what is Creeping around our place at night?

back view of black widow - one of the several varieties of widow spiders we get.
found one in the house last week - now this one.

We usually see them in secluded areas that do not get disturbed often - such as in the sewage areas.

Last year we saw a zebra stripped male black widow and also a rainbow widow.

I used to think black widows were all the same all black but for the bright red hour glass shape on the abdomen.
@Modestah (11179)
United States
June 25, 2007 11:35pm CST
lurking in the shadows. *shiver My son just went out to lift some weights - as he does most every night. He likes to do it outside where it is cooler. Glad he saw what was on his weights before he put his hand to it! he knocked it off to the ground and then took the pictures. This is a back shot - the belly does have the red hour glass. the scientific name is Lactrodectus Bishopi It is in the family of "widow spiders"
6 people like this
10 responses
@Mikki2 (179)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Yuck!! He was lucky he saw it first. My daughter's boyfriend had to be taken to the emergency room night before last because he was bitten by a black widow spider. I am glad your son was luckier than he was.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
26 Jun 07
oh dear, it sure does make me grateful!
@tina12679 (1126)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Wow close one. This is something to think about isnt it. You dont always know what might show up in unusual places. Definitly makes you want to check out every thing before you make your next move.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
26 Jun 07
you can bet we will be shaking out our shoes before putting them on!
• United States
26 Jun 07
Yuck. I hate spiders and those especially terrify me. Your son is really lucky to have seen that spider and knocked it off before he reach for his weights. That could have been a rather bad situation that got even worse rather quickly.
1 person likes this
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Oh my, I'm glad that he saw it before he grabbed it. I really hate spiders, and one of those is especially bad.
1 person likes this
@DJ9020 (1596)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Yuck! Good thing he looked! See, I told you all that working out was bad for your health!!!
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
26 Jun 07
widow spider with egg sack - goodness but how many baby spiders can that thing hold? it is bigger than mama spider! i wonder if it holds thousands. yuck, need to get that away from the house!
oh hahaha! it really could have been, huh? I asked him if he killed it, and he said no. Augh. I do not want to even rake up leaves now! I told him that tomorrow he should either destroy or move the egg sac somewhere else. are you all able to view the pictures? for some reason they are not showing up on my screen.
• United States
26 Jun 07
oh yikes! i had enough of those from arizona. that's the one thing i like about new england.the most poisonous things are some of the plants..but they can't crawl in your shoes;)
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Wow Modestah, That is just plain scary. I cant see the photo as I am replying from my email but will look at it as soon as I do this comment. Glad your son saw the widow spiders before he got bit. Are they common in your area? I will go look at the photo now
• United States
26 Jun 07
I cant see the photo only a big red x there for me. I wanted to see it
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
26 Jun 07
OHHHHHH got my skin crawling - I am horrified of any creepy eightlegged creature and always very carefully lift things inside and out for fear of there being one hiding underneith.
@aprilgrl (4460)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I am so glad that your son caught it in time whew you must feel relieved that it didn't ite him. We have some of those here too oh I hate any kinds of spiders.
@misheleen73 (6037)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Brown recluse spider.. bad buggers for sure !! - Brown recluse spider.. bad buggers for sure !! You don't want a bite from one of them.
nope, no picture there Modestah.. I know well what they look like though*shivers* We had a family of brown recluse spiders when I first moved up here. We lived in a farm house out in the country. Those little buggers are pretty bad too. I left a link seeing as pictures are not working !!! http://brownreclusespider.com/info.htm
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
26 Jun 07
oh yes, we have the brown recluse here as well. horrid things. I mostly see them in the garage especially in boxes. how odd that pictures are not working....they came up once for me when I replied to a comment yesterday.
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
26 Jun 07
brown recluse bite - wound from a brown recluse bite, necrosis
if this picture does not show up, one I have used before, then something must be wrong with the system.
1 person likes this
• United States
26 Jun 07
pictures are working again, if only for a few minutes. I have seen that type of pic before too. Yuck !!