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a black spider with one part is shiny, but its totally black in color just ran across my pillow!!!! I usually dont kill spiders but my husband did, and now that I looked at it im afraid if its a black widow, i cant see any colors on its underbelly exept a faint color brownish or orangish where it transistions its top to lower part. it has 4 legs on one side i cant tell about the other i think some are missing so im assuming 8 legs,and some white markings where the top of the belly top side is,
Optional Information: Type of Animal: spider
Hello,There are over 35,000 kinds of spiders in North America, and a number of them are black. Black widow's usually ahve a red/orange mark on their abdomens. It's often called an hourglass shape, but in some cases, it's only a dot. Here is a photo of a female:And a male:The bite of the black widow is seldom fatal except to those with compromised immune systems. You can read more about them on the National Geographic website:http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/black-widow-spider/There is a genus of spiders common in the USA that are simply called shiny black spiders. You can read more about them and see a photo here:http://www.fnanaturesearch.org/index.php?option=com_naturesearch&task=view&id=1745&cid=324While there's no way to be certain, if the spider in your home had no red/orange mark on the abdomen, it was more likely a shiny black spider. If you ahve more questions, let me know by clicking on REPLY.Anna
thanks i was a bit scared because it ran across my pillow and i have a swollen thumb about a week ago, which i know it probably wasnt there for a week but i dont have a sore just a swollen thumb, but i went and looked at it, it really doesnt look like it has any dots on it, its more like a little color graduation from top to bottom but just in the crease really tiny but uniform in color but it had a white marking or more like a blended white marking on the back, i've looked at it a thousand times and now its starting to look a lil brown, dark brown, i will try to post a pic but it looked black at first and now its looking a brown tint to it not sure if its the lighting or what but the pics i blew them up and it makes it look like a fuzzy spider, its not a fuzzy spider although there is a little bit if you look REALLY close you can see some hair on legs.
It's hard to tell since the spider is smashed, but it doesn't look like it has the right body shape for a black widow. It also seems to have tiny white dots around the edges of the upper side (in the photo with the straw) and that wouldn't be typical of a black widow. A black widow bite would do more than produce swelling. The first sign is intense pain within a few minutes of being bitten. That is often followed by severe muscle cramps, weakness, pain in the abdomen, and tremors.There may also be stomach upset, fainting, difficulty breathing, and dizziness. Many kinds of bites can produce swelling. If your thumb is red and still hurts, you may want to have your doctor check it, but it doesn't seem likely that it is a black widow bite.Anna.
Experience: 40 yrs.: herps, pocket pets, rabbits, poultry, dogs, horses. Biology degree. Vet assistant.