Taxonomic Hierarchy
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Suborder: Araneomorphae
- Family: Theridiidae
- Genus: Latrodectus
Common Name (AAS)
Widow Spiders
Other Common Names
Cobweb Spiders, Cob Web Spiders, Comb-footed Spiders, Tangle-web Spiders, Gumfoot-web Spiders, Button Spiders (Africa)
Author
Charles Athanase Walckenaer, 1805
Sightings Overview
There have been 228 confirmed sightings of Latrodectus (Widow Spiders), with the most recent sighting submitted on October 28, 2024 by Spider ID member ajwe525. The detailed statistics below may not utilize the complete dataset of 228 sightings because of certain Latrodectus sightings reporting incomplete data.
- Web: 41% of the time, Latrodectus spiders are sighted in a spider web (Sample size: 222)
- Sex: 38 female and 36 male.
- Environment: Latrodectus has been sighted 173 times outdoors, and 76 times indoors.
- Outdoors: Man-made structure (110). Low foliage (15). High foliage (7). Ground layer (19). Under rock or debris (15). Open field, pasture, grassland (1). Forest (2). Desert area (4).
Location and Range
Latrodectus (Widow Spiders) has been sighted in the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Curacao, India, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States.
Latrodectus has also been sighted in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia.
Seasonality
Latrodectus has been primarily sighted during the month of May.
- January: 14
- February: 24
- March: 31
- April: 27
- May: 43
- June: 16
- July: 11
- August: 10
- September: 10
- October: 20
- November: 10
- December: 10
Additional Remarks
- There are 5 different species of Latrodectus (“widow spiders”) in North America.