Expert: Jule-Lynne - 10/4/2006

Question
Thanks for your reply.  We figured having someone come out here wouldn't do anymore good since it's natural to have spiders :)

All we have been doing is just killing the spiders as we see them because we do not want our 21 month son accidently touching them and getting bitten.

We had a couple of spiders that we sprayed on our porch.  However, somehow they disappeared (either something ate it, the wind blew them away, or the mailman cleaned them up for us) so I don't have any pictures to send you.

If we run across more of them, I'll try to get some pictures and send them to you.

I guess I'm just worried about my son getting bitten or stepping on them...or them getting into the house....

But thanks for the reassurance!

Ngan
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Followup To

Question -
We've killed several spiders that look like black widows because of the red hourglass marking.  Is this something we should worry about?  We live in Burbank, CA.

Just wondering if we need to go the extra step and get an exterminator or something.  What else can we do about them?

Another thing, we've killed a couple of spiders that were shaped like black widows but no red hourglass markings.  are these the male adults?

Thanks!

Answer -
Hi, Black Widows generally make their very messy web in places that people don't mess with - corner of a cold frame, behind boxes, basement corners, crawl spaces, etc.  The female is large bodied, black shiny and hairless with a red hour glass on the underside of her abdomen.  The male is much smaller, shiny black, hairless and has a red, orange or yellowish blotch on the underside of his abdomen.  It doesn't always look like an hourglass.  While they are poisonous, as are all spiders, their bite generally reacts like a bee sting unless one is overly allergic.  An exterminator won't do much except spray a pesticide you can spray yourself.  You can purchase a home insect spray that is ready to use.  Just make sure it lists spiders on the label.  Spray the corners of the garage, etc.  Of course, this will kill all spiders, most insects, etc.  It will tell you on the label how often to spray it.  Spraying more doesn't do anything but pollute the environment and waste money and time.

If you can send me a digital photo of the 'males' I can tell you if thats what they are.  You can email a picture to - jlmacie@uga.edu

Spiders won't chase you or anything so the only way to get bitten is to handle them - either on purpose or inadvertently.

Let me know if you have any questions.  J-L

Answer
At his age it would be a concern.  Very young, elderly or immune deficient folks could die.  I know my son was very inquisitive at that age - still is at 16!  Teach him a  healthy respect for wildlife.  They do crawl off to die sometimes as the insecticide is not instantaneous.  I would spray the areas you found them in as those are where they would tend to reinvade.  They don't really reinvade, but those areas are prime real estate if they were there before.
It doesn't mean they would come back, only that they might like to.