black widow info

autumn42

For those of you interested.

Yes, pretty poisonous.  Much more than a rattlesnake, but probably wont kill you.  But, you definitely dont want to get bitten!  

 
 Although their venom is extremely potent (15 times more potent than that of the rattlesnakes; it is also reported to be much more potent than the venom of cobras and coral snakes), these spiders are not especially large. Compared to many other species of spiders, their chelicerae are not very large or powerful. In the case of a mature female, the hollow, needle shaped part of each chelicera, the part that penetrates the skin, is approximately 1.0 millimeters (about .04 in) long, long enough to inject the venom to a point where it can be harmful. The males, being much smaller, inject far less venom with smaller chelicerae. The actual amount injected, even by a mature female, is very small in physical volume. When this small amount of venom is diffused throughout the body of a healthy, mature human, it usually does not amount to a fatal dose (though it can produce the very unpleasant symptoms of latrodectism). Deaths in healthy adults from Latrodectus bites are relatively rare in terms of the number of bites per thousand people. Sixty-three deaths were reported in the United States between 1950 and 1990. On the other hand, the geographical range of the widow spiders is very great. As a result, far more people are exposed, world-wide, to widow bites than to bites of more dangerous spiders, so the highest number of deaths world-wide are caused by members of their genus. Widow spiders have more potent venom than most spiders, and prior to the development of antivenin, 5% of reported bites resulted in fatalities. The venom can cause a swelling up to 15 cm. Improvements in plumbing have greatly reduced the incidence of bites and fatalities in areas where outdoor privies have been replaced by flush toilets.

shellybellmw

So I have a funny story for you....when I was 2 yrs old I was out in the garage with my dad and at that age I still put everything in my mouth.....yes, I picked up a black widow and it bit me on the lip and I guess I bit it back.  I went into the house screaming and luckily I still had half of the spider in my hand so my mom knew what happened.  She rushed me to the hospital and she said I became very lethargic and turned blue.  Obviously I lived, but I almost gave my parents a heart attack.