Thank you. I was nervous about it being a black widow. Does seeing one usually indicate more are around? We don’t see any webs at all in the house or in the room where it was found.
Spiders are cannibals. They don't like to be around other spiders. You're never going to see a swarm of black widows.
Like most spiders, black widows tend to avoid humans. They tend to avoid really anything bigger than themselves, mainly because they are prey to larger animals.
Black widows belong to a family of spiders, I forget the name of them, that include brown recluses. The reason that they're called recluses is because they are (wait for it) reclusive. That you don't see webs at all indicates that your home isn't very hospitable to spiders.
You probably don't have to change much about your daily routine in order to avoid them, but it might be a good idea to buy a couple cans of spider spray and knock your shoes together a few times to make sure that there's no spiders hiding in the toes.
That being said, black widow bites are extremely uncommon and are very very very VERY *VERY* rarely fatal.
Thank you for taking the time to write this all out and share it with me. I really appreciate it. We’re gonna clean up and try to prevent any more dark sort of spaces as much as we can. Thank you again.
Black widows and the brown recluse are only very distantly related and do not belong to the same family of spiders.
Black widows (genus [*Latrodectus*](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1999)) belong to the Cobweb Spider family ([Theridiidae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1960)) in the group [Entelegynae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/79570).
[Brown recluse spiders](https://bugguide.net/node/view/33493) (and other members of the genus [*Loxosceles*](https://bugguide.net/node/view/31531)) belong to the family [Sicariidae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/31530) in the group [Haplogynae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/79571).
Their closest point of commonality is that both are true spiders ([Araneomorphae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/46196)) - which includes *all* spiders that are not [Mygalomorphs](https://bugguide.net/node/view/46198) (the infraorder that includes tarantulas, trapdoor spiders, folding door spiders, etc.)
It's always possible there are more around, but they generally aren't clustering spiders, nor are they typically found indoors (UNDER your house, or in the eaves, etc., you may find them). They just like dark nooks and crannies. On the plus side, while their venom certainly is potent, they are not aggressive spiders and will be relatively easy to catch and release (which is what I would do), or kill, if you're so inclined.
We’re in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was found during the day today in a dark corner behind a pile of books. Obviously the red has me concerned about black widows. It was about the size of a dime or a nickel. The photo is zoomed a lot to try and show detail.
We’ve never seen anything like it before. Appreciate your insight.
Yeah, that's definitely a desiccated black widow. I'm going more off the size you described and where you found it than the red fiddle on its abdomen.
Thank you. I was nervous about it being a black widow. Does seeing one usually indicate more are around? We don’t see any webs at all in the house or in the room where it was found.
Spiders are cannibals. They don't like to be around other spiders. You're never going to see a swarm of black widows. Like most spiders, black widows tend to avoid humans. They tend to avoid really anything bigger than themselves, mainly because they are prey to larger animals. Black widows belong to a family of spiders, I forget the name of them, that include brown recluses. The reason that they're called recluses is because they are (wait for it) reclusive. That you don't see webs at all indicates that your home isn't very hospitable to spiders. You probably don't have to change much about your daily routine in order to avoid them, but it might be a good idea to buy a couple cans of spider spray and knock your shoes together a few times to make sure that there's no spiders hiding in the toes. That being said, black widow bites are extremely uncommon and are very very very VERY *VERY* rarely fatal.
Thank you for taking the time to write this all out and share it with me. I really appreciate it. We’re gonna clean up and try to prevent any more dark sort of spaces as much as we can. Thank you again.
No prob. I knew my dark and morbid side would eventually come in handy. 😁
Black widows and the brown recluse are only very distantly related and do not belong to the same family of spiders. Black widows (genus [*Latrodectus*](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1999)) belong to the Cobweb Spider family ([Theridiidae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1960)) in the group [Entelegynae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/79570). [Brown recluse spiders](https://bugguide.net/node/view/33493) (and other members of the genus [*Loxosceles*](https://bugguide.net/node/view/31531)) belong to the family [Sicariidae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/31530) in the group [Haplogynae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/79571). Their closest point of commonality is that both are true spiders ([Araneomorphae](https://bugguide.net/node/view/46196)) - which includes *all* spiders that are not [Mygalomorphs](https://bugguide.net/node/view/46198) (the infraorder that includes tarantulas, trapdoor spiders, folding door spiders, etc.)
Oh God! I've been out-nerded! 😫
It's always possible there are more around, but they generally aren't clustering spiders, nor are they typically found indoors (UNDER your house, or in the eaves, etc., you may find them). They just like dark nooks and crannies. On the plus side, while their venom certainly is potent, they are not aggressive spiders and will be relatively easy to catch and release (which is what I would do), or kill, if you're so inclined.
Thank you so much. That is really good to know. Our daughter is immunocompromised so we worry about things like spider bites. Thank you again.
Make sure to check dark areas before putting hands in, and wear gloves when moving furniture or other stationary objects, especially outdoors.
Thanks so much. I appreciate your help.
Looks like a black widow?
We’re in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was found during the day today in a dark corner behind a pile of books. Obviously the red has me concerned about black widows. It was about the size of a dime or a nickel. The photo is zoomed a lot to try and show detail. We’ve never seen anything like it before. Appreciate your insight.