Preventative Measures!

You can now see that distinctive distinguishing feature that black and brown widows have. That "hour glass" marking on the ventral (underside) portion of their abdomens. Another distinctive feature is the egg sac morphology. The Black widow's have a round smooth surfaced eggsac where as the Brown widow's have a bumpy, spiky eggsac. Well, brown widows are becoming more common now versus black widows and are supposedly less toxic and less aggressive; and less of course they are defending their eggsacs. These tiny creatures can become like weeds if you do not destroy their eggsacs immediately upon finding them. Each eggsac can contain up to 500 little baby spiders! Now, if I have ever come upon a mama and her babies, I generally burn them to a crisp with a striker. Works perfect. The babies are too small to bite and the mama generally balls up. Even if the eggsac has hatched, generally the babies will not venture off until they have completed their first molt. Black and Brown widows are ecologically located throughout the state of Florida and tend to nest in dark dry areas. If bitten, they secrete a neurotoxin that ultimately causes a gain-grenous type infection. I suggest to prevent them from establishing, to not let anything just sit there. Like and old tire, or an unused planting pot. Just be careful before turning anything over. Like I said, they are not generally aggressive so just take your time and be careful. Oh yeah, if you get bit, go to the doctor, immediately.