What the heck is going on with Daddy Long Leg Spiders around here

[dalebert]

Black widows are a solid black with a little patch of red so it's definitely not that. The red is a distinctive hourglass shape and there's a mimic out there that looks very similar but does not have the exact same hourglass shape and it's not nearly as poisonous. It's very hard to die from a black widow unless you just never get medical attention and let it progress but it hurts like hell. I think you may even survive without attention but you will want to stop the pain.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Just saw this:

Q: What is the life span of a spider? 
   
? 2003 Scott Camazine, used with permission.
A black widow spider. She lives 27 to 31 months in the wild and he, just 4 to 6 months.

A: All the species (45,000) of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals put together barely outnumber spider species (35,000). And that only counts the named ones. There may be thousands of undiscovered spider species.

Spiders come in all sizes from the tiny ones as little as a poppy seed (0.05 inch, 1.27 mm) to giants with a leg span as big as a dinner plate (they eat birds!).

Consequently, spiders have vastly different life spans. Most live one to two years. House spiders live several years. Texas tarantulas (who live in 2-foot deep burrows) can live up to 30 years.

Mygalomorph spiders — tarantulas, trap-door spiders, purseweb spiders, and funnel web tarantulas — are particularly long-lived, says Susan Jones, urban entomologist at Ohio State University. Like most spider species, females outlive males. "Male tarantulas generally take 5 or 6 years to reach sexual maturity and die a year or so later, whereas the female tarantula may live for 20 years or more."

[Raineyrocks]

Neato!  My old post from last year!

[Lloyd Danforth]

I just did a search for spider here in the forum and assumed the top one was the 'currant' Rainey Spider Rant

[Raineyrocks]

I just did a search for spider here in the forum and assumed the top one was the 'currant' Rainey Spider Rant