This common name is derived from the comb of serrated bristles on the hind tarsi. These combs are used in wrapping the prey in silk. The webs of these spiders are an irregular network in which the spider usually hangs upside down. The cephalothorax is usually small, the abdomen large and rounded, and the legs are usually bent. They are found in dark protected places such as old lumber piles or basements.
Black widows eat insects that become caught in their webs.
The spiders live about one year and are benefial in their predation of insects. Tipulidae This family is the largest in the order Diptera. I thought these were mosquitoes at first but they did not look hairy enough or shaped the same. Crane flies occur chiefly in damp situations where there is aboundant vegetation. A few feed on plants, and a few are predaceous.