bestiary: black widow spider

i thought all bites by black widow spiders would be fatal to all humans but apparently this is true mostly for young children or the elderly. still, their venom is fifteen times more poisonous than a rattlesnake and it leads to muscle pain, nausea, and paralysis. no thanks. then again, this is on humans. smaller animals and insects have to worry a lot more—including male black widows. many people know that males often become fodder for the females after mating and this of course has lead to their names. interesting from a male black widow's perspective then, isn't it? my species is named because our "women" eat us. after sex. see? your life could be worse, no? or you could be another insect that falls prey to black widows. they paralyze their food and liquify an insect's insides and then go to town. no wonder people are freaked out by these things. latrodectus hesperus in moleskine.