# Black widow

*Latrodectus mactans and related species*

**Identification confidence:** Identifiable with care — The mature female's combination of glossy black body and red ventral hourglass is reliable for a careful observer.

## How to recognise it

- Mature females are glossy jet black with a red or orange hourglass marking on the underside of the abdomen — visible only from below, so the spider must be seen from underneath or in its web.
- The abdomen is distinctly globular and the body is 8 to 13 mm, with a leg span around 40 mm.
- Males and immatures look entirely different — smaller, paler, with white and reddish stripes or spots — and are not medically significant.
- The web is a strong, irregular, three-dimensional tangle rather than a flat orb, and is notably tough compared with other spider silk.

## What it leaves behind

- Coarse, irregular tangle webs close to the ground in protected spaces — under outdoor furniture, in meter boxes, in woodpiles, under decking, in garages, and in undisturbed corners.
- Round, papery, cream-coloured egg sacs about 10 mm suspended in the web.

## Why an infestation persists

Black widows are not aggressive and bite defensively, usually when pressed against skin or when a web is disturbed by hand. Envenomation causes systemic effects — muscle cramping and pain rather than local tissue damage — and is treatable. Bites are rarely fatal in the United States but genuinely warrant medical evaluation, particularly for children and older adults.


## Where it occurs

Across the southern, western, and central United States; several Latrodectus species are present, with the southern black widow in the Southeast and the western black widow across the West.

## What prevents it

- Wear gloves when moving woodpiles, stored materials, and outdoor furniture that has stood undisturbed.
- Clear clutter and stored material from garages, sheds, crawl spaces, and along foundations.
- Fit tight-sealing covers on meter boxes and utility housings.
- Shake out gloves, boots, and stored items before use.

## Commonly confused with

- **False widow** (*Steatoda spp.*) — Glossy dark brown to purplish-black with a globular abdomen, closely resembling a black widow at a glance.
- **Cellar spider** (*Pholcus phalangioides*) — Extremely long, thin, fragile legs — up to five or six times the body length — with a small, pale, elongated body.

**Verdict:** monitor-and-assess. Identification and removing the harbourage generally settle it. A confirmed bite is a medical question, not a pest control one.


Source: https://againstpest.shop/identify/spiders/black-widow/