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11-12-2013, 01:51 PM
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2,612 posts, read 5,365,873 times
Reputation: 3965
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Found this spider in my son's toy box. I've seen them around the house before. Can anyone identify it? I'm a little worried. The brighter picture shows his body under the camera flash - without the flash it just looked grayish-black, and the legs looked brown. Size-wise, he was only about as big as a penny, legs included. We are located in VA.
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11-12-2013, 02:20 PM
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Location: USA
7,776 posts, read 11,842,873 times
Reputation: 11802
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I saw a black widow years ago and there was no doubt at all. It was jet black all over except on its underbelly was a red hourglass shape. Find a photo on google or bing.
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11-12-2013, 02:24 PM
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7,101 posts, read 26,404,960 times
Reputation: 7436
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How to Identify Venomous House Spiders
this is supposed to be a site for ID for spiders. It had a very good one for black widows. If this site doesn't work, there are tons of others. They are black with a bright red dot or hour glass shape on their belly. Just kill one, turn it over and look.
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11-12-2013, 03:03 PM
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Location: Austin, TX
2,722 posts, read 5,254,574 times
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That does not look like a black widow.
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11-12-2013, 03:07 PM
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Location: Yellow cottage, green doors.
16,637 posts, read 15,185,555 times
Reputation: 74276
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Not a black widow.  |
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11-12-2013, 03:34 PM
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2,612 posts, read 5,365,873 times
Reputation: 3965
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Thanks! Glad I didn't smush him.
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11-12-2013, 03:51 PM
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Location: Yellow cottage, green doors.
16,637 posts, read 15,185,555 times
Reputation: 74276
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^^^ Oh, I would've smushed him!   No spiders in my house!  |
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11-12-2013, 06:13 PM
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489 posts, read 823,011 times
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Not a black widow by far, but looks very similar to a brown widow or possibly a red widow though. I cannot make out the top side of its body (not abdomen) to see if it has a fiddle shape mark, but it could be a brown recluse as well. If it has the red to red-orange hour glass shape mark on its underside of its abdomen, then it is a brown widow or even possibly a red widow.
Red widows are usually a bit more reddish to brown-orange color tone, but it is hard to tell in those pics you posted. If it is brown recluse, they are more afraid of you than you of them. They are very shy and will hide in the darkest and most quite places they can find, and will normally run away from you.
Either way, look for the red to red-orange hour glass mark on the bottom side of its abdomen for a widow spider and a fiddle (violin) shape mark on its top side of its body (not abdomen)..  |
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11-12-2013, 06:24 PM
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8,407 posts, read 11,232,726 times
Reputation: 16005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marie5v
Thanks! Glad I didn't smush him.
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I'm glad that you didn't "smush" him, too. No one needs to kill spiders. They're very beneficial--just release them outdoors to eat insects or be eaten by birds. |
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11-12-2013, 07:25 PM
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Location: Yellow cottage, green doors.
16,637 posts, read 15,185,555 times
Reputation: 74276
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The spiders we get in our homes bite and cause serious injuries, so....*smush*!
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