The Southern Black Widow is one of the most venomous spiders in North America, with the shiny black female bearing the iconic red hourglass marking on her underside. Its venom is a neurotoxin (latrotoxin) that causes intense pain, muscle cramping, and sweating, though fatalities are rare with modern medical care. Females spin irregular tangled webs in dark, sheltered locations and are generally nonaggressive unless directly threatened.
Best time to see a Southern Black Widow
The best time to see a Southern Black Widow is June–October, when about 62% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 10,032 research-grade iNaturalist observations.
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