Texas Gardening: Widow Maker, 1 by perkoschilefarm

perkoschilefarm wrote:
I have nothing against Spiders or most bugs and insects I find in the woods. There are exceptions to this though and it usually starts when I find them making homes in my plant's leaves or stems or roots. Not that this gal would do such a thing cause they prefer dark over well lit.

No, she decided to roost on a nice and hefty piece of blackjack oak burning wood and just as I was about to toss it on our fire...well you know the rest! Hence where this shot came from cause God forbid if you thought I get around on my hands and knees to scout out all these strange pictures. OK that is a little closer to the truth but I mostly gave this kind of shooting up in 2007 or was it 2010?

Stats:

Southern Black Widow ( Latrodectus mactans )
Size:1.5" long and 0.25" in diameter
Habit: The black widow spider very frequently hangs upside down near the center of its web (or wood) and waits there for insects to blunder in... like me.
Usefulness:The female black widow's venom is particularly harmful to humans ( the males almost never bite people). Injection of venom from these species is a comparatively dangerous or lethal spider bite, resulting in the condition Latrodectism which is named for the genus.

Not at the top of my list as a useful beneficial to have in my herb garden.



This message was edited Sep 23, 2010 2:54 PM