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> How common are black widow spiders?
Well here in Tempe they are a way of life.
They're everywhere from July till whenever the
first frost kills them.
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> How poisonous are they?
Enough to wish you hadn't been bitten.
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> Does finding two such spiders indicate there are more nearby
> (a nest)?
There are no such things as nests, but usually
where you find one you'll find others. They each
have their own web. They love storage sheds, porches,
anything unused that they can attach their web to
without fear of it being disturbed. The webs are
always a blotchy mess, ie. no patterns whatsoever.
If you see a patterned web, it does not belong to a
black widow. Once in awhile one will wander indoors
and set up shop, but most seem to stay outside where
there's more game.
The safest and easiest way to kill them is
to stalk them at night with a flashlight and a can
of Raid. Once you spot one, you have a few seconds
to zap it with the Raid before it notices the light
and scampers away to safety. They hardly ever come
out in the daytime.
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> How often are people bitten?
Not all that often considering how plentiful
they are around here. You do hear about pets getting
bitten. Part of my house is on pylons and there are
a ton of black widows under there. So far neither
of my cats have been bitten even though they go
under there all the time.
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> Will an exerminator be effective against black widow
> spiders? How toxic are the chemicals used to humans?
I have never seen black widows inside to the
extent where an exterminator would be needed. If
you don't see blochty webs, there is no black widow.
If you do, she's hiding somewhere very nearby and
you'll have to catch her when it's dark.
--Ralph Kennedy {ames,gatech,husc6,rutgers}!ncar!noao!asuvax!kennedy
{allegra,decvax,ihnp4,oddjob}--^
^---------------The Wrong Choice
Black Widow Spiders