Rid Black Widows before Winter

How to Kill Black Widow Spiders By eHow Contributor , last updated October 16, 2011

While most spiders have fangs that lack the power to puncture your skin, others including the black widow pose a threat to humans. If you see a spider a half-inch long with a red hourglass pattern on the underside of its abdomen, you are dealing with a black widow. You need to know what to do if you encounter one and want to control them around your yard and home. Does this Spark an idea?   
Things You'll Need     Flashlight     Foaming Wasp spray     A long stick, the diameter of a small coin
Instructions
1 Look for shy black widows to come out in the evening when the weather is hot; wait until dark to start looking around your yard and property. Take a flashlight, foaming wasp spray and stick. Wear comfortable clothing and closed-toed shoes.
2 Start on one side of the house or outbuildings and work around until you end back up where you began.
3 Shine the flashlight to find the black widows by pointing the light up to check above you and sweeping the beam down. Black widows usually dwell within 2 feet of the ground or up in high corners and positioned in the middle of their web. Watch for the webs, as they are very strong and will often be an indicator to you that a black widow is nearby. Do not disturb the area, as the spider will feel the vibration and hide.
4 Spray the foam directly on the spider to stun it. Wait two to five seconds and squish the spider with the stick.
5 Smash any egg sacs and dispose of them.
How to Identify Black Widow Spiders and Egg Sacs
If you have noticed spiders and spider egg sacs around your home, it is important that you identify them to ascertain that they are not the poisonous variety. Black widow spider bites are poisonous and dangerous to young children, the elderly and pregnant women. Both black widows and their egg sacs should be promptly destroyed if found in and around the home. Does this Spark an idea?   
Instructions
1 Examine the spider itself, pointing a flashlight if you need to see into dark corners. Black widows are typically small with a bulbous abdomen. The southern and western black widow spiders often have a red or orange hourglass-shaped spot on its abdomen, while the northern black widow has red bars. Black widow males are solid black. A brown spider with orange or red markings is a brown widow--not a black widow. Young female widow spiders may have orange or red spots or central stripe, with white bars -- some spiders keep their juvenile coloring into adulthood, according to Virginia Cooperative Extension.
2 Look closely at the spider's web. Unlike most spider webs which consist of thin spider silk woven into intricate patterns, a black widow spider web is messy and unorganized, like a cobweb. The strands will not come together to form a definitive pattern. Due to the overlapping strands a black widow spider web is very strong and hard to pull apart. Any webs of this variety around your home most likely belong to black widows.
3 Examine any egg sacs you find. Black widow egg sacs are small, round, and very smooth. They will generally be around the size of an English pea and a black widow may have several egg sacs within her web. A female widow can produce four to nine web sacs, each containing 200 to 400 eggs, each summer.
4 Consider the location of the web. Black widows prefer to nest outdoors and rarely venture inside. They can however, be found in the dark recesses of a pantry or garage.

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