Jinzo X's video: Black Widow - The Cannibalistic Spider Documentary

Beautiful but deadly, the iconic black widow is a notoriously popular spider. Oftentimes, people often pitch the black widow spider versus the tarantula. This is because these two species of spiders are quite famous the world over. The black widow primarily refers to any of three species of Latrodectus. These species include the Northern Black Widow, the Eastern Black Widow, and the Western Black Widow. However, the name “black widow” is used as a generic name to refer to other spider species that belong to a family which incorporates a total of 32 spider species in all. The black widows have an unmistakable physical appearance. Adults are often shiny black with a bright red hourglass shape underneath their abdomen which is often large and spherical in shape. Some may be lighter in color and even sometimes brown. The females are often the more brightly colored ones, while the males are often lighter and with red or pink spots on the upper (back) side of their abdomen. The distinctive physical features of the black widow extend to its difference in gender size and weight. The black widow could measure up to 1.5 inches (about 4 cm) in length, inclusive of its leg span, and has a diameter of 0.25 inches (about 7 millimeters). The females are often twice as large as the male. These spiders can be found in temperate regions all over the world. Hence, they are often found in Africa, Asia, Australia, Southern Europe, United States, and South America. In the United States, for example, they are found in most states. This spider holds the reputation of being North America’s most venomous spider. They are often found in dark or undisturbed areas such as barns, under desks and tables, basements, holes made by other animals, garages, woodpiles, dense vegetation, and hollow stumps. You would be surprised to find that the lifespan of the male black widow is incredibly short! In the wild, the female black widow spider lives to be between 1 to 3 years old. The male, on the other hand, lives for just 1 to 2 months. The lifespan of a black widow spider begins with the female laying 200 to 750 eggs which are wrapped in a cocoon by the female and which hatches in about 20 days later. When hatched, the hundreds of spiderlings are often whitish in color (both male and female). But as they grow older, their color gradually becomes darker until it becomes a shiny black or brown. Once hatched, the spiderlings disperse in search of their own food and territory. However, before the female can lay her eggs, she has to engage in the famous mating ritual, which earned her her name. Black widows are solitary spiders. The male can easily locate the female, given the chemical trail, she leaves behind. Upon getting there, males will often assess the risk factor of mating with such a female. Males often prefer to mate with female black widows which must have recently eaten. The male can tell if she has recently eaten by examining the chemical scent on her spun webs. After mating, the male black widow must leave quickly, or otherwise, he might get eaten! The tendency of the black widow to engage in post-coital cannibalism (i.e., the act of an animal eating its partner after having mated) is what earned this spider its dreaded name, “Black Widow.” While it is true that black widow females do eat their partner after mating, it is not very common in the wild, unlike in captivity. In the wild, there is plenty of room for the male to escape, but in a cage, escape could be difficult for the male. Most recorded sexual cannibalism attributed to the black widow takes place in captivity. Moreover, the black widow isn’t the only spider that sometimes eats her mate after mating. Some other spiders, such as the tarantula, are also guilty of this crime. However, we must admit that the name “black widow” is quite descriptive! The tendency of the female black widow to want to eat the male after mating is a principal reason why male black widows rarely live long and why they are often scarce to see in the wild. Other than occasionally snacking on male black widows, what else does the black widow eat? The black widow spins large webs as a snare for its prey while she dangles facing down from the web. This position makes her bright red markings visible to a potential mate, which is therefore attracted by the bright color. The ensnaring web catches insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, mosquitoes, caterpillars, and flies. Once the prey is caught in the spider’s web, the spider bites the prey with its venom and waits for the venom to kick in. The spider then wraps the prey in a cocoon of webs before injecting it with digestive enzymes, which liquefy the prey. The spider is then able to ingest the prey by sucking it. Narrator: Larry G. Jones