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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynes » Cobweb Spiders (Theridiidae) » Widow Spiders (Latrodectus) » Southern Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans)
Photo#80737
black widow - Latrodectus mactans - female
Copyright © 2006 Leslie Durham

black widow - Latrodectus mactans - Female
Dixon, Phelps County, Missouri, USA
September 28, 2006
Size: about 1in diam
I photographed a black widow on Sept. 6 that was identified as a juvenile female. She still had all of the juvenile markings. How long does it take for them to lose that? I found this one under the same rock. Could this be the same spider? It seems like it should take longer than that for them to mature, but if it's not the same one, I've now found 3 black widows in my yard. (In 9 years, I'd only found one, now 3 in a month!) Just curious. Thanks

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black widow - Latrodectus mactans - female black widow - Latrodectus mactans - female black widow - Latrodectus mactans - female
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Contributed by Leslie Durham on 1 October, 2006 - 4:51am
Last updated 14 October, 2006 - 11:18am

Moved
Moved from Spiders.
… Jeff Hollenbeck, 14 October, 2006 - 11:18am login or register to post comments

She almost looks mature, prob
She almost looks mature, probably a L. mactans. Juveniles usually have a long red stripe and a few dots at the end of the stripe (your example has a single dot) at the posterior end along with some white "slash" marks on the abdomen. Widows can have very large sacs that bring forth hundreds of spiderlings. Widows are usually pretty easy to spot due to their messy and strong webs.
… Steve-o, 2 October, 2006 - 10:43am login or register to post comments

 
juvenile
I had posted the picture of a juvenile that was taken on Sept 4th, I don't know how to do links, but here's the pathway: http://bugguide.net/node/view/75295 Anyway, I was just wondering if this one could be the same spider or is it too soon for her to have changed that much? Both spiders were found under the same rock almost a month apart. Thanks.
… Leslie Durham, 2 October, 2006 - 2:15pm login or register to post comments

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