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Photo#115496
Western Black Widow Update - Latrodectus hesperus - female

Western Black Widow Update - Latrodectus hesperus - Female
Davis, Yolo County, California, USA
June 4, 2007
Size: 1/2"
It looks like our friend has grown over the past couple of weeks; that is, unless this isn't the same specimen. The shots were all taken in the exact same location so I'm assuming it's the same spider, but if this is an unsafe assumption, I'll unlink these two pictures from the first two. Do black widows take over other black widows' webs? Also, the split hourglass looks basically the same; I was wondering if it might connect as the spider grew, but it doesn't look like it. Comments are always appreciated.

Images of this individual: tag all
Black Widow - Latrodectus hesperus - female Black Widow - Latrodectus hesperus - female Western Black Widow Update - Latrodectus hesperus - female Western Black Widow Update - Latrodectus hesperus - female

It
is probably the same one.
Mactans and hesperus have full hourglasses when they leave the egg sac, and they sometimes split during the growth process.

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