Sluggin' Along: Queen of the Ants

Turning over a bordering-brick, I found a colony of fire ants (perhaps Solenopsis invicta). However, glancing around casually, I was astonished to find this:

That's right, a female Southern Black Widow Spider (Latrodectus mactans)! Unperturbed by the fire ants crawling around beneath her, she was clinging to a twig, as it were surveying her realm of dominion, lording over her minions, the ants. Now, I had heard of black widows before and, like most parents, mine had warned me as a child about their common hiding places, forbidding me ever to touch one, lest the bite prove fatal. For many years I stayed clear of such places and didn't have any inclination to meet a black widow. But now that I've been writing this blog for a couple of months, my fears about normally frightening creatures have lessened and I couldn't help but be fascinated by this beautiful, solitary, and intriguing spider. I even picked up the twig she was clinging to with my tweezers and brought her out for a better photo. As I observed her, I noticed that she was more afraid of me than I was of her. She would try to hide under the brick, tucking in her legs inside a crevice, or else, exposed, she would begin rocking back and forth, attempting to appear bigger to scare me off. Of course, being of limited intelligence as all arthropods are, she didn't realize that I had the power to destroy her if I pleased, but wouldn't because I respected her right to live as one of God's creatures.

http://www.animalport.com/animals/Arachnids.html

So, in terms of characteristics, this species of Lactrodectus (there are 32 worldwide) has a distinctive red hour-glass marking on the underside of her rotund abdomen. Her body is a shiny, almost leathery black color, and there are two yellow bands on her abdomen just before it merges with the cephalothorax. The first of these is V-shaped and continuous, the other straighter but still curved, with a break in the middle. Proceeding back from these bands over the abdomen is a row of at least 3 red, heart-shaped spots, the first two of which are outlined in yellow. She also has a yellow stripe on either side of this row, even with the first red spot, and a red spot without a yellow outline near her spinnerets. Exact details of markings can vary between individuals, so the above description should not be applied universally, but it does fit the specimen I found. Remember also that you may have an entirely different species in your area.

Be careful when interacting with black widow spiders, or with any arachnid for that matter. They usually won't bite you unless you apply pressure to their bodies or trap them with your hand, or provoke or agitate them in other ways. Move slowly, proceed cautiously, and be aware of the risk. Even if a bite doesn't kill you, it will hurt excruciatingly, and it's better not to test God by your foolishness. If you would like to get up close and personal with a black widow or other spider, ask a professional arachnologist for help.

After getting a few shots of her above the ants, I slowly lifted her out and set her on a brick to get a dorsal view.

Then she crawled away and backed up against the brick. But you can see she's suspended herself to the surrounding vegetation by a few silk threads.

"How do you like me now?"

At this point I turned on my flash to bring out more detail.

"I'm invisible!"

Now she became more aggressive and started rocking back and forth, trying to appear big and fierce. Each pair of photos constitutes one oscillation, so if in the slideshow you use the arrow keys to flip from one to the other and back again, you can see the motion.

This was her temporary settlement: a hole in the bush.

When I checked in on her after a few days, she had built a web. Admittedly, it's not as ornate as an orb-weaver's, but it does the job and even has some leaves for cover. She still seemed not to mind the fire ants scurrying to and fro. I suppose if she doesn't catch anything for a while she can always use them to assuage her hunger.

She attempted to run from me but couldn't find suitable cover, so she ducked under the overturned brick. Of course, all I had to do was lower it again and she was exposed.