
Comments & ID Thoughts
Looks like Western Black Widow. Was making web on outside door handls.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Aug 3, 2019
- Photographed: May 13, 2008
- Spider: Latrodectus hesperus (Western Black Widow)
- Location: bend oregon, Oregon, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes: Dorsal
Latrodectus hesperus(Western Black Widow)
I imagine it is Latrodectus, but it’s not a western black widow. They are black with a red hourglass on the underside of their abdomen.
This is the topside (dorsal) of the spider. That’s why you can’t see the red hourglass mark.
Westerns are black on the topside, unless this is some sort of juvenile form, it’s not a western.
Juvenile Western Black Widows have a red line or fused spots along the dorsal of the abdomen indicating this is either a juvenile or maybe a young adult.
Example of a juvenile Western Black Widow (L. hesperus): https://bugguide.net/node/view/1574467/bgimage
I think this female is penultimate and has similar coloration: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1480591/bgimage