Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A female Southern Black Widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) works on her web in some vegetation along a sandy trail at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, in Colorado County, TX, USA.
Folks usually say that Black Widows are supposed to build their webs in dark, sheltered areas (which is why you sometimes find them near human structures). So I was a little surprised to find this one in open prairie. I only noticed it because I was looking at the Milkweed (family Asclepiadoideae) pods nearby (which is were the fluffy seeds in the video came from), and there was at least one other younger one (or a male) nearby, too.
A female Southern Black Widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) works on her web in some vegetation along a sandy trail at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, in Colorado County, TX, USA.
Folks usually say that Black Widows are supposed to build their webs in dark, sheltered areas (which is why you sometimes find them near human structures). So I was a little surprised to find this one in open prairie. I only noticed it because I was looking at the Milkweed (family Asclepiadoideae) pods nearby (which is were the fluffy seeds in the video came from), and there was at least one other younger one (or a male) nearby, too.
