Black Spider - Latrodectus variolus

Moved

… Jeff Hollenbeck, 16 October, 2006 - 10:33am

Black widow?

Everything about this spider says "black widow" to me. Including the red markings on the belly, the shiny black color, the long legs in proportion to the body, and the large abdomen. Anyone disagree? I wonder if this is an immature female because the red markings are not complete.

… bulrush, 2 June, 2006 - 7:10am

Adult Female Northern Black Widow

This is definitely an adult female Northern Black Widow.

Given your location, and the fact that the hourglass mark is "broken" makes this a Northern Black Widow (Latrodectus variolus (info page), images). Males and immature females are often not black, but lighter colors with striping across the top of the abdomen. As the female matures, it loses most of its coloration, becoming black and only retains the red hour glass (but males, even as they mature, retain the coloration and stripes).

Here is our general info page about the Widows.

Nice images!

… Christopher Hunt, 2 June, 2006 - 2:03pm

Thank you - my kids are thril

Thank you - my kids are thrilled that they were right and I was wrong (I really didn't think we had Black Widows here - live and learn....), plus I didn't realize the hourglass pattern could be broken like that.

She certainly is a beautiful spider, we will enjoy watching her this summer.

… Simone Ross, 2 June, 2006 - 2:49pm