Spider found in web of dead, male Black Widow. - Latrodectus geometricus - BugGuide.Net

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Cobweb Spiders (Theridiidae) » Widow Spiders (Latrodectus) » Brown Widow (Latrodectus geometricus)

Photo#630927

Copyright © 2012 eviljonny

Spider found in web of dead, male Black Widow. - Latrodectus geometricus

Dana Point, Orange County, California, USA
April 17, 2012

I found the smaller specimen in the web of the male Black Widow which was dead on the ground below the web. Wondering if it killed the Widow or just took over its web after it died naturally.

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Contributed by eviljonny on 17 April, 2012 - 8:07pm
Last updated 25 June, 2012 - 4:20pm

Moved to Latrodectus geometricus

Moved from Widow Spiders.

… Lynette Elliott, 25 June, 2012 - 4:20pm

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The

widow is an adult female geometricus.

… Jeff Hollenbeck, 30 April, 2012 - 1:38pm

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i agree! interesting.

i agree! interesting.

… widowman10, 25 June, 2012 - 3:59pm

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Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Lynette Elliott, 18 April, 2012 - 4:55pm

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spider on the right

as you're looking at this picture... is some type of ground spider. I suppose they might have killed eachother? The widow looks pretty healthy, maybe it's just paralyzed? I guess it could just be old age too.... like you mentioned. Ground spiders don't use webs, so I doubt that's one of the possible scenarios.

… Lynette Elliott, 17 April, 2012 - 8:20pm

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Well that is strange..

because the smaller spider was IN the web and alive! I killed it when I was too rough getting it into my observation jar. :(

… eviljonny, 18 April, 2012 - 10:47am

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Ground spider in web

Interesting. Could you tell if it was stuck in the web or just on the web? Since Ground Spiders are wandering hunters I don't suppose we should rule out that it would take prey out of other spiders' webs. Perhaps it was just taking advantage of a good opportunity?

… Lynette Elliott, 18 April, 2012 - 4:45pm

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Who knows?

It was in the center of the web, though. When I poked at it with a tiny stick it grabbed the stick and started to spin it up but then stopped. Seemed very aggressive. Until, of course, I squashed him. Oops.

… eviljonny, 18 April, 2012 - 4:52pm

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