Posted inOutside

The Black Widow’s Sister Arrives

Let’s begin this story with the high points regarding the spider genus, Latrodectus and the family Theridiidae, most of which are commonly known as widow spiders. (If you visit Africa, however, you’ll find they have the common name of button spiders.) The accompanying drawing by my son Caleb is an African brown widow recently reported […]

Posted inOutside

Spiders in the Northwest

Revisiting hobos, widows and violins

Judging from the phone calls, emails and text messages, things have gotten out of hand in the spider world, especially regarding those thought to be dangerous. Hence, right from the get-go, let’s put the real “Bad One,” the brown recluse, also known as the violin spider—behind us. One, it does not and cannot live in […]

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