What should I do if I find a Western Black Widow?

Do not attempt to handle. Photograph from a distance and call a professional. If in a remote spot, a long-handled tool and sealed container works. Do not squash on siding, the crushed spider will still contain venom.

Western Black Widow

Reviewed by TJ, ACE Certified Technician · Updated 2026-06-15

Latrodectus hesperus | Category: Spiders | The only medically significant spider in OR & WA

If you have found a shiny black spider with a red hourglass under a woodpile, in a shed, or tucked into a garage corner, that is a Western Black Widow. It is the only PNW spider whose bite requires medical attention, and it lives quietly in dry, undisturbed spots across Oregon and Washington. Widows are not aggressive, they bite defensively when accidentally trapped or handled. Knowing where they hide and how to handle a suspected sighting is genuinely important safety knowledge for anyone with a garage, shed, crawl space, or firewood pile.

Quick ID Card
Size (female)	Body 3/8 to 5/8 inch, leg span up to 1.5 inches
Color	Shiny jet black with a bright red hourglass on the underside
Top ID Marker	Red hourglass on shiny black abdomen (adult female)
Habitat	Dry, sheltered spots: woodpiles, sheds, garages, crawl spaces, meter boxes
Web	Irregular tangle, strong crackly silk, usually low to the ground
Bite Risk	Medically significant, requires care
Plan Coverage	✓ Covered under All Seasons Pest Plan

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Quick Answer: The Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus) is the only spider in Oregon and Washington whose bite is medically significant. Adult females are shiny black with a bright red hourglass on the underside of the abdomen, and are commonly found in dry, sheltered spots like woodpiles, sheds, meter boxes, and crawl spaces. Widows are not aggressive, they only bite defensively when trapped against skin. Bites cause severe muscle pain, cramping, and sweating within an hour and require prompt medical evaluation. Fatalities are extremely rare with modern care, but every suspected bite is a call to a doctor.

Key facts at a glance: Female body 3/8 to 5/8 inch · Shiny black with red hourglass · Prefers dry sheltered spots · Bites are defensive only · Bite venom is a neurotoxin · Requires medical attention · Plan coverage: Yes, All Seasons Pest Plan.

If you are bitten: Wash the area with soap and water and apply a cool compress. Do NOT apply ice directly to skin, do NOT cut the wound, do NOT attempt to suck out venom. Symptoms typically appear within 30 to 60 minutes: intense pain radiating from the bite, muscle cramps (often in the abdomen or back), sweating, high blood pressure, nausea. Call your doctor, urgent care, or the Oregon or Washington Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 for guidance. Go to an emergency room if you experience severe pain, breathing difficulty, or symptoms in a child, an elderly adult, or someone with heart conditions.

Where they are found in the PNW: Western Black Widows are more common in the drier parts of the region, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern Oregon. They also occur in western Oregon and western Washington but are less frequent in wet coastal areas. Anywhere with a warm, dry microhabitat (garages, sheds, garbage bin storage areas, meter cabinets) can support a widow population regardless of the surrounding climate.

What You Need To Know About Western Black Widows

Our ACE Certified Technician TJ breaks down how to identify a Western Black Widow and what to do if you find one.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I identify a Western Black Widow?

Adult females are shiny jet black with a bright red hourglass on the underside of the round abdomen. Body 3/8 to 5/8 inch, leg span up to 1.5 inches. Males and juveniles look different (smaller, brown with lighter markings) but rarely bite. If you see the red hourglass on a black spider, it is a widow.

Are they common in Oregon and Washington?

More common in the drier parts of the region (eastern OR and WA, southern OR) and less common in wet coastal zones. But warm dry microhabitats like garages, sheds, and meter cabinets can support widows anywhere in the state.

Are Western Black Widow bites deadly?

Fatalities are extremely rare with modern medical care. The venom is a neurotoxin that causes severe pain, muscle cramping, sweating, and elevated blood pressure. Children, elderly adults, and people with heart conditions are at higher risk. Every suspected bite warrants a call to your doctor or the Poison Center (1-800-222-1222) and an ER visit if symptoms are severe.

Are they aggressive?

No. Widows are shy and will retreat when disturbed. Bites happen when a spider is trapped against skin, usually when someone reaches into a woodpile, puts on a stored glove or shoe, or moves a stored item. Never handle a widow directly.

Where do they hide in and around my home?

Dry, sheltered, undisturbed spots. Woodpiles, sheds, detached garages, crawl spaces, under decks, in meter boxes, around outdoor storage bins, in stored shoes or gloves in a garage. Rarely in the main living areas of a home. If your garage is cluttered and rarely used, that is prime widow territory.

Does the All Seasons Pest Plan cover widow control?

Yes. Spider control including Western Black Widow removal, web sweeping, and exterior treatment is covered under the All Seasons Pest Plan. Recurring exterior visits knock down webs and reduce the harborage widows depend on.

What should I do if I find a widow?

Do not attempt to handle. If you can safely photograph from a distance and step back, do that. If the widow is in a busy area (near an entrance, playroom, etc.) call a professional. If it is in a remote spot and you are confident, a long-handled tool and a sealed container works. Do not squash on siding, the crushed spider will still contain venom.

Signs You Have Western Black Widows

Widows do not swarm or trail, they live individually in quiet corners. Here is what tips off our technicians when we check a property:

1. Irregular tangled webs near the ground

Widow webs are a chaotic tangle, not a neat orb. Strong crackly silk, often anchored to a wall, a wood stack, a rock, or the underside of a step. Almost always within a foot or two of the floor.

2. Round papery egg sacs

Off-white or tan, roughly the size of a large pea, hanging in the web. A female can produce 4 to 9 sacs per season with hundreds of eggs each. Finding sacs means an active adult female is nearby.

3. Prey remains in the web

Widows leave visible remains: cricket legs, beetle shells, even small vertebrate bones in older webs. If you see debris caught in a tangle web low to the ground, look carefully before reaching in.

4. Location match

Dry, sheltered, undisturbed. Firewood pile that has not been moved in months, corner of a shed, meter box, patio storage bin, unused garage. If the answer to “when was this last disturbed?” is “months ago,” treat it as widow-possible.

5. Molted skins and males

Male widows are much smaller, brown, and often mistaken for a different species. Finding a male suggests females are nearby. Also look for cast skins that indicate molting activity.

6. Direct sighting

If you saw the red hourglass, it was a widow. That is the definitive marker. Photograph from a safe distance and call for professional identification and removal.

Behavior, Biology & Lifecycle

Understanding the widow lifecycle explains where you find them and why exclusion works so well:

Solitary and shy

Widows do not form colonies. Each female defends her own web and prey. Males wander in search of females and typically die within weeks of maturity. Population density in a given spot is usually low.

Nocturnal

Widows hide in a retreat during the day (often a folded leaf, wood crevice, or corner of their web) and hunt at night. This is why they are so easy to disturb accidentally when reaching into stored items in daylight.

Lifespan and reproduction

Adult females live 1 to 3 years and produce 4 to 9 egg sacs per season. Each sac contains 200 to 900 eggs, though most spiderlings do not survive to adulthood. Females can produce fertile eggs from a single mating for years.

Diet: whatever the web catches

Ground-active insects, beetles, crickets, other spiders, and occasionally small vertebrates. A widow web near a light source or vent tends to attract more prey and support a bigger, longer-lived female.

Venom: a neurotoxin

Widow venom contains alpha-latrotoxin, which triggers massive neurotransmitter release at nerve endings. That is why bites cause muscle cramps, sweating, and elevated blood pressure. The bite itself is often a sharp pinprick sensation, sometimes not felt at all.

Only the female is a concern

Male Western Black Widows are small, brown, and their fangs cannot reliably pierce human skin. Juveniles are similarly non-threatening. Every medically significant widow bite comes from an adult female.

Homeowner Safety Steps

Widows are one of the few pests we tell homeowners not to handle. Prevention and exclusion are the right first steps.

Wear gloves when working outdoors
Anytime you move firewood, reach into a shed, or handle stored items in a garage or crawl space, wear thick gloves and shake out shoes and gloves that have been stored for a while.
Reduce clutter in garages and sheds
Widows love undisturbed storage. Bag stored items in sealed plastic, get things off the floor, sweep webs regularly. If the garage is used every day, widows rarely establish.
Move firewood away from the house
Firewood piles are prime widow habitat. Store at least 20 feet from the house, elevated off the ground, and check what you carry inside before bringing it near the door.
Seal potential entry points
Weather stripping on garage doors, screens on crawl space vents, caulk around utility penetrations. Widows enter the same gaps mice and ants do.
Do not handle a widow directly
If you find one, do not try to catch or crush it by hand. Photograph from a distance, call a professional, or if in a remote spot use a long-handled tool. Bites happen when a spider is trapped against skin.