Black Widow Spider

The black widow spider is a group of venomous spiders found across much of the Americas and, for some related species, other parts of the world, best known for the females' glossy black body marked with a distinctive red or orange hourglass shape on the underside of the abdomen. Females are considerably larger than males and possess venom containing a potent neurotoxin that can cause severe muscle pain, cramping and other systemic symptoms in humans, though fatalities are now extremely rare thanks to effective antivenom and medical treatment. Black widows are typically shy, non-aggressive spiders that build irregular, tangled webs in sheltered spots such as woodpiles, sheds and undisturbed corners, and they usually bite only when directly threatened or accidentally pressed against. The species is infamous for a form of sexual cannibalism in which the female sometimes consumes the smaller male after or even during mating, a behavior that gives the spider its common name, though it occurs less frequently than popular belief suggests.