Animal Profiles
Arachnids

Black Widow Spider

Latrodectus

Living

Living individuals or members of this group exist today. This does not mean they are safe from extinction.

Black widows include several related spiders. This account follows the southern black widow, whose adult females have a rounded dark abdomen and a red marking on the underside.

Gravid female southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans), photographed after capture.

Gravid female southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans), photographed after capture.

Shenrich91 · CC BY-SA

At a glance

Location
Latrodectus mactans is the representative described here. It uses sheltered outdoor sites and human structures in its North American range. Older broad black-widow descriptions should not be applied to every species in the genus.
Habitat
Temperate forest, Towns and cities
Diet
Carnivore
Food
Insects and other small arthropods become caught in the web.

Classification

Common name
Black Widow Spider
Browse group
Arachnids
Scientific name or taxon
Latrodectus
Taxon rank
genus
Order
Araneae
Family
Theridiidae
Genus
Latrodectus
Source classification
Arachnida

Taxonomy checked against GBIF. For breeds and hybrids, this describes the listed parent taxon.

Three things to know

  • Females are larger than males.
  • It captures small arthropods in a web.
  • Young spiders differ in pattern from adults.

Habitat and range

Latrodectus mactans is the representative described here. It uses sheltered outdoor sites and human structures in its North American range. Older broad black-widow descriptions should not be applied to every species in the genus.

Appearance and adaptations

Adult females are much larger than males and typically have a shiny dark abdomen. A red hourglass-like ventral marking is characteristic, while males and young spiders can carry different patterns.

Diet and behaviour

Insects and other small arthropods become caught in the web. The spider wraps prey, delivers venom and uses digestive fluids before taking in food. It spends much time in a sheltered part of its web.

Sources

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