That's Productivity

I had to smash one of these ladies in my garage the other day. I can always tell when I've stumbled across a black widow web - it is much thicker and tanglier than a daddy-long-leg's or garden spider's web.

The female (the big black ones) reaches sexual maturity in 70 - 90 days, lays 4 - 9 egg sacs per summer, with 250 - 700 eggs per sac, and they live to be 3 years old. That's a potential of 18,900 baby spiders per female! Now that's productivity, folks.

Photo courtesy: Sean McCann