Only two types of spiders in north-central Texas and southwestern Oklahoma have powerful enough venom to be of medical importance. These are the Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders.

News How to protect yourself from the black widow, America’s most venomous spider Updated: Aug. 08, 2023, 7:58 a.m. | Published: Aug. 08, 2023, 7:47 a.m.

Rating high on the scare-o-meter are black widow spiders. With their infamous hourglass marking and supposedly deadly bite, they’re among the most feared and loathed spiders in North America.

The female black widow is easily identified by a red hourglass shape on the underside of its black abdomen; the mature male is typically brown to blackish with red and black stripes. The spider ...

They’re helping you, not hurting you.” Editor’s note: This article was updated at 5:35 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, to correct that the red hourglass shape is on black widow spider’s abdomens.

Only two types of spiders in north-central Texas and southwestern Oklahoma have powerful enough venom to be of medical importance. These are the Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders.

The black widow’s venom is more potent than rattlesnake venom, though only females can envenomate mammals. While these spiders have venom glands, venom is actually present throughout the spider ...

Amid the worsening nationwide shortage of an estimated 300 drugs is a longtime one for a rare, but extremely painful, bite — that of the black widow spider. The anti-venom pain-relieving drug ...