(Photo credit: iStock/Getty Images) The southern black widow. This spider has a shiny, black, globe-shaped belly (abdomen). You’ll know it by the red hourglass mark on the underside. The ...

Black widow spiders, or Latrodectus mactans, are a type of venomous spider species known for their shiny black torsos and the ...

The Southern black widow is predominantly found in the southeastern U.S. Females are shiny black with a distinctive red hourglass on the underside of the abdomen, although some may have red spots ...

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A relative of the black widow, the brown widow has lighter-colored markings, pale legs with dark joints, and a yellow-orange hourglass marking on its abdomen. The bite is neuropathic like the ...

Conversely, males are brown and have red, white, and yellow spots and bands on their abdomen. A black widow's venom contains a neurotoxin that affects your nerve endings and muscles, leading to ...

For some adults, it can feel like a heart attack, and some kids can feel like they have appendicitis or another abdominal infection. Per the AAFP, most black widow bites resolve in 48 to 72 hours ...