As more black widow spiders start to appear, here’s how to recognize them and stay safe

The venomous, black widow spider is currently mating and laying its eggs in states across the U.S., which means you could be seeing it more frequently under your firewood piles, inside electrical boxes, in garage corners and other areas around your home.

The black widow’s venom attacks human nerve cells, and potentially can be dangerous to people — especially small children and older adults with preexisting health conditions.

“Through the summer, that’s when [the black widow] population is actually going to be the highest,” said Travis Aggson, an associate certified entomologist and district manager of the Wichita, Manhattan and Topeka (Kansas) regions of American Pest Management. “They’re laying their eggs through May and June.”

The side effects of a black widow bite can include muscle cramps, headaches, profuse sweating and vomiting, according to Kansas State University Research and Extension. In rare cases, a bite can cause death due to suffocation.

As the summer continues and the likelihood of spotting the black widow increases, here are some things you should know to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

IDENTIFYING THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER

The first way to protect yourself from the black widow is to know what it looks like and how to spot it.

In the United States, there are five species of black widow spiders: the northern, southern and western varieties most commonly found in the regions they’re named for, as well as red and brown widows.

Red widows are endangered, and are only found in palmetto scrub habits in Florida, said Dr. Deborah Smith, a professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. Brown widows are commonly found in Florida, Texas and other southern states. In total, there are around 50 plus species of black widow spiders around the world.

Female and male black widow spiders differ in characteristics. Smith and Aggson said female black widows are jet black with a distinct mark that looks like a bright orange or red hourglass on the underside of their abdomens, which appear fat.

““There’s about 50 plus species of widow spiders around the world and they mostly fit that picture of a large, shiny, black spider with red markings, usually sort of hourglass, but it can vary,” Smith said.

While male black widows are also black, they are smaller than females and have more color markings. Aggson said the males typically do not bite humans.

Aggson said the spider he most commonly sees is the southern black widow. They’re “blackish with that red hourglass mark on the underside of the abdomen. The male looks totally different. It’s smaller than the female and it’ll actually have white markings all over its body.”

Smith said while the female adult black widow can be an inch or inch and a half including its legs, the male measures at approximately a quarter of an inch.

Another distinguishing feature of the black widow is its web. Scott Shea, owner and operator of Wichita Pest Controls LLC, said the web is sticky and has a very disorganized pattern.

“The web has a very crazy design. It’s very unorthodox,” Shea said. “A lot of people will see a web hanging off of their gutter or on their front porch — that really neat design that looks like Charlotte’s Web, your stereotypical spider web. But a black widow web is nothing like that… strings are going in every different direction. That’s how I recognize that that’s likely a black widow web.”

The web also has a strong texture to it, Smith said. The black widow spider usually hangs in its web in an upside down position.

“If you happen to be messing around in an old shed somewhere and you put your hand somewhere and you touch some silk that feels almost like a trampoline, take your hand away,” Smith said. “That could be a widow spider’s web. It’s very, very tough silk.”

WHERE THE BLACK WIDOW SPENDS ITS TIME

Common areas where black widow spiders like to live, according to Aggson, Smith and Shea include the following:

Unlike the brown recluse spider, which is known for spending time inside houses, Shea said that from his experience, it is unlikely that you will find the black widow inside of your home except for one place — the corners of your garage.

“They’ll come right in that corner of the garage, so that’s one place you want to be really careful of sticking your hands and being cognizant of the fact that something might be right there because that’s a high traffic area for not only spiders, but other pests coming in and out of your home,” Shea said.

As soon as black widow spiders find an area to live, they build their web there and do not move very often, Smith said.

“They want something where they can put up their webs and basically spend their life there,” Smith said.

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM THE BLACK WIDOW

While you can hire a pest control company or use pest control products, Shea said one of the ways to protect yourself from the black widow is to keep your firewood piles away from your home and neatly organized so that black widows can’t hide in them. In addition, he said keeping your garage — especially the front — uncluttered, as well as keeping the bushes and trees around your home trimmed will also help prevent spiders from living there.

Vacuuming can also help get rid of any egg sacs, Aggson said.

“The best way to eliminate a black widow infestation is, surprisingly to some, is with a vacuum,” Aggson said. “The egg sacs can have several hundred eggs on the inside of their egg sacs. If you’re able to remove that egg sac, that eliminates several hundreds before they even hatch out.”

Wearing leather gloves when working in areas where they are likely to appear will also help protect you from being bit, Aggson said.

Since the black widow spends most of its time on its web, it does not search for prey; and as long as it is undisturbed, it should not bite you. The spiders are defensive, rather than aggressive.

“They’re definitely spiders you want to respect,” Smith said. “You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you might frighten them and they might bite you, and that would happen if you were putting your hands into their webs.”

RECOGNIZING A BITE AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET BIT

There are multiple signs that you can look for to help you recognize a black widow bite.

A black widow bite often causes pain right away, according to the National Capital Poison Center. Around the bite, there will be “tiny puncture wounds” along with some local swelling. The Center says to wash the area well with soap and water.

Bad bites can cause worse symptoms, including muscle cramps that usually start in the area of the bite and then move to the center of the body. Intense pain is typically treated with narcotics, and antivenin is also available for serious cases, the Center says.

If you suspect that you have been bitten, you should call Poison Control at 800-222-1222.

A version of this story originally ran in the Wichita Eagle.