Comments & ID Thoughts
I have found dozens of these in my garage. At first I thought they were male black widows, but after some research Im not so sure. I know the female is black with the red on her belly, and I know the males have a different color pattern. Since the body looks so much like the black widow I instantly thought male black widow. I saw a video that pointed out common ID mistakes(It didn't mention the male black widow). I have seen plenty of female Black widows, but have never positively ID'd a male. If anyone can tell what spider this is it would be appreciated.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Oct 17, 2019
- Photographed: Jul 23, 2019
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: St. Peters, Missouri, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Garage or shed
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
This is a Triangulated Cobweb Spider, Steatoda triangulosa. Spiders in the genus Steatoda are commonly known as “False Widows” because of their strong resemblance to widow spiders. They are closely related to widows but aren’t nearly as toxic. The Cobweb Spider in this picture is a female. Male widows actually have a completely different body shape than the females, with smaller abdomens and bigger pedipalps.
Awsome! Good to know that it is relatively harmless. Thank you for you insight.
Honestly Cobweb Spiders are one of my favorite spiders. They actually eat Brown Recluses, which happen to be my least favorite spiders.