The beautiful, sleek, glossy black widow you might see at night around your house in Reno is the Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus), one of at least three venomous spiders in Nevada (the others are relatives of the Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) called the Desert Recluse (Loxosceles deserta and the Arizona Recluse (Loxosceles arizonica),that live in southern Nevada.

For the most part, black widows are not pugnacious, unless of course, you disturb them or try to steal their egg sacs. Humans are bitten most often from surprising the spiders by putting hands or feet, or other body parts in close proximity to the spiders as they suspend themselves -- usually upside down -- in their sticky, erratic, non-symmetrical webs. In fact, if there's a chance to get away, the spider will most likely attempt to hide rather than attack. If given the chance, they will often roll into a ball, then drop to the ground and flee.

Even though Black Widow spiders are awesome creatures that demand respect, it's never a good idea to allow them to make your garden their home. Organic gardeners often ask how to control Black Widows without using pesticide chemicals. There are two basic ways:

1. Scatter a thin layer of diatomaceous earth around the area where you find the web. The fine powder acts as an abrasive which dries out the spider's exoskeleton. (You can pick up some diatomaceous earth at the nursery -- it's good to use on earwigs, too.)
2. Or, find a nice blunt object, go out at night with a flashlight to where you know the spider lives, find it, surprise it and squish it before it gets away.