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Learn about the venomous brown widow spider By Mfield, Matthew Field, http://www.photography.mattfield.com - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons

What Is the Brown Widow Spider?

The brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus), also known as the brown button spider, grey widow, brown black widow, house button spider, or geometric button spider, is an arachnid closely related to the deadly black widow (Latrodectus macrons).

What Does the Brown Widow Spider Look Like?

The brown widow is a medium to large spider that is slightly smaller than its cousin, the black widow. Its coloration ranges, but it is usually either dark grey, brown, or black. There is a general striped pattern on the legs and dorsal (top) side, and brown mottling on the ventral (bottom) side. Like the black widow, it often has an hourglass figure on its abdomen. However, instead of this marking being red, it is usually a vivid orange or yellowish.

If you cannot identify a this spider by its markings alone, another method is to look for its distinctive egg sac. This spider floats its egg sac in a network of webs. The sac resembles a sandspur, having brown coloration and pointed projections on its surface. The egg sacs are often described as being "tufted," "fluffy," or "spiky" in appearance.

When it comes this spider's the web, it does not make funnel webs or symmetrical webs. Like other widows, the brown widow spins tangled, messy webs in dark spaces and corners.

A brown widow spider in its web.

Where Does the Brown Widow Spider Live?

The brown widow spider is a native to South Africa and was first discovered in the United States in 1935. In the U.S., the brown widow's distribution was previously limited to the southeastern states, but in recent years it has turned up in western states as well, particularly in southern California. Below is a list of states where you can expect to find these spiders:

Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Georgia Hawaii Louisiana Mississippi Nevada New Mexico Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas

In southern California, a place which is characterized by the tropical and subtropical climates that brown widows love, the newly arrived spider may be displacing black widows. A 2012 study conducted by the University of California, Riverside suggests that the brown widow is likely more hostile toward the black widow than the black widow is to it. If true, humans are in luck, since this spider, while no less venomous, injects less venom into its prey than the black widow.

If you live in any of the states where these widows reside, it's important to know where they like to spin their webs in order to avoid bumping into one. Since they like dark recesses, they will most likely settle in the following places:

Dark corners and high shelves

Outhouses and sheds

Outdoor furniture

Potted plants

Stationary garbage cans

Old clothes, towels, linens, and shoes

If you must reach into one of these places, wear gloves and/or thoroughly clean the area using a vacuum or broom.

A brown widow and her egg sac. 1 / 3

Is the Brown Widow Poisonous?

The short answer is yes, the adult female brown widow is poisonous, while the adult male is not. In fact, the female is just as poisonous as the female black widow. However, being less aggressive than black widows, they are less apt to bite humans. If they do decide to bite (which happens most often when they are protecting their egg sac), they release a smaller dose of toxins than black widows, making them less dangerous.

How Bad Is a Brown Widow Bite?

Compared to a black widow bite, a brown widow bite is not very severe. In fact, Chris Conlan, supervising vector ecologist from the County Department of Environmental Health (DEH), has said they are relatively harmless. Still, Conlan said, people who have been bitten should see a doctor to be sure they are safe.

Can You Feel a Brown Widow Bite?

Yes. Brown widow bites, while not severe, hurt. You will be painfully aware of the fact that a brown widow has sunk its fangs into your skin, but you should consider yourself fortunate that it was not a more deadly spider.

Even though this spider is not as dangerous as other spiders, if you have a large number of brown widow nests in or around your house (especially in high-traffic areas like within yard furniture and your kids' toys), you should take steps to control them.

What Are the Symptoms of a Brown Widow Bite?

The symptoms of a brown widow bite varies from person to person. Another factor is the amount of time the spider's venom has been allowed to travel through the body. Despite your symptoms, if you have been bitten by a venomous insect, whether it was a widow or not, you should see a doctor. Below are the most common symptoms of a brown widow bite:

Symptom Description Localized pain and redness The two main effects of a brown widow bite are pain and redness at the site of the skin puncture. The pain may be very severe and long-lasting. Radiating pain and redness Hours after the bite, one may feel pain and observe redness in areas beyond the site of the bite. This is caused by the spread of toxins throughout the bloodstream. Headache and nausea Other side effects caused by venom in the bloodstream are headaches and nausea. Hours after receiving a bite, one may experience vomiting and cramps. Muscle spasms After receiving a brown widow bite, one may experience involuntary muscle cramps or increased rigidity of the muscles.

Brown Widow vs. Ants

Help Identifying Bugs in Your House

Have a look at my quick, free, and easy guide to some of the little critters hanging out in your basement.

BASEMENT BUG IDENTIFICATION

How to Get Rid of Brown Widows in Your Home

Before you can begin to remove a brown widow infestation from your home, you must know where the spiders like to settle down. Aside from the aforementioned locations, such as dark recesses, high shelves, old clothing, etc., they also like to hide in toys and play structures that are not frequently used, putting your children at risk.

A simply spray-down with a hose will clear out all kinds of spiders and bugs, including brown widows and other spiders. These arachnids are not aggressive and will typically try to run or hide when disturbed, but it's better to be safe than sorry. A good spray or cleaning also reduces the chance that other unwelcome spiders and insects, including wasps, will take up residence in your home.

While checking around your home for spiders, keep in mind that not every brown spider you see is a brown widow. Most spiders are very good to have around. They balance the natural ecosystem in and around your home, and do not usually pose any threat. If you kill every spider you see, you will simply increase the number of flies, mosquitos, and cockroaches in the area.

If you find a spider and are sure its a brown widow, ask yourself, "Can we just live and let live?" These spiders stay in their webs, so if it's in an out-of-the-way corner, it would be kind of you to let it be. But if you're truly worried that you or a loved one might come into contact with the spider, use a commercial insecticide to kill the spider. Do not liberally spray the stuff around your property, though. By doing this, you will mainly hurt the bugs that are performing natural pest control around your home.

That being said, if you find a large number of brown widow spiders around your house, then it may be time to call a professional.

Contribute to Science and the Community If you find an insect you think is a brown widow, take a few good pictures of it and post it to one of the many insect sites on the web. You may be able to find more information about what you're dealing with, and you'll be doing your community a favor by alerting it to the presence of the spider.

What Happens When a Brown Widow and a Black Widow Meet?

Can You Pass This Brown Widow Spider Quiz?

For each question, choose the best answer. The answer key is below.

Name a state where the brown widow occurs. Illinois

Florida

New York

Oregon Is the brown widow's bite ever fatal? yes

no

no one knows What is the scientific name of the brown widow? Latrodectus mactans

Latrodectus allergans

Lymantria dispar

none of the above Where might you find a brown widow in its web? under porch furniture

inside plumbing

in your car

none of the above What does the brown widow eat? dead leaves and other organic matter

earthworms

wool products such as sweaters and rugs

insects that it catches in its web.

Answer Key

Florida no none of the above under porch furniture insects that it catches in its web.

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: Lesions on my skin lead me to believe that I have been bitten by a brown widow spider. What the treatment for a bite like this? The doctor just gave me some antibiotic cream.

Answer: Widow spiders don't really cause a lesion, just general neurological symptoms. Why do you think it's a spider? Most people bring the spider that bit them to their doctor.

Question: Is there anything I can spray underneath my kids' play structure to prevent spiders from leaving their eggs? I see several spider egg sacs a week.

Answer: It's hard to prevent spiders from leaving their eggs. If possible, blast them with a garden hose every few days.

Question: I saw what looked like a brown widow at work. It was whitish with black strips, but it was about 4-5 inches. Could it be a large tarantula?

Answer: A spider that large is almost certainly some kind of tarantula.

© 2012 Fred's Bughouse

Bree on July 22, 2020:

I have had many brown widows in my garage and basement in Denver CO. these spiders are much more aggressive then the black widow!!

I have got many black and brown widows because they are slow. I have put brown and black widows together and the brown always kills the black widow immediately

You're an idiot on March 03, 2020:

Spiders are not poisonous you tool they're venemous. Absolutely nothing will happen if you eat the spider. Some berries are poisonous. Some tree frogs are poisonous. Widows are NOT, if they are required to bite or sting in order to affect you that is called venemous, stupid idiots

mike on February 27, 2020:

spiders are venomous not poisonous

Joyce schiele on October 07, 2019:

I live in northern utah I have just discovered an infestation of redbacks widows they have widow bodies with red stripes on back and red spot on belly. While cleaning porch I found spider with widow body part brown and part tan.Please help I have no idea how they got here this is no joke

Suekii on October 06, 2019:

Found 6 ! in crooks and crevices of outside trash containers. Found Only 1 egg sac tho. Southern California, beach town.

Charis on October 02, 2019:

I found one + her egg sac on my front porch in Charlotte, NC.

Regina E on September 12, 2019:

I just identified one outside my front door near Philadelphia.

jeanie3262 on September 08, 2019:

I think I found one in Grove City Ohio

DeeMarie13 on August 15, 2019:

Thank you for that helpful bit of information. What ended up happening with your bite?

Tony on August 12, 2019:

I have them all around my house. I live in coastalNorth Carolina. I noticed we were not on your list.

Ms.murphy on April 26, 2019:

I was bitten by a brown widow around a year ago. In her defense she was in a fight for her life after crawling up my sleave and getting crushed. In case anyone is wondering it hurt like hell for about 4 days, hurt less for another 6 days or so and then randomly for a couple of months. At first it just stung like crazy then I slowly started getting all of the fore mentioned symptoms. I rotated ice packs and baking soda paste on the bite and took as many pain killers as I safely could. It was not pleasant. I ended up here trying to find a way to exterminate them from my yard. Now that spring is here I have way to many for my comfort level with venomous spiders.

DeeMarie13 on October 02, 2018:

I was bitten by a brown widow, about an hour ago. Yes, I identified it and it's egg sac. The site was immediately painful (like a wasp sting), and turned red. I live in the mountains, very far from a hospital. I simply made a poultice of baking soda, laundry soap, and Crisco. After having the poultice on for 15 minutes, the pain has stopped, and the redness is reducing. I'll post again if any other symptoms show up. BTW, I'm a combat medic (retired) and have all the meds necessary to treat anaphylaxis. I also have a husband whom I have trained to use the meds. I am not recommending this method to anyone. Just putting out a possible aid for until you can get medical attention.

Gram. Minn on August 14, 2018:

is a Brown Widow the same as a Brown Sac spider? A worker claims he has found Brown Sac spiders in the area but I have not found any information on them

Jeff on June 01, 2018:

Brown widows are actually really cool spiders. Their venom is actually stronger than a black widow's venom, they just use much less at a time. I had a major infestation in my house a few years ago, but they went away once I removed the food source( dog was hoarding biscuits, attracted bugs). They never bothered me at all, and made decorating for Halloween much easier.

Bruce on April 19, 2018:

University of Gainsville said the Brown window is more toxic than the Black widow but Timid.

Eric W on November 06, 2017:

What time of year do Brown Widow eggs produce offspring?

Ava on October 19, 2017:

This helps a lot

Diane F. on September 04, 2017:

Agreed on what M. Harter said. The egg sacs are easily identifiable, pea sized spiky cream colored sacs. I'm in Southern California and have tons of brown widows in the backyard that I'm trying to keep under control, but they certainly don't bother me as much as black widows. It seems they have pretty much replaced the black widow. I haven't seen a black widow in a couple of years, but have a large number of brown widows. They like to hang out around our grills, garden hose, patio furniture, well pretty much anywhere where they are hidden.

M. Harter on July 24, 2017:

I'm a little surprised that there was no mention of the egg. Black Widow egg has a smooth round shape to it. Brown Widow egg is spiked, like a punk rocker. Very different looks and a sure indicator of which type of widow is spinning that chaotic web. As a lifetime Southern Californian (63 years) it seems to me that the black widow has been completely replaced by the brown widow...and the brown widow multiplies at a much greater rate. Killed 7 of them this afternoon on the underside of my lawn chairs here in Corona Ca. Spiky eggs gave them away. Been a long time since I've seen a black widow, even in my wood pile.

John Pitsley on July 11, 2017:

I know this is being anal, but spiders are not poisonous, they are venomous. It is a distinction that should be noted, especially on a site dedicated to spider information. Again, there is no such thing as a poisonous spider lol.

Jimmy on March 19, 2017:

Definitely have brown widows in whittier and surrounding communities. We came back from a 4 day vacation last summer and found over 40 brown widow spiders of various sizes and some of their unique "spikey" looking egg sacks around our home. All of them were sitting in messy webs on the bottom 2-3 ft. of the house or under ledges and in planters or outdoor furniture. At the time there was not much info on them online and some sites were saying that they were more poisonous than the black widow. I don't have a lot of money to pay a professional exterminator. So I sprayed around our house myself. So far we've not seen that big of a population explosion, but we still get 10-15 at a time every few months. I'd like to know how to get rid of them once and for all, especially since just tonight we found one making a web in the main hallway inside our house near my kids rooms. I squished it right away, but not before my wife and I were thoroughly freaked out.

Vespa Woolf from Peru, South America on January 08, 2013:

Wow, I've never heard of the brown widow. We do have many poisonous spiders in Peru so I wonder if they're here as well? I know we have black widows--huge black widows--and very poisonous. I suppose it's positive that the brown widows are less poisonous, although the fact that they frequent traffic areas is a definitive problem. I'll keep my eye out for them. I agree, though, that non-poisonous spiders are good to have around. (especially when it comes to killing off the Indian Meal Moths that live in my kitchen!)

BeyondMax from Sydney, Australia on July 06, 2012:

I'm absolutely terrified of spiders but strangely enough, I like to read about them. =) That's an interesting hub, informative and colorful. I liked it a lot!

mecheshier on July 05, 2012:

Wow. What a Hub. I didn't know there was brown widow. Even in CA, the black widow really isn't that common. Although I did find a scorpion (non-poison variety), it was clear and orange/yellow in color. I grew up in North CA half of my childhood, the other half in WY. Black widows were way more common in WY. I have also spent a lot of time in OR. You do see black widows there. In the summer, especially in the basement where it is cool.

Thank you for a fabulous Hub. Voted up for interesting.

SamiSwan from Dallas, TX on July 05, 2012:

Definitely be careful with spider bites, no matter what kind. The black widow, brown widow, & brown recluse are small critters - they don't seem intimidating. The brown recluse is shy and retiring and doesn't look that dangerous.

I left the windows down in my VW bug one night; the next morning, I reached up to flip the sun visor down and was shocked when a brown recluse spider tumbled out, landed on my chest, and bit me about half a second before I could squish it. What an awful place for a spider bite! You can't imagine what it's like to have an emergency room physician come in, pat you on the shoulder reassuringly, and say, "Well, thank goodness you have big breasts, eh?" What do you say to THAT? Um, thank you? Two ER doctors told me the venom would dissipate on its own.

They were apparently thinking of a different universe. It turns out that, in this universe, flesh-eating venom doesn't just disappear all by itself. So if you get bitten by a brown recluse, GO to the hospital and pitch a fit until they call in a specialist who actually knows something about it. I finally went to see my own physician. He used a syringe to physically drawn out that nasty venom, bit by bit, and gave me gobs of antibiotics. I still have the lovely scar on my chest - it looks like I was attacked while saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

Do be careful about those nasty little spiders. Although some people will tell you they're "part of God's plan," etc., I assure you the sinister little fiends are plotting against us right now!

William E Krill Jr from Hollidaysburg, PA on July 05, 2012:

Cool article. Voted 'up'!