What kind of spider is this?

[mikester]

I don't think that is a brown widow. I have them all over my yard and they look significantly different. It's basically a black widow but instead of black it's a medium shade of brown and the legs tend to be banded. Size and shape are the same though.

Plus the egg sacks are spiked instead of smooth.

Brown widows don't hid as well either - they do put their webs in out of the way places but you're more likely to run into them than black widows.

[Taz's Master]

Originally Posted by Jon B

How about this creepy thing?
Pretty large, the body alone was about an inch long...

Those are great. We had one build its web between two stacks of firewood, we'd catch grasshoppers and feed it. I've never seen one out of its web (although obviously they get around somehow), and they eat lots of bugs to get that big.

[mikester]

CISR: Brown Widow Spider

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally Posted by rusnak

It's not a brown widow. It could either be a juvenile Black widow or a false widow.

I have a collection of Black Widows of all ages. The young ones have red stripes up their backs. I'll have to post a pic of the collection. I posted it years ago. hmmmm now where the heck is that...

[GWN7]

Sticky traps work for all spiders.

[rusnak]

^ That widow collection would be interesting to see just in itself.

I've been bitten a bunch of times by spiders of all types. In the summer, I find myself having to walk, crawl, or climb through spider webs and I don't always have time to look for them. So they get in your clothing and leave a huge purple welt. Not fun after about a day or so.

[Tobra]

I like a Koch Mason dressing for spider bites.

I go at night with a light. Prior to it being so droughty I would dispatch them flame. Now I spray whatever flavor of poison I have directly on them. Lot of black widows around here. I am of the opinion that brown recluse bites are a bit more nasty. Web seems a bit tougher on the black widows.