Scientific Classification - Black Widows are in the Kingdom Animalia, the Phyllum Arthropoda, the Class Arachnida, the Order Arabae, the Family Theriidae, Genus Latrodectus, of which there are approximately 31 species.

While there are many spider species, Black Widow, Latrodectus mactans spiders are one of only two in the United States that are dangerous to people.  Fortunately they are very easy to recognize.   The Brown Recluse spider, the only other dangerously venomous spider in the United States, is a little more difficult to identify.  However, there is no mistaking the hard, seemingly plastic, shiny body and the unique colored markings of the Black Widow spider.

Male Black Widow spiders are not as venomous as the female - their bite may go unnoticed and will not cause the same adverse reactions.  Male Black Widow spiders and juvenile Black Widow spiders are smaller and white to brownish in color, without the distinctive red hourglass on the abdomen.  The juvenile Black Widow spiders also do not have the venom of the bite of their mother.

While there is evidence that a Black Widow spider can live for up to 5 years in captivity, survival in their natural world is about a year.  In their one year, the spiders are most active in the spring and fall.  This would be due to the gestation and maturity cycle of the spider.  The eggs hatch between 8 and 30 days and the spiderlings are sexually mature between 70 to 90 days. The female will produce between 4 and 10 egg sacs from one mating.  The spider can save the sperm from her one contact with a male and fertilize the eggs as she lays them over her lifetime.  Each egg sac can contain from 10 to 1000 eggs. 

The newly hatched Black Widow spiders will cannibalize each other if they do not disperse quickly - winter egg sacs have fewer spiderlings emerge due to this habit.  The spiderlings disperse by "ballooning".  After they leave the egg sac, they point their bottoms into the air and release silk to catch the wind that will carry them to their seperate destinations.

The female Black Widow's reputation for eating her mate is well deserved - very often the male not only fertilizes the female but nourishes her as well. 

Enable your sound and click on the video below for more information and visual confirmation of the Black Widow spider's mating behavior.