Black Widow

The black widow spider is a scary-looking beastie, and that's no accident! The brilliant black and red colour scheme is a form of protective colouration called aposematism, pretty much the opposite of camouflage. Instead of trying to make the spider blend invisibly into its environment, the bold colours are a warning to predators: don't mess with me! Anything that decides to try a black widow snack anyway will probably learn its lesson— these spiders' fangs, or chelicerae, can administer a dose of venom more toxic than a cobra's or a rattlesnake's! The venom is neurotoxic, which means it attacks the nervous system of the unlucky victim, causing paralysis. Luckily for us, there's not too much of it, so a black widow bite won't usually kill a healthy adult. It can quite handily lay out something smaller like a bird, though. In fact, even if a predator manages to snarf down a black widow without giving it a chance to bite, the venom can still cause serious illness as the spider is digested.

The Southern black widow is one of three species of black widow spiders, which are native to North America. Another spider in the same family, Theridiidae, the "false widow spider" (Steatoda nobilis) is the only species of spider in Britain capable of biting humans, but its venom is nowhere near as potent. Getting bitten by a false widow is about as dangerous as a bee sting!