#Latrodectus

[onenicebugperday]

Phinda button spider, Latrodectus umbukwane, Theridiidae

This widow spider was confirmed as a new species in 2019 and so far is found only in South Africa’s Phinda reserve. It is believed to be the largest member of the widow genus.

Photographed in South African by hrodulf

[herpsandbirds]

Your black widow ID made me realize that was the exact spider that crawled out of my drain while I was doing dishes.

DRAIN SPIDER!!!

In my family, I'm the one who removes spiders from the house (alive).

Here's a really gorgeous Black Widow for you...

South American Black Widow (Latrodectus curacaviensis), family Theridiidae, found in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean and South America

photograph by Renato Brito

photograph by Robin James

[vyva-melinkolya]

female and male Western Black Window (Latrodectus hesperus), Northern California

[apsciencebydan]

When in Central Florida... ❤️

None other than the endemic Latrodectus bishopi, the Red Widow, tending the next generation of gorgeous leggy creatures.

[jenfoundabug]

Western black widow, Latrodectus hesperus Northern California, US

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Black widow spider

A female black widow spider (Latrodectus) hangs upside-down in her web, showing the red hourglass marking on her abdomen.

(Image credit: Kimberly Hosey/Getty Images)

[nomorethanreason-ao3]

OH one last thing for now - wanna read some fucked up cannibal sex? Cause I've got some fucked up cannibal sex for you

Fresh off the presses, come get yours right now!

[the-adoptable-marketplace]

Anthro Black Widow Spider adop-CLOSED

-This adopt has been sold-!

[falling6in6the6black]

[werewolfmack]

Really gorgeous widow I found moving my plants from the old porch to the new porch. I knew they were pretty webby, so I wasn't super surprised to feel my fingers brush something soft and spidering when I grabbed the edge of the plant pot. I don't know what species this is, but she is some type of Latrodectus... I saw a tiny tiny baby as well (in their classic pinstripes!) but I didn't get a pic of them.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Found a widow at work today and decided to keep her. She was in a sealed storage space we only occasionally open, so she's in rough shape. Initially thought she was a Steatoda because she doesn't have an hourglass, but she's so shriveled it might be too wrinkled to see. She also is missing two legs, which I've been told sometimes an extremely desiccated spider will drop limbs as a survival tactic. Watered her and dropped two crickets in, one prekilled and one alive. Tried to feed her off the forceps but she was too scared to take the food. She is webbing a bit, but hasn't eaten at the time I left for work. If she still hasn't eaten when I come back I'll move her into a smaller enclosure and see if I can put a dead cricket up to her and get her to eat. Hopefully she'll figure it out, not sure what her chances are as she is in extremely rough shape.

[onenicebugperday]

Hello, hope you're doing well. Found this gorgeous little thing in a leaf pile next to some harvestmen. Got excited and picked it up cuz I thought it was a black widow. Then I noticed the markings were on top of the abdomen, with no hourglass on the underside. Is this a widow? Of some sort? Found in central texas, thanks!

Hello! This is indeed a black widow. Females have these markings as juveniles. They become more fully black as they mature. Not all widows have the hourglass, sometimes it's two separate dots or triangles rather than a connected hourglass, or sometimes it's just half of the hourglass. Less often, there's no marking on the underside at all. Either way, she's a lovely lady!

[herpsandbirds]

Hi! I do I found this little guy while I was out and I was curious about him (this was in northern NV)

Sorry it’s not the best photo :]

Mystery Spider in NV

The best I can tell from the photo is that it's a black widow, probably Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus), family Theridiidae, but the taxonomy for black widows is kind of in flux right now, so even with a clear photoof the underside I probably couldn't give you an answer down to species.

@onenicebugperday what do you think?

[rjalker]

.........I think I found a widow spider?

It was absolutely minuscule.

Look at those fangs

It was sitting on a fern which I was taking macro pictures of to help someone classify them correctly.

[ID: A Macro lens photo of an extremely small spider, perching in a bowl-like web on the laves of a fern. The spider is upside down to the camera, showing a dark belly, with what appears to be a lighter top, light tan legs with darker joints, and two oversized fangs. On its abdomen is a lighter brown or pale orange shape like an hourglass, standing out strongly against the dark brown. End ID.]

[apsciencebydan]

Mr Latrodectus mactans (yep, black widow...er) understands presentation 🖤

[jenfoundabug]

I rescued this beautiful lady from the pool the other day and put her near where I let the male go. May she live long and prosper.

Western black widows (Latrodectus hesperus) are fairly docile if you handle them properly and with respect (ie not with your hands). They don't want to bite you and would rather flee and hide.