What Do Black Widow Spiders Eat?

What Do Black Widow Spiders Eat?

Knowing what black widow spiders eat helps you predict where they are likely to be found. Black widows primarily consume insects such as flies, mosquitoes, beetles, caterpillars, and sometimes other arachnids. If you understand their food preferences, you can identify areas with high insect activity, such as cluttered sheds, woodpiles, or dark corners, which are likely hotspots for black widow presence.

By understanding their diet, you can implement strategies to reduce food availability, indirectly controlling black widow populations. For example, managing insect populations around a property through proper sanitation, outdoor lighting management, and insect barriers can make an area less attractive to these spiders.

Black widow bites can be medically significant. Knowing where and what they feed on allows you to anticipate their locations, reducing accidental human contact. For instance, they tend to build webs near areas where prey is abundant. Understanding this relationship helps you target inspections and treatments more effectively.

What Black Widow Spiders Eat

Black widow spiders are mainly insectivores. Their diet consists predominantly of flying or crawling insects such as flies, mosquitoes, beetles, ants, and grasshoppers. These are the prey most commonly caught in their irregular, sticky webs.

• Other Arachnids: Occasionally, black widows may consume other spiders, including smaller or weaker species that wander into their webs. Cannibalism among widows can also occur, especially with males being eaten after mating.

• Larvae and Caterpillars: Soft-bodied larvae, such as caterpillars or maggots, are easy for black widows to subdue and digest. These are especially attractive in areas with abundant vegetation or stored food.

• Occasional Opportunistic Prey: While primarily insectivorous, black widows will sometimes capture and feed on small arthropods like woodlice or other tiny invertebrates if they happen into the web. They are opportunistic hunters but do not actively seek large prey.

Black widows tend to focus on prey that gets entangled in their webs rather than hunting extensively. Their diet largely depends on what is available in their immediate environment, which is why they are often found in dark, sheltered areas where insects congregate.

What lnsects Do Black Widow Spiders Eat?

Black widows primarily feed on small to medium-sized insects that wander into their webs, favoring those that are slow or abundant enough to become entangled. Managing these insect populations can help reduce black widow presence:

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Ants?

Black widow spiders eat ants only occasionally, and such predation is opportunistic rather than routine. Ants are often aggressive, social insects that can overwhelm or defend themselves against predators, making them risky prey for black widows. The spider will consume an ant only if it becomes accidentally trapped in the web and cannot escape. Feeding on ants is more likely in areas where solitary ants wander into the web, such as along walls, under debris, or near food sources. Because ants are not an ideal or easy prey compared with softer, slower-moving insects like flies or mosquitoes, they constitute a minor and infrequent portion of the black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Aphids?

Black widow spiders eat aphids only occasionally and opportunistically. Aphids are very small, soft-bodied bugs that can be captured easily if they wander into a black widow’s web, but they are not actively sought out because they usually inhabit plant surfaces rather than dark, sheltered areas where black widows build webs. Feeding on aphids is more likely in environments where high aphid populations overlap with the spider’s web placement, such as near garden plants close to a shed, fence, or other hidden corner. While aphids are easy to subdue and digest, they provide minimal nutrition individually, so they are a supplemental rather than significant part of the spider’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Bed Bugs?

Black widow spiders very rarely eat bed bugs, and any predation is entirely opportunistic. Bed bugs are small, flat, and primarily nocturnal, feeding on humans or other warm-blooded hosts rather than wandering freely into spider webs. A black widow would only consume a bed bug if it somehow became trapped in the web, which is uncommon due to the bed bug’s limited movement and preference for tight hiding spots like mattress seams or furniture crevices. Because of these behavioral and habitat differences, bed bugs make up a negligible and extremely infrequent part of a black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Bees?

Black widow spiders rarely eat bees, and such predation is almost entirely opportunistic. Bees are fast, strong, and capable of stinging, which makes them risky and difficult prey for black widows to subdue. Feeding on bees typically occurs only if a small, weakened, or accidentally trapped individual becomes entangled in the spider’s web. Because bees are active in open, sunny areas—while black widows prefer dark, sheltered spaces like woodpiles, sheds, or corners—the chances of encounters are low. As a result, bees constitute a very minor and infrequent portion of a black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Beetles?

Black widow spiders eat beetles opportunistically and with moderate frequency, depending on the availability and size of the beetles. Small, slow-moving beetles that become trapped in a web are suitable prey, while larger, hard-bodied beetles may be avoided because they are more difficult to subdue. Feeding on beetles is most common in areas where beetle activity overlaps with the spider’s sheltered web locations, such as under debris, woodpiles, leaf litter, or in basements and sheds. While beetles are not the spider’s primary food source like flies or mosquitoes, they provide a substantial nutritional supplement when captured, making them a recurring, though secondary, component of the black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Boxelder Bugs?

Black widow spiders rarely eat boxelder bugs, and such predation is largely opportunistic. Boxelder bugs are relatively large, hard-bodied, and capable of flight, which makes them difficult for black widows to subdue. Feeding typically occurs only if a small, weakened, or otherwise trapped individual becomes entangled in the spider’s web. Because boxelder bugs are seasonal and tend to congregate on building exteriors, trees, or in sunny areas—rather than in the dark, sheltered spaces preferred by black widows—encounters are uncommon. As a result, boxelder bugs make up a very minor and infrequent portion of a black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Butterflies?

Black widow spiders eat butterflies very infrequently, and only when a butterfly accidentally becomes trapped in their web. Butterflies are generally larger, strong, and capable of flight, making them difficult for black widows to subdue. Feeding on butterflies usually occurs with smaller species, injured individuals, or those that land or flutter too close to a well-placed web. Because butterflies are not typically present in the dark, sheltered locations favored by black widows—such as under debris, in sheds, or in corners—such predation events are rare and opportunistic rather than a regular part of the spider’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Centipedes?

Black widow spiders eat centipedes very rarely, and such predation is entirely opportunistic. Centipedes are generally larger, fast-moving, and centipedes are capable of biting with venomous jaws, making them difficult and risky prey for black widows. Feeding on a centipede usually only occurs if the individual is small, weakened, or accidentally becomes trapped in the spider’s web. Because centipedes are not common in the same sheltered web locations preferred by black widows, encounters are infrequent, and centipedes make up a negligible portion of their diet. Such predation is exceptional rather than routine, occurring only under circumstances where other, easier prey is unavailable.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Cicadas?

Black widow spiders rarely eat cicadas, and when they do, it is strictly opportunistic. Cicadas are large, strong, and capable of flight, making them difficult for a black widow to subdue with its web and venom. Predation is most likely on smaller or injured individuals that accidentally become trapped in the spider’s web. Because cicadas are seasonal and relatively uncommon compared with smaller insects like flies or mosquitoes, feeding on them is infrequent and not a reliable food source. Such events occur primarily in outdoor environments where webs are positioned near areas of cicada activity, but overall, cicadas constitute a very minor portion of a black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Cockroaches?

Black widow spiders eat cockroaches opportunistically, typically when smaller or juvenile cockroaches accidentally become trapped in their webs. Adult cockroaches are often too large and strong for a black widow to subdue safely, so predation is mostly limited to young or weakened individuals. This feeding usually occurs in dark, sheltered locations such as basements, sheds, crawl spaces, or under debris—areas where both cockroaches and black widows are likely to be present. Once a cockroach is ensnared, the spider uses venom to immobilize it and external digestion to consume it. Because black widows rely entirely on prey wandering into their webs, cockroach predation is opportunistic and dependent on chance encounters rather than active hunting.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Crickets?

Black widow spiders eat crickets whenever a cricket becomes trapped in their web, making such feeding entirely opportunistic. Smaller or juvenile crickets are most likely to be consumed, as adult crickets can be large and strong enough to resist subdual. Feeding typically occurs in sheltered locations where black widows build webs, such as under rocks, debris, woodpiles, or inside sheds, which often overlap with areas where crickets are active at night. Once ensnared, the spider immobilizes the cricket with venom and digests it externally. Because black widows rely on webs rather than active hunting, cricket predation depends entirely on chance encounters and the size and vulnerability of the individual insect.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Earwigs?

Black widow spiders eat earwigs opportunistically, typically when an earwig accidentally enters their web and becomes trapped. Earwigs are relatively mobile and have pincers for defense, so only individuals that cannot escape are likely to be consumed. Such predation is most common in environments where black widows build webs in dark, sheltered areas—like woodpiles, under rocks, or inside sheds—overlapping with earwig habitats. Because black widows rely on prey wandering into their sticky webs rather than actively hunting, feeding on earwigs occurs only when chance encounters happen, and earwigs serve as a supplemental rather than preferred food source.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Fleas?

Black widow spiders eat fleas only when the insects accidentally wander into or jump into their webs, making such feeding opportunistic rather than routine. Fleas are small, agile, and capable of quick jumps, so only those that become trapped can be captured and immobilized with the spider’s venom. Feeding on fleas is more likely in areas where flea populations overlap with the spider’s web locations, such as dark corners, animal bedding, or cluttered outdoor spaces. Because fleas are tiny and provide minimal nutrition individually, they are considered a supplemental prey item rather than a significant part of the black widow’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Flies?

Black widow spiders eat flies whenever the insects become trapped in their webs, making flies one of their most common and reliable food sources. Flies are attracted to light, food, or decomposing matter, which often overlaps with the spider’s preferred web locations, such as dark corners, sheds, basements, or outdoor cluttered areas. Once a fly becomes entangled, the black widow immobilizes it with venom and begins external digestion. Feeding on flies is entirely opportunistic, depending on the presence and activity of the insects near the web, but because flies are abundant, soft-bodied, and easy to subdue, they often constitute a significant portion of the spider’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Gnats?

Black widow spiders eat gnats whenever these tiny flying insects become accidentally trapped in their webs. Gnats are slow and small enough that the spider’s irregular, sticky web can easily ensnare them. Feeding is opportunistic: it occurs in environments where gnats are abundant, such as near lights, damp areas, or outdoor vegetation, and whenever they fly or crawl into the web. Once caught, the black widow immobilizes the gnat with venom and begins external digestion. Because gnats are soft-bodied and easy to subdue, they can be a reliable supplemental food source, especially when larger insects are less available.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Grasshoppers?

Black widow spiders eat grasshoppers only when they happen to become trapped in the spider’s web, making them an opportunistic rather than preferred prey. Smaller or juvenile grasshoppers are most likely to be consumed, as larger adults can be too strong for the spider to subdue. Feeding typically occurs in outdoor areas where grasshoppers are active, such as gardens, fields, or near tall vegetation, and where black widow webs are placed in sheltered corners, under debris, or among plants. Because black widows rely on their irregular sticky webs rather than active hunting, consumption of grasshoppers depends entirely on chance encounters rather than deliberate predation.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Millipedes?

Black widow spiders rarely eat millipedes, and when they do, it is entirely opportunistic. Millipedes are typically larger, heavily armored, and capable of defensive behaviors—such as curling or secreting chemicals—making them difficult prey for black widows. A spider might consume a small or juvenile millipede that accidentally wanders into its web and cannot escape, but such events are uncommon. Millipede predation by black widows usually occurs in environments where both species overlap, such as under leaf litter, woodpiles, or damp sheltered areas, and when other, easier prey like insects are scarce. Millipedes are not a preferred food source, and feeding on them happens only under rare, opportunistic circumstances.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Mites?

Black widow spiders may eat mites, but this occurs only opportunistically. Mites are tiny, slow-moving arthropods that can occasionally wander into a black widow’s web, making them easy to capture and consume. Because mites are extremely small, they provide only minimal nutrition, so they are generally a supplemental food source rather than a primary prey item. Feeding on mites is most likely in areas with high mite populations, such as leaf litter, soil surfaces, or damp indoor corners, and whenever these micro-arthropods happen into the spider’s web. The spider relies entirely on chance encounters, as black widows do not actively hunt such minute prey.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Mosquitoes?

Black widow spiders eat mosquitoes whenever the insects become trapped in their webs, making mosquitoes a common and reliable food source. Since mosquitoes are small, slow-flying, and abundant in areas with standing water, damp corners, or shaded outdoor spaces, they frequently encounter the spider’s irregular, sticky webs. Once ensnared, the black widow immobilizes the mosquito with venom and digests it externally. This feeding is entirely opportunistic, occurring whenever mosquitoes are present near the web, and is especially common in environments where mosquito populations are high, such as gardens, patios, or around water sources. Mosquitoes are ideal prey because they are small, soft-bodied, and easy for the spider to subdue.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Moths?

Black widow spiders eat moths whenever the insects accidentally fly or crawl into their webs, making moths an opportunistic but valuable food source. Moths, especially smaller species, are drawn to light or dark corners at night, which often coincide with the locations of black widow webs. Once a moth becomes entangled, the spider immobilizes it with venom and begins external digestion. Feeding on moths is more likely in areas with high moth activity—such as near outdoor lights, windows, or sheltered corners—because black widows do not actively hunt but rely on prey stumbling into their sticky, irregular webs. Larger moths may be avoided if too difficult to subdue, so consumption is typically limited to individuals that can be easily managed and digested.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Silverfish?

Black widow spiders will eat silverfish when these small, fast-moving insects happen to enter their webs, making them an occasional but suitable prey item. Silverfish are nocturnal and often inhabit dark, damp areas—like basements, closets, or under debris—where black widows also build their irregular webs. When a silverfish wanders into a web and becomes entangled, the spider uses its venom to immobilize and digest it. Such feeding events are opportunistic, occurring whenever silverfish populations overlap with the spider’s hiding spots. Because silverfish are relatively soft-bodied and nutritious, they can serve as a supplemental food source, especially in environments where more typical insect prey, like flies or mosquitoes, are less abundant.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Other Spiders?

Black widow spiders will eat other spiders primarily under opportunistic or situational circumstances. They may consume smaller or weaker spiders that wander into their webs, including other widow spiders, juveniles, or unrelated species. Cannibalism is also common: males are often eaten by females after mating, and juveniles may be consumed if food is scarce. This predation typically occurs when the intruding spider is trapped in the web and cannot escape, as black widows rely on their sticky, irregular webs and potent venom to immobilize prey. Eating other spiders is more likely in environments where insect prey is limited, forcing the widow to exploit available arthropods for sustenance. Spider-on-spider predation is opportunistic, driven by availability, size, and vulnerability rather than preference.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Springtails?

Black widow spiders will eat springtails whenever these tiny, soft-bodied insects happen into their webs, making springtails an opportunistic but suitable food source. Because springtails are small, abundant in damp environments, and slow enough to become entangled, they are relatively easy prey for black widows. Feeding on springtails is most likely in areas such as leaf litter, under rocks, mulch, or around basements and crawl spaces where moisture encourages springtail populations. Since black widows rely on prey wandering into their webs rather than active hunting, springtails are consumed whenever they are present in sufficient numbers near the spider’s web, providing a reliable supplemental food source, especially in environments with limited larger insects.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Stink Bugs?

Black widow spiders may eat stink bugs, but this is uncommon and usually occurs only when a stink bug becomes accidentally trapped in the spider’s web. Stink bugs are larger and harder-bodied than the insects black widows normally prey on, and they can release a defensive odor that deters many predators. If a black widow does consume a stink bug, it is typically a smaller or weakened individual, or one that is trapped in a well-constructed web where escape is difficult. Such feeding events are opportunistic rather than routine, happening mainly in environments where stink bugs are abundant and overlap with the spider’s preferred hiding spots, like dark corners, woodpiles, or sheltered outdoor areas.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Termites?

Black widow spiders may eat termites when the insects happen to wander into their webs, but this occurs opportunistically rather than as a primary food source. Termites are generally small, soft-bodied, and slow-moving, which makes them easy for a black widow to subdue once trapped. These feeding events are most likely in areas where termites are active—such as around decaying wood, mulch, or damp structural areas—and coincide with the spider’s web placement. Because black widows rely on prey getting ensnared rather than actively hunting, termite consumption depends entirely on chance encounters in the web rather than any deliberate predation strategy.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Ticks?

Black widow spiders rarely eat ticks, but it can occur under specific opportunistic circumstances. Since ticks are slow-moving arachnids that do not actively fly or crawl into webs like typical insect prey, a black widow will usually only consume a tick if it accidentally wanders into its web. This is more likely in environments where ticks are abundant, such as in leaf litter, woodpiles, or shaded outdoor areas that overlap with black widow habitats. Black widow spider venom can immobilize the tick, allowing it to feed, but because ticks have hard, sclerotized bodies and are not an ideal or preferred prey item, such feeding events are uncommon and generally incidental rather than a significant part of the spider’s diet.

Do Black Widow Spiders Eat Wasps?

Black widow spiders may eat wasps, but this typically occurs under opportunistic conditions rather than as a primary food source. Wasps are generally more agile and aggressive than the insects black widows usually capture, so a spider will only feed on a wasp if it becomes accidentally trapped in its web and cannot escape. This is more likely to happen with smaller or less powerful wasp species, or in situations where the web is well-hidden and positioned in areas with frequent wasp activity. Additionally, black widows are more likely to consume a wasp if other, easier prey is scarce, making wasps a fallback option rather than a preferred meal. The spider’s venom and sticky web enable it to subdue and digest the wasp safely, but such occurrences are relatively rare compared to their consumption of flies, mosquitoes, and other small, slow-moving insects.