Coventry man finds black widow spider in grapes

COVENTRY, R.I. (NBC) -- A Coventry man found an extra bonus when his wife bought a bunch of grapes at a Stop & Shop supermarket -- a black widow spider.

James Sylvia found the spider while his wife and 1-year-old son were washing grapes in the kitchen sink on Thursday morning.

"Next time you wash your grapes there may be a black widow spider, so you may want to be careful," Sylvia said. "They're more common than you'd think but they're not often encountered because of their secretive habits. They're probably the most venomous spider in this region."

If you get bitten, the venom attacks your nervous system. There have been 60 reported deaths in the U.S. since 1950.

A female black widow spider is black and has a distinctive red hourglass shape on its abdomen.

"It's not really harmful to people my age group or a little older. It's very harmful however towards children, and my son is 1 year old, and he and my wife were washing grapes in the sink inches from the spider," Sylvia said.

Stop & Shop released a statement that said, "Due to consumer concerns around pesticides, they have been used less over the years which makes the fruit more attractive to insects … and that (Stop & Shop) works closely with its suppliers to ensure proper inspection and trains its (workers) to check grapes when stocking shelves."

The supermarket chain said it also regretted the incident.