Topeka ? The thing in the bag of black seedless grapes in Lori Warren’s refrigerator was black and shiny, all right, but it had something grapes don’t: eight legs.

It also had the red, hourglass-shaped mark on its abdomen that helped confirm its identity as a black widow spider.

Now, Warren is grateful that her 4-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter weren’t bitten by the poisonous arachnid when they reached into the plastic bag to pull out some grapes.

The 9-year-old, Elysia Holland-Kyzer, discovered the spider Monday morning when she went looking in the refrigerator for butter for her toast. She yelled for her mother.

“I’m the spider catcher in the family, and I’m not really afraid of those things,” Warren said.

But the closer examination that turned up the black widow’s markings did give her a shiver, thinking of her children’s close calls. She had also been feeding the grapes to her 18-month-old daughter.

The grapes had been purchased at an area store by Warren’s mother, who lives in Ottawa. The two women called two of the area stores where the grapes could have come from to tell them about their find.

Warren said she doesn’t blame anyone for what happened, but she wanted to warn other consumers.

“I want people to know their produce isn’t washed,” she said. “And they need to inspect their own produce.”

Black widows occasionally hitch rides on produce.

In Connecticut, the state’s Poison Control Center confirmed in mid-October that a spider found by a supermarket customer in a bag of black seedless grapes was a black widow.

Warren released photos of her family’s find to the media. Michael L. Shuman, an entomologist with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, looked at the photos and confirmed it was a black widow spider.

Black widow spiders are poisonous, but the venom isn’t usually fatal to humans, several Internet sites stated. The bite, however, can be extremely painful.

The Warrens put their half-consumed bag of grapes into another plastic bag and then placed the whole thing in their garage. They weren’t certain what they would do with it, but Warren was fairly sure the family will stay away from grapes for now.

“I don’t think Elysia will eat any for a while,” she said with a laugh.