| Home | About | Contact | Site Map | Links | Library |
Unique Home Furniture, Home Decorating and Home Decoration Store
The Black Widow:
The black widow spider is often called the hourglass spider because of the red mark on the abdomen. Again it may be called the shoe button spider because of the shape of the shiny, black abdomen. Black widow is the most common name and the one most generally used.In the wild, black widow feeds on a large variety of insects, many of them pests. Give live flies, bees, wasps, beetles, small grasshoppers, crickets, and any other insects available (see Part III). Place one insect at a time in jar. Disturb spider by tapping on lid; this causes it to drop to bottom of jar and delay feeding; quickly drop insect in and screw on lid. Warning—Black widow does not readily bite, but for the sake of safety, only an experienced adult should feed it.
Regardless of common names, the black widow belongs to the comb-footed spiders which possess a row of strong, curved bristles on the last pair of legs. These bristles or combs are used to throw spider silk about the body of any prey that becomes entangled in the ragged webs.
.
