scorpions and we would see 1 at least every week, and for those that dont know the smaller they are and more clear they are the more deadly they are, and scorpions wander unlike most spiders.

[PMS Anarchy]

MMmmm spiders. My brother was bitten on the left big toe by a brown recluse. Nasty Bite. He was lucky enough to keep his toe, but its still a blackish tint from the venom, this was around 5 years ago. :\

[Hard Candy]

omg...thats nuts. I am definantly calling the spider killing people. :)

[Freakstylez]

The Starship Troopers?

Just don't call the guys from the piss-poor sequels. XD

[Puck]

This is one reason I like cold winters up here in Ohio, spiders don't get that big here :)

[H2O Creation]

thats what you get from living in countries with hot temperatures... we just get non poisonous bugs, how boring...

[PMS Sabbi]

omg just looking at these pictures just made me cringe. I'll admit it spiders are the one thing I am completely terrified of. we have black widows and brown recluse eeewww scarey!! they must all die lol I hate spiders sorry

[PMS Cakes]

A wolf spider is usually smaller than those, aimee. They also look different and are darker in color. They honestly look more like small tarantulas actually.

After I saw this, I wanted to check what kind of spider this was. I did an ID check on InsectNet.com and BugGuide.net and they both agree that it is a wolf spider, but on BugGuide, the responder tried to ID the exact species but wasn't sure.

InsectNet: http://www.insectnet.com/dcforum/DCForumID2/2052.html
BugGuide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/204367/bgimage

~~~~

Brown recluse spiders ARE worse than Black Widows, but luckily Hard Candy and I have nothing to worry about since they're not prevalent in California. *WHEW*

But yeah, exterminators would be my best friend right about now since they are still poisonous.

[PMS Royal Cutie]

wow lmao i never knew spiders were such a hot topic

[PMS Royal Cutie]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/173/375605623_376a87ffb0.jpg?v=0


wut the hell!!!!!!