Black widows are notorious spiders identified by the colored, hourglass-shaped mark on their abdomens. Several species answer to the name, and they are found in temperate regions around the world.

The natural habitat of the spiders includes caves and hollow trees but, of course, they readily adapt to buildings. In Britain, Tegenaria house spiders are still in the process of expanding their ...

"Eventually, the young spiders grew strong enough to be returned to their natural habitat, which [the RSPB] worked to restore, and we released them in their hundreds," a zoo representative said.

The females of this rare species can live for over 20 years in the wild and grow up to 5cm long - large in trapdoor spider terms. The males grow up to 3cm. Unfortunately, much of its habitat has ...