The black widow is the most poisonous spider in North America, but only the adult female.
The black widow's female is easily recognizable, if one looks at her carefully one will notice a red hourglass shape under the lower part of her abdomen.
The spider has a shiny black body with several types of red markings on it, depending on the species.
There are about five species of black widow in North America.
Black widow spiders with extended legs measure about 35 mm.
According to some facts the black widow can lay 400 eggs at a time.
The black widow's female has acquired the bad reputation of eating the male at the end of copulation. Although this happens, it only happens when the male is too weak (after several copulations with other females), or when the female confuses it with food.
According to the facts about spiders, their silk is known to be the strongest of all silks. Beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other spiders often fall into the webs of black widows.
While these spiders are dangerous, they also have their enemies. Some wasps sting them to paralyze them and eat them later. They are also the favorite food of religious mantises. Some birds catch them and eat them. The red mark on the abdomen of the black widow warns its possible predators that it is a poisonous animal.
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