Behavior : Latrodectus mactans is timid, sedentary, solitary, cannibalistic, and nocturnal. The only social life it exhibits is when it mates. During the daylight hours, this spider spends its time in the silken tunnel of its web, which is the core of the snare. The female black widow spider hangs upside down in her web; her red hourglass marking is a visible warning signal. This spider will drop out of its web at the slightest disturbance and pretend that it is dead. The female black widow is usually clumsy when she is not in intimate contact with the lines of her snare. Latrodectus mactans is a tangled web weaver. Its irregular, funnel-shaped web of coarse silk has a definite plan. Three structural levels can be recognized: an uppermost complex of supporting threads, a central zone of tangle threads, and a lower zone of vertical trap threads. Also, the black widow spider is greatly active in the autumn months and its web is spread over everything. In addition, most of these spiders live only a year, but the yearly population is divided into two faunas, one identified with spring and the second with fall. (Ferrand, 1988; Shuttlesworth, 1959; Preston-Mafham, 1996; Hillyard, 1994; Gertsch, 1979; Kaston, 1953) Source : animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 14:05:22 +0000