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What are brown widow spiders and are they poisonous?
UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research
The brown widow spider may sound like someone confusing other venomous spiders like the black widow or brown recluse. Despite the confusion, the brown recluse spider is real and, for people who live in southern California and other southern places in the United States, a possible pest that can try to move into your home.
These spiders have a few key characteristics that make them easy to identify, such as markings that are similar to those on the black widow spider. They’re also venomous, and while their bite may not be as painful or effective as other venomous spiders, it’s enough to be cautious around them — or to skip right to professional help from a reliable pest control company.
Everything you need to know about brown widow spiders — how to spot one, where they live, how venomous they are, how to get rid of them, etc. — is covered in our guide below.
What are brown widow spiders?
The brown widow spider shares some similarities with its relative, the black widow spider, but there are some differing details that make this arachnid stand out. Like the black widow, the brown widow spider typically has a stark color scheme and an hourglass-shaped mark — although it’s usually a shade of orange instead of bright red.
Other visual characteristics that will help you identify a brown widow spider include:
- A dark brown, black or mottled tan body with striped legs that may be a mix of dark and light shades of brown.
- Vertical and diagonal stripes along the abdomen of most adult females that may or may not be easily identified.
- The telltale hourglass mark that may be present on the spider’s abdomen, although this is typically light orange and therefore less noticeable from afar.
One of the most reliable ways to confirm a brown widow spider infestation is to take a close look at any egg sacs you find. We understand if that sounds like the last thing you’d ever want to do, but the simple fact is that the brown widow spider’s egg sacs are visibly unique when compared to any other species.
This is due to the egg sac’s distinctly spiky look. Bearing a slight resemblance to a white, unwrapped Ferrero Rocher chocolate, these egg sacs have white silk spikes all over their surface.
Are brown widow spiders poisonous?
When dealing with a spider infestation, you may wonder if you’re dealing with something dangerous. The brown widow spider shares a similarity with other widow spiders in that it is venomous, although a bite from a brown widow spider is considered minor in comparison to other venomous spiders.
If you’re wondering whether there’s a difference between saying a spider or other creature is venomous versus saying its poisonous — there is. When it comes to animals, biologists differentiate the two terms based on a few key details:
- Venomous creatures like some spiders, snakes or lizards inject their toxins into prey or other animals by biting or stinging them.
- Poisonous creatures like frogs, toads and other amphibians give off their toxins when eaten. Many poisonous animals carry toxins on their skin, making direct contact risky — especially if you’re dealing with a highly toxic animal like the poison dart frog.
If you’re wondering which is more dangerous to humans, that depends more on the potency of individual creatures. Venomous spiders like the black widow spider are rarely aggressive to humans unless trapped or provoked, but their bite can deliver an effective dose that may cause symptoms such as pain, nausea or muscle cramps.
The brown widow spider is as venomous as other dangerous spiders, but one study that looked at multiple brown widow spider bites found that people either experienced no notable symptoms or symptoms that were very mild. This is possibly due to the spider’s inability to inject as much venom as other dangerous spiders.
Major symptoms of a brown widow spider bite are similar to those from other household spiders and may include:
- Pain at the moment when you’re bitten.
- A red mark at the bite site that lasts a day or two.
Are there brown widow spiders in my state?
The brown widow spider is not native to the U.S. and is instead considered an invasive species. It was first spotted in southeastern Florida in the mid 1900s and has since spread slowly westward and northward to occupy a chunk of the southern continental U.S. It was also introduced into southern California and Hawaii at some point.
If you live in one of these states, your home may be at risk of drawing in a brown recluse spider. This type of spider has been tracked across the following states:
- Florida
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Texas
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- California
- Hawaii
How do you deal with a brown widow spider infestation?
One brown widow spider in your home is too many, let alone any more than that. If you want to identify these eight-legged intruders with ease, here are some signs to look for:
- Irregular, possibly tangled webs in out-of-the-way spots in or around your home (closets, garages, sheds, etc.)
- The sight of this spider’s spiky egg sacs in doorways, window sills or near webs.
- A confirmed sighting of a brown widow spider itself. Look for the telltale orange hourglass shape and an overall color scheme of blacks, browns and tans.
Residents of southern California (or other southern states) who want to skip directly to professional spider control solutions can call Aptive, a long-established and trusted name in the world of pest control.
Aptive offers spider control solutions that include a full inspection of your home and property, as well as preventative measures such as the sealing of cracks or gaps where spiders and other insects can get in.
Aptive offers pest control services starting at just $2 per day for new customers who sign up for a minimum 12-month service agreement with four or more standard treatments. There are also three types of plans you can sign up for, depending on the severity of your infestation and what other pests or rodents need to be handled:
- Basic: Treatments every 50 to 80 days with add-ons such as outdoor rodents, pantry pests and aphids.
- Pro: Treatments every 30 to 60 days (in April through October) or every 50 to 80 days (in November through March). Includes basic add-ons as well as mosquito treatments.
- Premium: Treatments every 20 to 40 days (in April through October) or every 50 to 80 days (in November through March). Includes all basic and pro add-ons.
How you can keep unwanted spiders from your home
One way to keep spiders out of your home is by using scents that spiders hate as a deterrent. This can be a cheap DIY solution to spider management in your home, especially if you’re dealing with brown widow spiders (since they tend to be solitary creatures).
One study concluded that two compounds may reliably deter a variety of spider types: peppermint and chestnuts. According to the study, chemicals released by peppermint and chestnuts may be effective at getting rid of multiple types of common indoor spiders from your home (and keeping them at bay).
Stock up on peppermint oil or horse chestnut extract below so that you’re ready to fortify your home at the first sign of spiders.
Some other tips for keeping brown widow spiders and other arachnids away from your home include:
- Vacuum your home from top to bottom regularly.
- Keep the rooms in your house clean and free of clutter — messy and dusty rooms can be a spider’s best friend.
- Get rid of their food source — minimize the risk of other insects moving in by washing fruits and vegetables, rinsing drains with hot water and regularly cleaning trash bins.
- Enlist help from a furry friend — dogs and especially cats tend to be vigilant about spotting (and getting rid of) spiders that scurry about your home.
Of course, if you’re dealing with a larger infestation, you might want some professional help. Most pest control companies offer custom spider pest control treatment and removal services. Orkin, for example, will send spider experts to thoroughly inspect your home before coming up with a detailed plan on how to kill spiders in your home, as well as keep them out by sealing any gaps or cracks where spiders could sneak in.
CBS News
After Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating, Memphis officer texted photo of bloodied man to ex-girlfriend, she testifies
A former Memphis police officer charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols sent his ex-girlfriend a photo of the badly injured man on the night he was punched, kicked and hit with a police baton following a traffic stop, according to trial testimony Wednesday.
Brittany Leake, a Memphis officer and Demetrius Haley’s former girlfriend, testified during the criminal trial that she was on the phone with Haley when officers pulled Nichols over for a traffic stop. She said she heard a “commotion,” including verbal orders for someone to give officers his hands.
The call ended, but Haley later texted the photo in a group chat comprising Haley, Leake and her godsister, she testified. Prosecutors displayed the photo for the jury. It showed Nichols with his eyes closed, on the ground with what appeared to be blood near his mouth and his hands behind his back.
Leake said that when she saw the photo, her reaction was: “Oh my God, he definitely needs to go to the Med.”
The Med is shorthand for Memphis’ trauma hospital.
The fatal beating, caught on police bodycams and street surveillance cameras, has sparked protests and calls for police reform. Officers said they pulled over Nichols for reckless driving, but Memphis’ police chief said there was no evidence to substantiate that claim.
Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith are on trial after pleading not guilty to charges that they deprived Nichols of his civil rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and obstructed justice through witness tampering. Their trial began Sept. 9 and is expected to run three to four weeks.
George Walker IV / AP
The Memphis Police Department fired the three men, along with Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., after Nichols’ death. The beating was caught on police video, which was released publicly. The officers were later indicted on the federal charges. Martin and Mills have taken plea deals.
During her testimony Wednesday, Leake said she deleted the photo after she saw it and that sending such a photo is against police policy.
“I wasn’t offended, but it was difficult to look at,” she said.
Leake said Haley had sent her photos before of drugs, and of a person who had been injured in a car accident.
Earlier Wednesday, Martin was on the witness stand for a third day. Defense attorneys tried to show inconsistencies between Martin’s statements to investigators and his court testimony. Martin acknowledged lying about what happened to Memphis Police Department internal investigators, to try to cover up and “justify what I did.”
But Martin said he told the truth to FBI investigators after he pleaded guilty in August, including statements about feeling pressure on his duty belt where his gun was located during the traffic stop, but not being able to see if Nichols was trying to get his gun. Martin has testified that he said “let go of my gun” during the traffic stop.
Martin Zummach, the attorney for Justin Smith, asked Martin if he knew of any reasons why Nichols did not simply say, “I give up.”
“He’s out of it,” Martin said. “Disoriented.”
Martin testified that the situation escalated quickly when Haley pulled his gun and violently yanked Nichols from his car, using expletives and failing to tell Nichols why he had been pulled over and removed from the vehicle.
“He never got a chance to comply,” Martin said.
Nichols, who was Black, was pepper sprayed and hit with a stun gun during the traffic stop, but ran away, police video shows. The five officers, who also are Black, then beat him about a block from his home, as he called out for his mother.
Video shows the officers milling about and talking as Nichols struggled with his injuries. Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating.
An autopsy report shows Nichols – the father of a boy who is now 7 – died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and elsewhere on his body.
Jesse Guy testified that he was working as a paramedic for the Memphis Fire Department the night of the beating. He arrived at the location after two emergency medical technicians, Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge.
Guy said he was not told about the medical problems Nichols had experienced before he arrived, and that Nichols was injured, seated on the ground and unresponsive.
Nichols had no pulse and was not breathing, and it “felt like he was lifeless,” Guy said.
In the ambulance, Guy performed CPR and provided mechanical ventilation, and Nichols had a pulse by the time he arrived at the hospital, the paramedic said.
Guy said Long and Sandridge did not say if they had checked Nichols’ pulse and heart rate, and they did not report if they had given him oxygen. When asked by one of Bean’s lawyers whether that information would have been helpful in treating Nichols, Guy said yes.
Long and Sandridge were fired for violating fire department policies after Nichols died. They have not been criminally charged.
The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas.
Federal prosecutors have previously recommended a 40-year sentence for Martin. A date has not been set in state court yet.
Nichols worked for FedEx, and he enjoyed skateboarding and photography. The city of Sacramento, where Nichols grew up, named a skatepark in his honor. “Tyre fell in love with skateboarding at a young age and it wasn’t long before it became a part of his lifestyle,” states the resolution approved by the city council. He had a tattoo of his mother’s name.
“Tyre Nichols’ family have been praying for justice and accountability from the very beginning of this tragedy,” Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the civil rights attorneys representing Nichols’ family, said in a statement when the trial began.
Boeing’s CEO said Wednesday that the company will begin furloughing “a large number” of employees to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week.
Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg said the people who would be required to take time off without pay starting in coming days include executives, managers and other employees based in the U.S.
“While this is a tough decision that impacts everybody, it is in an effort to preserve our long-term future and help us navigate through this very difficult time,” Ortberg said in a company-wide message to staff.
Boeing didn’t say how many people will face rolling furloughs, but the number is expected to run into the tens of thousands. The aerospace giant had 171,000 employees at the start of the year.
About 33,000 Boeing factory workers in the Pacific Northwest began a strike Friday after rejecting a proposal to raise pay by 25% over four years. They want raises of at least 40%, the return of a traditional pension plan and other improvements in the contract offer they voted down.
Scott Brauer / Bloomberg via Getty Images
The strike is halting production of several airplane models including Boeing’s best-selling plane, the 737 Max. The company gets more than half of the purchase price when new planes are delivered to buyers, so the strike will quickly hurt Boeing’s cash flow.
Ortberg said selected employees will be furloughed for one week every four weeks while retaining their benefits. The CEO and other senior executives will take pay cuts during the duration of the strike, he said, without stating how deep the cuts will be.
All work related to safety, quality, customer support and certification of new planes will continue during the furloughs, he said, including production of 787 Dreamliner jets, which are built by nonunion workers in South Carolina.
Ortberg said in a memo to employees that the company is talking to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers about a new contract agreement that could be ratified.
“However, with production paused across many key programs in the Pacific Northwest, our business faces substantial challenges and it is important that we take difficult steps to preserve cash and ensure that Boeing is able to successfully recover,” he said.
Boeing’s chief financial officer warned employees earlier this week that temporary layoffs were possible.
The company, which is based in Arlington, Virginia, but has most of its commercial-airplanes business located in the Pacific Northwest, is also cutting spending on suppliers, freezing hiring and eliminating most travel.
Despite two full days of talks assisted by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the union said Wednesday that no resolution had been reached and no additional negotiations were scheduled, according to CBS Seattle affiliate KIRO-TV.
Striking workers are picketing at several locations in the Seattle area, Oregon and California. The union, which recommended the offer that members later rejected by a 96% vote, is surveying the workers to learn what they want in a new contract. The union’s last strike at Boeing, in 2008, lasted about two months.
If the walkout doesn’t end soon, Boeing’s credit rating could be downgraded to non-investment or junk status, which would make borrowing more expensive. Shortly after the walkout began Friday, Moody’s put Boeing on review for a possible downgrade, and Fitch said a strike longer than two weeks would make a downgrade more likely.
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