Thursday, July 17, 2014

Corralitas Drive: Brown Widow Spider

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2014.  Brown Widow Spiders are a non-native invasive species that are displacing the native Black Widow Spiders.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A couple of years ago, there was a lot of panic over Brown Widow Spiders, particularly from neighbors with young children.  It turns out, Brown Widow venom, while stronger than Black Widow venom, is less dangerous because they don't inject as much of it when they bite. 

Learn more about Brown Widow Spiders & their very distinctive egg sacs (with some really spectacular photos): UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research