White specks on my Black Widow?

[widowmom]

I just noticed this a few minutes ago but there seems to be little dots that are scattered on my widow's body and legs that I don't think was there before.

The first picture is from yesterday, she looked a lot shinier too.
The second pic, you can see the white specs I'm talking about.

Please help! This is my first spider and I'm worried that its something harmful.

 

[Eagle555 Jumping spiders]

I just noticed this a few minutes ago but there seems to be little dots that are scattered on my widow's body and legs that I don't think was there before.

The first picture is from yesterday, she looked a lot shinier too.
The second pic, you can see the white specs I'm talking about.

Please help! This is my first spider and I'm worried that its something harmful.

I’m no where experienced with widows but it might be mites but their are very few so I’m not sure. Hope your spooder is alright!

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

I just noticed this a few minutes ago but there seems to be little dots that are scattered on my widow's body and legs that I don't think was there before.

The first picture is from yesterday, she looked a lot shinier too.
The second pic, you can see the white specs I'm talking about.

Please help! This is my first spider and I'm worried that its something harmful.

I am not an expert, but I raised a hatchling to adulthood and now have five adult females and seven hatchlings. I looked at your photos. I noticed that in the second pic, she's behind more webbing. Are you sure the specs are on her body and not on the web strands? There are tiny drops of glue on strands of silk that are only noticeable when you take a macro. Here's a pic of webbing with lots of little drops of glue. If I zoomed in on the pic, it might look like they were on the widow (assuming she was in better focus. (Higher aperture next time, I guess.)

Can you get a clearer shot, maybe?

 

[widowmom]

I am not an expert, but I raised a hatchling to adulthood and now have five adult females and seven hatchlings. I looked at your photos. I noticed that in the second pic, she's behind more webbing. Are you sure the specs are on her body and not on the web strands? There are tiny drops of glue on strands of silk that are only noticeable when you take a macro. Here's a pic of webbing with lots of little drops of glue. If I zoomed in on the pic, it might look like they were on the widow (assuming she was in better focus. (Higher aperture next time, I guess.)

Can you get a clearer shot, maybe?

View attachment 431458
This is the best picture I could get, but it's definitely on her body

 

[widowmom]

I’m no where experienced with widows but it might be mites but their are very few so I’m not sure. Hope your spooder is alright!

I’m no where experienced with widows but it might be mites but their are very few so I’m not sure. Hope your spooder is alright!

Thank you! I hope she's alright too.If those are mites, do you know what I can do about it?

 

[darkness975]

Thank you! I hope she's alright too.If those are mites, do you know what I can do about it?

Some of my older ones developed one or more white or yellow spots over the years.

My Amblypygi has some too.

Yours looks really fat. It could be stretch marks.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

Some of my older ones developed one or more white or yellow spots over the years.

My Amblypygi has some too.

Yours looks really fat. It could be stretch marks.

Really? I didn't know they could get stretch marks.

She is really fat. Does the OP know if she's fertile? My fertile females get really fat just before laying egg sacs. If she isn't fertile, be careful how much / often you feed her. My first widow died because she split open, either before or after a fall. I think I killed her with kindness by feeding her too often. As long as I keep my infertile female hydrated, she doesn't have to eat very often. I judge whether or not to feed her by how fat she is.

The fertile widows will convert big meals into egg sacs, so I give them smaller meals to keep the number of egg sacs to a minimum. My best guess—someone tell me if I'm wrong—is that laying egg sacs is hard on them. I wonder if anyone has studied whether infertile females / females who lay fewer egg sacs live longer. It would be an interesting study.

 

[darkness975]

Really? I didn't know they could get stretch marks.

She is really fat. Does the OP know if she's fertile? My fertile females get really fat just before laying egg sacs. If she isn't fertile, be careful how much / often you feed her. My first widow died because she split open, either before or after a fall. I think I killed her with kindness by feeding her too often. As long as I keep my infertile female hydrated, she doesn't have to eat very often. I judge whether or not to feed her by how fat she is.

The fertile widows will convert big meals into egg sacs, so I give them smaller meals to keep the number of egg sacs to a minimum. My best guess—someone tell me if I'm wrong—is that laying egg sacs is hard on them. I wonder if anyone has studied whether infertile females / females who lay fewer egg sacs live longer. It would be an interesting study.

I do the same. Most of my adult females have not been bred so I don't feed them constantly. One smaller sized meal every other week or so is fine for them.

They are opportunistic and will readily eat as much as they can. In the wild they lay egg sacks so it's not as much of an issue.

The long term health effects of egg laying VS not has probably not been tested by many. I can say that some of my anecdotal observations have shown that I have had females lay multiple sacks and still live around 3 years and I have had infertile females that have never laid a sack die sooner. I have also seen the opposite, respectively.

Genetics likely play a role in this.

I have also seen fertile females endure the winter months without laying any and then as soon as the weather warms up in the spring start laying them again.

 

[Eagle555 Jumping spiders]

Thank you! I hope she's alright too.If those are mites, do you know what I can do about it?

You will need to disinfect the enclosure too prevent spreading to the rest of the widows and for her I would say remove them with tweezers? I’m not really sure sometimes if they get on the spider and start multiplying they just die :\

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

I do the same. Most of my adult females have not been bred so I don't feed them constantly. One smaller sized meal every other week or so is fine for them.

They are opportunistic and will readily eat as much as they can. In the wild they lay egg sacks so it's not as much of an issue.

The long term health effects of egg laying VS not has probably not been tested by many. I can say that some of my anecdotal observations have shown that I have had females lay multiple sacks and still live around 3 years and I have had infertile females that have never laid a sack die sooner. I have also seen the opposite, respectively.

Genetics likely play a role in this.

I have also seen fertile females endure the winter months without laying any and then as soon as the weather warms up in the spring start laying them again.

Those are lovely widows. Are the ones with extra red L. mactans?

And thanks, as always, for the information. If I had the money and time, I think it would be interesting to do a scientific study on whether reproduction / frequency of feedings affects the lifespans of Latrodectus spiders.

Patty Black, the seven-legged Western black widow, is still going strong. I've rescued more from my mother's property: Portia from the porch; Eve from under the eaves; Cher from under a chair; Barbie from the barbecue. I also have 7 spiderlings of different sizes, all babies of my adult females.

Last night, I rescued a widow I've had my eye on. She lived under a picnic table on a public trail: a horrible place for both her and for humans. While I'm sure adult humans sitting at the table probably wouldn't have had any problems, kids might be a different matter. Also, someone could have noticed the strong webbing and taken her out. It's been many weeks since I first noticed she was there and couldn't get back during nighttime until now. Luckily, I was able to catch her in one try. She's awaiting a permanent enclosure. I've named her "Mabel" from under the table.

I've noticed the widows on the trail have bigger, redder hourglasses than the ones on my mother's property, even though there aren't many miles separating the two locations. I checked in with Shelob II last night. I thought perhaps she'd died, but apparently not:



And this is the new "Widow of White Cleft." There's a white crack in a darker-colored rock. There's always a widow in residence there. She's smaller than the last widow I saw there, so she must have taken over that location:



I leave these widows alone and check in with them periodically, but I decided to remove Mabel from beneath the table. This is a pic I took of her several weeks ago. I think she has molted since then and is probably in her last instar. She has a large, bright-red hourglass, as do all the widows on that trail.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

You will need to disinfect the enclosure too prevent spreading to the rest of the widows and for her I would say remove them with tweezers? I’m not really sure sometimes if they get on the spider and start multiplying they just die :\

That's unfortunate. Hopefully, they aren't mites.

 

[darkness975]

Those are lovely widows. Are the ones with extra red L. mactans?

And thanks, as always, for the information. If I had the money and time, I think it would be interesting to do a scientific study on whether reproduction / frequency of feedings affects the lifespans of Latrodectus spiders.

Patty Black, the seven-legged Western black widow, is still going strong. I've rescued more from my mother's property: Portia from the porch; Eve from under the eaves; Cher from under a chair; Barbie from the barbecue. I also have 7 spiderlings of different sizes, all babies of my adult females.

Last night, I rescued a widow I've had my eye on. She lived under a picnic table on a public trail: a horrible place for both her and for humans. While I'm sure adult humans sitting at the table probably wouldn't have had any problems, kids might be a different matter. Also, someone could have noticed the strong webbing and taken her out. It's been many weeks since I first noticed she was there and couldn't get back during nighttime until now. Luckily, I was able to catch her in one try. She's awaiting a permanent enclosure. I've named her "Mabel" from under the table.

I've noticed the widows on the trail have bigger, redder hourglasses than the ones on my mother's property, even though there aren't many miles separating the two locations. I checked in with Shelob II last night. I thought perhaps she'd died, but apparently not:

View attachment 431528

And this is the new "Widow of White Cleft." There's a white crack in a darker-colored rock. There's always a widow in residence there. She's smaller than the last widow I saw there, so she must have taken over that location:

View attachment 431529

I leave these widows alone and check in with them periodically, but I decided to remove Mabel from beneath the table. This is a pic I took of her several weeks ago. I think she has molted since then and is probably in her last instar. She has a large, bright-red hourglass, as do all the widows on that trail.

View attachment 431530

I have mostly L. mactans and hasselti right now but I've had plenty of hesperus and others too.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

I have mostly L. mactans and hasselti right now but I've had plenty of hesperus and others too.

L. hasselti has more potent venom, yes?

 

[darkness975]

L. hasselti has more potent venom, yes?

From what I have heard yes. But any number of factors are at play there.

They also say L mactans is more potent than a rattlesnake but no one has died from a widow bite in North America in decades. Can't say the same for rattlesnakes.

Size, concentration, delivery amount, etc all come into play.

 

[widowmom]

Really? I didn't know they could get stretch marks.

She is really fat. Does the OP know if she's fertile? My fertile females get really fat just before laying egg sacs. If she isn't fertile, be careful how much / often you feed her. My first widow died because she split open, either before or after a fall. I think I killed her with kindness by feeding her too often. As long as I keep my infertile female hydrated, she doesn't have to eat very often. I judge whether or not to feed her by how fat she is.

The fertile widows will convert big meals into egg sacs, so I give them smaller meals to keep the number of egg sacs to a minimum. My best guess—someone tell me if I'm wrong—is that laying egg sacs is hard on them. I wonder if anyone has studied whether infertile females / females who lay fewer egg sacs live longer. It would be an interesting study.

She's wild caught so there is a chance that she is pregnant. Either that or I'm accidentally overfeeding her. I feed her a mealworm every week. Is that too much?

 

[widowmom]

You will need to disinfect the enclosure too prevent spreading to the rest of the widows and for her I would say remove them with tweezers? I’m not really sure sometimes if they get on the spider and start multiplying they just die :\

Thankfully, the white specs have disappeared, but thank you, I'll be sure to remember your advice if I ever find mites on her again.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

She's wild caught so there is a chance that she is pregnant. Either that or I'm accidentally overfeeding her. I feed her a mealworm every week. Is that too much?

In my opinion, yes, but I'm new at this, too. I killed my first widow by feeding her too much. She fell and split herself open or vice versa. I haven't killed any since then. I just don't feed them if they're already fat.

 

[darkness975]

She's wild caught so there is a chance that she is pregnant. Either that or I'm accidentally overfeeding her. I feed her a mealworm every week. Is that too much?

I feed every other week to every 3 weeks.

See my pics above. I don't like them to get much bigger than that.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

Thankfully, the white specs have disappeared, but thank you, I'll be sure to remember your advice if I ever find mites on her again.

Whew! I'm glad they're gone. If I were a gambler, I'd make a small wager that you're going to have an egg sac to deal with very soon.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

I feed every other week to every 3 weeks.

See my pics above. I don't like them to get much bigger than that.

This is what I do, as well. I feed my widows based on their abdomen size rather than a schedule. I live in a dry climate, so I give them an occasional spritz, as well.