Woman finds black widow spider in the grapes she bought at Costco
Filed under: Shopping
I've never been afraid of spiders, generally speaking. After all, I'm a grown man. If we have a spider in the house, and I'm up against it, there isn't much of a contest.That said, I'm talking about your average little spider here. I suspect that if I had been in my kitchen and found a black widow while washing some grapes that I had purchased at Costco, as a Seattle woman recently did, I might not talk so tough.
Yep, one Nancy Pitts was washing red grapes when she spotted the infamous spider. She managed to catch it and then decided to look online and try to determine what kind of arachnid she had. That's when she learned she had the black widow, well known for its deadly bite. And as it turns out, this isn't all that uncommon. In Hawaii, Julie Klaz, a scuba diver instructor in Kealakehe, Kona, was washing grapes from a Costco, when she discovered a two-inch black widow scurrying about.
She promptly screamed and grabbed a bottle of Windex and doused it. That did minimal damage, and so she got bug spray, which killed off the offending bug.
But before you trash Costco for allowing spiders in their fruit, to their credit, their grapes are presumably organic and natural; if they were dripping in pesticides, one would think dead black widow spiders would be among the grapes instead of live ones. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that Klaz called the Department of Agriculture, and that someone there told her that they can't inspect every bunch of grapes, which seems logical. Black widow spiders are also very common in California, where the grapes -- at least the ones purchased in Washington and Hawaii -- were originally grown.
And lest I scare anyone, nobody has died from a black widow spider since the 1960s. As Rod Crawford, curator of arachnids at the Burke Museum in Seattle told a local news station, black spiders are "not exactly public enemy number one."
Not that you want to be too relaxed around the black widow spider. Were you to be bitten, and if the venom did its work on you, you'd probably experience some harrowing symptoms: stomach pain, general weakness, maybe some tremors. Eventually you'd experience nausea, you'd vomit, maybe you'd get dizzy, faint, and you'd start to have trouble breathing. Fun.
At any rate, we've been warned for years that we should wash fruit that we buy from the grocery store. You know, there might be dirt on those apples or grapes. Maybe some dust. Or maybe, just maybe, one of the most dangerous spiders in the world.



Reader Comments (Page 1 of 14)
11-20-2008 @ 2:25PM
RE said...
Big deal, a Black Widow. I see them all the time. They won't hurt you, unless you hurt them. Regarding the claim that Costo grapes are all natural and have no pesticides. I have only seen organic grapes one time in Costco. I don't buy the ones that they carry, because they are not organic, and grapes are one of the most sprayed fruits. You ought to see the big spiders that come with bananas sometime. Ugly looking thing.
Reply
11-21-2008 @ 12:19PM
ccr said...
if any one thinks this animals are not dengerous you are rong one of my family members turn purple before hi die terrible, and my broder said the spiders dont' die whith spider killers ider. he toldme the only thing is to smashit or a big laod nois,can posible killthem and the blakwidow will drop and never wekeup.
11-21-2008 @ 6:31PM
tom said...
A two inch long Black Widow spider is hard to believe.One inch is more like it.
11-20-2008 @ 2:24PM
Erin said...
This kind of thing is common and not exactly easy to prevent. My brother worked in the warehouse of a produce company and one time he found a tarantula in a crate of bananas.
Reply
11-20-2008 @ 4:13PM
FB said...
Where there's produce, you will always find spiders.
WORRIED ABOUT TRAILER THEFT?? You need to:
http://www.carrythebigstick.com
11-21-2008 @ 9:02AM
Jon said...
Oh man, that would have been real freaky to see...This is a good article...
What the Hell is That? Food Mysteries Revealed
http://www.curiousread.com/2008/11/what-hell-is-that-food-mysteries.html
11-21-2008 @ 10:01AM
Mike said...
That's pretty common too. I work in Philadelphia's produce market. Chances are you're going to find a lot more than one tarantula in bananas if you're working there awhile. I found a black widow spider alive and well in some california concord grapes (even though they were treated with sulfur dioxide) but i've been through hundred of thousands of boxes and i've only seen one to date. Other strange things i've come across - alive at least - Scorpion in a papaya crate from Mexico, a huge moth about the size of your palm in a case of papaya from Brazil; frogs tend to get into corn a lot so that's common; just as long as I don't open a crate from South America and see a foot long centipede ready to bite me, i'll still be working there. :)
11-21-2008 @ 10:55AM
Greg said...
Really, my sister once found a banana in a case of tarantulas, small world.
11-21-2008 @ 10:58AM
Leslie said...
I saw a tarantula in the grocery store years ago - crawling around on the bananas - suspect that it arrived with them...
11-20-2008 @ 2:25PM
Melinda said...
The article did not mention whether the black widow was a male or female of the species. It is only the female that is considered dangerous. It is the female that has the red hourglass shape on it's abdomen. This was probably a male, as the males are usually much bigger than the females. If you live in California, I guarantee there are black widows living in your home.
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11-20-2008 @ 6:17PM
Anonymous said...
Wrong - the male black widow spider is actually much smaller and not venomous to humans. It's obvious that these people saw a female black widow. Here's a link, with more info & pics on the differences between male & female black widow's:
http://www.brownreclusespider.org/black-widow-spider/male-black-widow-spider.htm
11-20-2008 @ 9:26PM
Fitz said...
The males are tiny, you wouldn't know it was the same species.
The death rate for widow bites is very low and they even seem to differentiate when they bite. You'll get 1/4 the dose a meal sized critter will. They don't want to eat you, just get make you go away.
11-20-2008 @ 8:16PM
debbie said...
The female is larger than the male.
Sorry, but you made a mistake and the male will usually get eaten if shes hungry after mating.
This year here in N.E. Ga. I have killed about 20 and oddly enough found 5 hanging on to dear life on a twig or leaf in my pool.
Please never smash one of these with a hammer, if that venom squirts you in the eye, it's the very same as getting bit.
If at all possible, just squish it under your shoe, never leave your shoes or work gloves out where they can find a place to hide.
They normally like a dry dark or well shaded place, under tires, old or new wood.
11-20-2008 @ 9:46PM
ruth said...
Oops, it isn't the male that is larger It is the female that is largest. and you are right that she is the dangerous one. The male is much much smaller, he doesn't bite and he risks his life when he courts the female. If she can, she will eat him and that is why she is a widow. We have them all the time here in New Mexico and they bite only if endangered. I watch for them and avoid places where they hide like in the storage containers in the shed or holes in the block wall. It is only when they come into the house that i dispose of them. Afterall, they eat other spiders too and the brown recluse is worse than the black widow.
11-20-2008 @ 11:29PM
angela said...
i had a black widow working her thing in my window in california. she was very interisting to watch like they say leave them alone and they will not hurt you.
11-21-2008 @ 8:15AM
Ron said...
You are so misinformed. The female is the larger of the two and black with the red hour glass. The male is a little scrawny
looking brown spider who has one heck of a lot of guts or is
awful horny to attempt getting some at the risk of being eaten alive. Women...they can be so tempermental.
11-21-2008 @ 9:43AM
William said...
Melinda said...
The article did not mention whether the black widow was a male or female of the species. It is only the female that is considered dangerous. It is the female that has the red hourglass shape on it's abdomen. This was probably a male, as the males are usually much bigger than the females. If you live in California, I guarantee there are black widows living in your home.
Melinda, Please do not spread false information. The male is always the smaller of the species (Males about half the female's size, with smaller bodies, and longer legs). And... All widows are venomous! http://www.desertusa.com/july97/du_bwindow.html
11-21-2008 @ 5:58PM
k.k. said...
Among spiders, the female is usually the larger gender. The male black widow is not much bigger than a dime. The female is generally and inch and a hlaf to just under two inches including leg span. The hour glass may be any color from light yellow to dark brown with the majority being bright red.
11-21-2008 @ 10:21AM
Marilyn said...
You should look up your facts before you write. Male black widows are much smaller than females - they are less than 1/2 the size. it is true that the female black widow has a red hourglass shape on the bottom of it's abdomen. Males have a different shaped marking on the top of their abdomen. Usually a series of stripes in either red or yellow. The male does not feed or bite. http://entomology.wsu.edu/insectoftheweek/archive/blackwidow.html
11-21-2008 @ 1:04PM
StrayCat9451 said...
Look at everyone getting in line to correct Melinda, even though everything she said was right except the male being the bigger of the species. Her comment was 90% correct, anyway. Perhaps she was thinking one thing and typed another when she typed "bigger", it happens you know. That's why I always re read a post before posting. Saves the correction police here alot of work.