# THE BROWN WIDOW SPIDER



## N2TORTS (Oct 4, 2013)

Ok Heather .....here ya go ! 

So with absolutely no poisons sprayed at the Coveâ€™ comes with the hassles of the â€œcrittersâ€ . In my case this one can be very painful if encountered and also one that is confused with another species. â€œThe Brown Widowâ€ 
After putting the torts to bed , I usually wander the grounds for couple of hours with a high powered spot light catching these guys and ridding the egg sacks that might be present. This usually takes place the start of summer until the chill of winter. Collecting/trapping them by hand does actually make an efficient impact on the numbers encountered and helps maintain control with out my fears of interacting with any type of poisons at the Coveâ€™.































Here is what their egg sacks look like â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦.





Big Female guarding her egg sack â€¦even while captured.









Brown widow
Latrodectus geometricus 
Araneae: Theridiidae

The brown widow is suspected to have evolved in Africa although it was first described from South America, which adds confusion as to where it might have originated. The Brown Widow Spider is a cosmopolitan tropical and subtropical spider having established populations in Hawaii, Florida, some Caribbean Islands, parts of Australia, South Africa, Japan, and Cyprus. In North America, the Brown Widow Spider was restricted for many decades to the Florida peninsula. However, around the year 2000, it started showing up in other Gulf Coast states. Brown widows are now known from Texas to Georgia and South Carolina. As specimens were found in new locations in the southeastern United States, this species was simultaneously being collected with greater frequency in southern California. The first specimens were collected in Torrance in 2003. After that, the spider was found with greater frequency in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. 
The main thing Homo sapiens will want to know about Latrodectus geometricus? Although itâ€™s venomous, its bite isnâ€™t as dangerous as that of the black widow.
http://cisr.ucr.edu/brown_widow_spider.html



JD~:shy:


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## tortadise (Oct 4, 2013)

Awesome. I saw a red widow one time. Those are awesome spiders. L. Bishop I on those guys. It was at my relatives house in FL many years ago.


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## Masin (Oct 4, 2013)

Wow! I have some large spiders in our pasture, I should post a pic and figure out what they are. (Aside from terrifying)


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## wellington (Oct 4, 2013)

Okay, that was a nice education, thank you. So far they don't sound like they are in my area and hopefully will never adapt to wanting to come here. At least I don't think they are here. OMG, they better not be here
So, what do you do with them once you have them trapped in the jars? You give them a nice painless death right? Okay, duh, of course you wouldn't kill them. So do you keep them, like as pets or do they eventually die? Please tell me you don't name them . BTW, that is one wicked looking ugly spider.


BTW, if I have nightmares tonight, I'm calling you. Oh, wait, don't think I have your number. Hey, Jeff, pm me your phone number


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## N2TORTS (Oct 4, 2013)

wellington said:


> Okay, that was a nice education, thank you. So far they don't sound like they are in my area and hopefully will never adapt to wanting to come here. At least I don't think they are here. OMG, they better not be here
> So, what do you do with them once you have them trapped in the jars? You give them a nice painless death right? Okay, duh, of course you wouldn't kill them. So do you keep them, like as pets or do they eventually die? Please tell me you don't name them . BTW, that is one wicked looking ugly spider.
> 
> 
> BTW, if I have nightmares tonight, I'm calling you. Oh, wait, don't think I have your number. Hey, Jeff, pm me your phone number



Barb....I'll show you mine if you show me your's...

I put them to sleep permanently with Ether!
And â€¦â€¦.I dissected an egg sack â€¦used a very fine scalpel sliced it openâ€¦..hundreds of tinnie wieenie clear firm jelly like eggs.

:shy:


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## mikeh (Oct 4, 2013)

Great pics. Thanks for sharing JD. Looks like you could use my praying mantis egg sack.

sent from mobile device using TFO app


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## kathyth (Oct 4, 2013)

Very interesting.
Glad you're not breeding them!! ðŸ˜Š
We would have to get you some help!


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## SANDRA_MEISSNEST (Oct 4, 2013)

wow very interesting thanks for sharing.
thank God I never came across one,or maybe I didn't notice it

Sent from my ZTE N9120 using TortForum mobile app


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## thatrebecca (Oct 4, 2013)

I saw egg sacs that looked just like those in some cinder blocks in my DT enclosure the other day. I assumed they were black widow eggs and sprayed them with the hose. I have no idea if that did anything. I've been too reluctant to pick the darn block back up again. Since I'm not really down for dissection, how DO you deal with the eggs?


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## DevilsLettuce (Oct 4, 2013)

Jeff come get the black widows out of my house and yard for me...
I can't stand spiders, one of the very few things I'm afraid of.


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## Tom (Oct 4, 2013)

This thread makes me think of one of mine and my daughters favorite books. It's called "Be nice to spiders".


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## Team Gomberg (Oct 4, 2013)

Alright buddy! Thanks for sharing 

I, too battle the Brown Widows here at my place. Once I realized I had an infestation I was killing 30+ a night. Destroying more egg sacks than I counted and struggled to find a "poison free" way to do it. 

With your tip on using hair spray and finishing them off with scissors, my numbers are way down but I still kill some nightly. The other day I got 7 nests from my hose reel.

You gotta admit, they sure are pretty. But they just have to go...


Sent from my TFOapp


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## N2TORTS (Oct 4, 2013)

Team Gomberg said:


> Alright buddy! Thanks for sharing
> 
> I, too battle the Brown Widows here at my place. Once I realized I had an infestation I was killing 30+ a night. Destroying more egg sacks than I counted and struggled to find a "poison free" way to do it.
> 
> ...



yes the hair spray works great until I got in trouble from you know who  for using it all up , so.... in my automotive hobby I use spray adhesive for the upholstery and carpeting installs. That became my new weapon of choice â€¦




kathyth said:


> Very interesting.
> Glad you're not breeding them!! ðŸ˜Š
> We would have to get you some help!



ha haha .. Kathy ....Gosh I dig you! ... too funny , I was cracking up!
I guess I better not tell you about the " Flesh Eating Beetles" 




mikeh said:


> Great pics. Thanks for sharing JD. Looks like you could use my praying mantis egg sack.
> 
> sent from mobile device using TFO app



your right! ....and actually one of the Manti' favo meals are these spiders ...




DevilsLettuce said:


> Jeff come get the black widows out of my house and yard for me...
> I can't stand spiders, one of the very few things I'm afraid of.



Ok Lettuce man ... check out the other *spider* thread ... SPPPOOOOKKKYYY........


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## lynnedit (Oct 4, 2013)

Ewww. Yuckkkk. Glad I don't have to deal with this. At least at this point.
Thanks for the pictures...I think.


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## N2TORTS (Oct 4, 2013)

thatrebecca said:


> I saw egg sacs that looked just like those in some cinder blocks in my DT enclosure the other day. I assumed they were black widow eggs and sprayed them with the hose. I have no idea if that did anything. I've been too reluctant to pick the darn block back up again. Since I'm not really down for dissection, how DO you deal with the eggs?



SMUSH UM'...... or Hair Spray - Wd-40 and a lighter ! ...***POOF**


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## Team Gomberg (Oct 4, 2013)

Wait, the mantis eats these b-otches? 
Dude...I need to start collecting some of them for my yard!

Sent from my TFOapp


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## N2TORTS (Oct 4, 2013)

Team Gomberg said:


> Wait, the mantis eats these b-otches?
> Dude...I need to start collecting some of them for my yard!
> 
> Sent from my TFOapp



yes they do !!!!


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## Team Gomberg (Oct 4, 2013)

You just made me so happy!   

Sent from my TFOapp


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## bigred (Oct 4, 2013)

Cool spider, Ive still got my big green spider


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