The northern black widow spider has been found for the first time in Brown County and is currently being preserved by Entomologist and UW-Green Bay Professor, Micheal Draney.
The spider was found in New Franken last Monday by Shane Magle, who immediately placed the spider in a container so everyone could see she actually found one.
To confirm her findings, Magle then contacted Professor Draney - who has been collecting and studying spiders since 1999.
"She sent me photos and indeed it seemed to be a black widow, Draney said. "But it seemed to be the northern black widow which is the native species. Usually, when people show me black widows, they are southern black widows or western black widows that have been moved in with produce or furniture when people move. This is really exciting because we never seen the northern black widow in Brown County before."
Draney explains the spider has been able to withstand Wisconsin winter weather because of its ability to produce enough antifreeze in its body to lower its freezing point.
He also said it is very unlikely that someone will get bitten by the black widow because they are very hard to find.
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