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Photo#192086
Male Black Widow??  Black red spider - Latrodectus variolus

Male Black Widow?? Black red spider - Latrodectus variolus
Jefferson City, Missouri, USA
June 9, 2008

Moved
Moved from Widow Spiders.

judging by the bright colors
judging by the bright colors and patterns (especially the red annuli on the legs- if the color is right), this spider is a MM variolus.

Moved
Moved from Spiders.

Spiders aren't my area, but I
Spiders aren't my area, but I was curious, so looked through the widows--yours looks like it may be a northern black widow male, which is harmless, as are all the male widows. Perhaps an arachnid person will chime in and give you a definitive ID.

 
I agree
it is a male widow, and Northern is probably right. Compare with .

However, I'm still not sure how to tell Northern and Southern males apart.

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