Latrodectus hesperus
(Western Black Widow)

Picture ID 193072

Submitted by:
cwill
Submitted: Jan 6, 2024
Photographed: Jan 6, 2024
Spider: Latrodectus hesperus (Western Black Widow)
Location: Gilbert , Arizona, United States
Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
Found in web?: No
Attributes:

6 Comments

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TangledWeb

Moderator

January 7, 2024 2:31 am

This might be Western Spotted Orbweaver, the markings are a bit odd.

Nod

Reply to TangledWeb

January 7, 2024 6:53 am

This one has me really puzzled. That was my first guess. …this is my second…..and it is just a total guess …it is so hairless I and monochrome…other than the white pattern… I think It has a look of one of the widow spiders???… the relative sizes of its legs … the look of the joints… the position of the white band at the top and the white dashes at the side….its abdomen looks a little shriveled ….could the color be washed out by a camera flash….compare to this one…https://bugguide.net/node/view/2303229/bgimage

Last edited 3 months ago by Nod

Nod

Reply to Nod

January 7, 2024 9:45 am

I found this picture too https://bugguide.net/node/view/1275580/bgimage

TangledWeb

Moderator

Reply to Nod

January 7, 2024 10:54 pm

Thanks! The body and legs weren’t quite right for an orbweaver. It helps a lot to have seen a spider in-person. I live on the opposite coast (the left side) of USA from where this species lives. I haven’t seen any Black Widows at all.

Nod

Reply to TangledWeb

January 8, 2024 12:29 pm

I live as in rainy old Ireland. I do love spiders but I am very used to living with nothing likely to bite me except a flea. I would probably run for the hills if I ever saw a true widow.

TangledWeb

Moderator

Reply to Nod

January 12, 2024 3:28 am

The New England part of USA is like original England and Europe. The last thing that bit me was my dog. She propped her chew toy onto my arm and made a spatial misjudgment with her jaws. We don’t have any dangerous spiders and the venomous snakes are carefully segregated away from people. There are Black Bears, coyotes, foxes, and wildcats, but they stay away from people mostly. The bobcats live in and under cemetery crypts, which is interesting to me and surprising that nobody appears to have tried to remove them or their tunnels.