The black widow is among the most dangerous anthropoids in the world. The female, the dominating partner is famous for sometimes devouring the male after mating.

The female, extremely poisonous, has a striking full shiny black large body shaped like a bulb with a unique red or yellow hourglass like shape on its stomach and long legs. The male, smaller than his partner, is brown with orange striped legs, with yellow, red or white markings on its back, and is not poisonous.

The female’s defining characteristic is its venom, which is almost 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake, and that is saying a lot! However, the interesting fact is that this venous bite is not a defense mechanism against predators, but rather a neurotoxic paralyzing agent.

Once the prey is caught in its elaborate web, the female spider paralyzes it by biting it, and then injecting enzymes that speed up the digestion process outside her body. They feed exclusively on animals, including other spiders (like its partner).

The web the black widow spider weaves is sticky, vast, and shaped like a funnel. It stays in the middle of the cavity, hanging upside down, which allows it to sense the vibrations of oncoming prey. The web is so complicated; the prey easily is trapped within its sticky sides.

The female, for all her deadly reputation is quite a caring mother. Following a successful impregnation by the male (he is either eaten or escapes), the female lays the fertilized eggs and then spins an egg sac around which allows her to carry them around with her, protecting them till they are born.