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.

A two inch long Black Widow spider is hard to believe.One inch is more like it.

Where there's produce, you will always find spiders.

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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

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. :)

Really, my sister once found a banana in a case of tarantulas, small world.

I saw a tarantula in the grocery store years ago - crawling around on the bananas - suspect that it arrived with them...

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.