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Baby Black Widow Spider

In controlled environments, female black widows may consume males for nutrients after fertilization occurs. This probably happens less often than most people think. Eggs are laid in an inverted silken cup, which the female seals with silk in order to create a sack. Females then guard these sacs for approximately 30 days, until spiderlings hatch.

In order to hatch, baby black widow spiders use saliva to chemically melt their way through the sac. Male spiderlings are white or yellow in color and resemble adult black widow males. Females are orange, brown or white in color and turn black as they grow older. 

Black widow spiderlings are cannibalistic and consume other spiderlings from their brood for nutrients. Surviving hatchlings leave the web within a few days, at which point they experience ballooning. During the ballooning process, black widow spiderlings release strands of silk into the air and are carried to new locations. Black widow spiderlings then begin to spin their own webs and capture their own food. 

Evolution of a Black Widow Spider

Black Widow Spider Eggs

Life Cycle of Black Widow Spiders