Is there any other small, bulbous black spider with a red mark on it's belly besides a black widow?
There was one such specimen that scuttled under some leaves by a door. Upon closer inspection, the web over said leaves was swarming with teency, baby spiders.
Like a typical, paranoid human, my response was to spray insecticide* on the mass. That seemed to shut the whole community down immediately. Now I am left feeling fairly like a grade-A a$$hole, but also slightly relieved.
*Probably took months off of my own life just touching the can.
Oh great, I am an idiot - just looked up at the VA Cooperative Extension about them and here's a nice quote...
"Although it is true that human deaths have occurred from widow spider bites, it is important to note that modern fatalities from widow bites occur in less than 1 percent of all people bitten. The chances of dying are so low that one researcher compared the chances of dying from a widow spider bite to your chances of being struck by lightning."
