However, in most cases, exposure to the venom isn't deadly. In a 2023 survey evaluating over 23,000 cases of people bitten by black widow spiders, just 1.4% experienced life-threatening symptoms.

Of these, 45 showed in-vitro neutralization of the black widow spider’s alpha-latrotoxin neurotoxin. According to the study, one antibody called MRU44-4-A1, showed particularly high neutralization.

“The southern black widow, Latrodectus mactans, lives in the southeastern U.S. west to Texas, south into eastern Mexico, and tapers off about halfway north to Canada,” Crawford says.

A black widow bite often causes pain right away, according to the National Capital Poison Center. Around the bite, there will be “tiny puncture wounds” along with some local swelling.

“The southern black widow, Latrodectus mactans, lives in the southeastern U.S. west to Texas, south into eastern Mexico, and tapers off about halfway north to Canada,” Crawford says.