What are misconceptions about black widows?

This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. ET on Nov. 13. A woman in Bucks County, Pennsylvania recently received an unwelcome surprise while preparing a snack for her children. The mother of five was washing a newly purchased bag of organic grapes when a black widow spider crawled out of the bag. read more

In 2013, there were 1,866 black widow bites reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, but as Scott pointed out, only 14 of these envenomations resulted in severe symptoms. None resulted in death. In fact, not all bites from a black widow spider result in envenomation. read more

While these spiders' bites can cause fatalities in humans, they rarely do, according to the National Institutes of Health, which states that fatalities from black widow bites typically occur among young children, the elderly and those who are extremely ill."Yes, black widows are venomous, but they pose very little danger to humans," Scott said. read more

Black widows will drop from their webs, curl up in a tight ball, and play dead. I used to be afraid of contact with any of the Theridiidae, the Family of spiders that the black widows belong to. They generally have nearly spherical abdomens and build tangle webs. read more