Going for a Ramble

These days, I'm far fonder of spiders than I used to be. At one time, I suffered from damn near crippling arachnophobia. I found spiders fascinating (still do), but the big ones inspired terrible panic attacks. All it took to conquer that particular fear was spending some quality time amongst 'em (see "Face Your Phobia," May 18, 2015). But I'm not so fond of Black Widows who decide to go for a ramble on my living room floor.

At first, I thought this might be a False Widow (Steatoda grossa), but after examining quite a few images, I'm not convinced. The northern and southern variants of true Black Widows do have red spots on their backs (this one, which I uncovered a few years back, is a Northern Black Widow (Lactrodectus variolus). And the false Widows that I've found in the wild generally have a less defined thorax and rounder, more "dimpled" abdomen.

Black Widows are generally not aggressive, and this spider certainly wasn't —  at least until I put the camera right in front of her face, at which point she charged. She appeared to be missing a leg, and the cats were giving her surpassing curious glances, so I wonder if they had tangled. In any event, while I'm generally all about live and let live where spiders are concerned, I didn't want to put her out, have her come back in, and risk another possible tangle with cats. So, sadly, this poor specimen has been flattened. Quick and merciful, yes. But flattened.

Charge!

She was missing a leg. Sadly, she's now missing more than that.