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Latrodectus is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows.This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders.
Latrodectus hesperus, the western black widow spider or western widow, is a venomous spider species found in western regions of North America. The female's body is 14–16 mm (1/2 in) in length and is black, often with an hourglass-shaped red mark on the lower abdomen. This "hourglass" mark can be red, yellow, and on rare occasions, white.
Latrodectus mactans, known as southern black widow or simply black widow, and the shoe-button spider, [citation needed] is a venomous species of spider in the genus Latrodectus. The females are well known for their distinctive black and red coloring and for the fact that they will occasionally eat their mates after reproduction.
Latrodectus indistinctus is a species of spider in the family Theridiidae, found in Namibia and South Africa. [1] It is one of six species of Latrodectus found in southern Africa, four of which, including L. indistinctus, are known as black button or black widow spiders.
Button spider is a common name used in Southern Africa to refer to local members of the spider genus, Latrodectus, the family Theridiidae.There are both black and brown button spiders in Southern Africa, that are known elsewhere as widow spiders.
Like the black widow species in the United States, L. geometricus has a prominent hourglass-shaped marking on the underside of the abdomen; the brown widow's hourglass, however, is usually a vivid orange or a yellowish color. Unlike the black widow, L. geometricus has a black-and-white geometric pattern on the dorsal side of its abdomen. They ...
Although the 'kātĕpo' was reported to the Linnean Society as early as 1855, [2] the spider was formally described as Latrodectus katipo by L. Powell in 1870. [3] Spiders of the genus Latrodectus have a worldwide distribution and include all of the commonly known widow spiders: the North American black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans), the brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus), and the ...
Conversely, redback and North American black widows live in proximity with people and several hundred black widow bites are reported to Poison Control in the United States each year. Of the bites reported in the United States from 2001 to 2005, approximately 31% were treated in a health care facility, 0.5% had major complications, and none were ...