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 219 confirmed sightings of Latrodectus (Widow Spiders), with the most recent sighting submitted on March 9, 2024 by Spider ID member annieonthemountain. The detailed statistics below may not utilize the complete dataset of 219 sightings because of certain Latrodectus sightings reporting incomplete data.
- Web: 42% of the time, Latrodectus spiders are sighted in a spider web (Sample size: 213)
- Sex: 38 female and 35 male.
- Environment: Latrodectus has been sighted 165 times outdoors, and 74 times indoors.
- Outdoors: Man-made structure (103). Low foliage (15). High foliage (7). Ground layer (18). 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.
Seasonality
Latrodectus has been primarily sighted during the month of May.
- January: 14
- February: 24
- March: 31
- April: 27
- May: 40
- June: 15
- July: 10
- August: 8
- September: 9
- October: 19
- November: 10
- December: 10
Additional Remarks
- There are 5 different species of Latrodectus (“widow spiders”) in North America.