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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.
The genus Latrodectus was erected by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1805, for the species Latrodectus tredecimguttatus and Latrodectus mactans. [1] [25] Arachnologist Herbert Walter Levi revised the genus in 1959, studying the female sexual organs and noting their similarity across described species. He concluded the colour variations were ...
This supposed propensity is what gave the black widow spider, Latrodectus mactans, its name. However, the three species of North American black widows do not usually kill the male (although they have been known to do so). Males can sometimes even live in the web of a female for a period without being harmed in any way.
Instead, he focused on differences in the morphology of the female sexual organs, and revised the number of recognised species from 22 to 6. This included reclassifying the redback and several other species as subspecies of the best-known member of the group, the black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans), found in North America and other regions ...
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.
In most species, only the female spider is capable of effectively delivering the venom to humans as the males have much smaller chelicerae. Although rarely fatal, the symptoms of the bite are often incredibly painful and medical attention is recommended following any Latrodectus species bite, as complications relating to the bite can arise.
Latrodectus indistinctus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 — Namibia, South Africa; Latrodectus karrooensis Smithers, 1944 — South Africa; Latrodectus katipo Powell, 1871 — New Zealand; Latrodectus lilianae Melic, 2000 — Spain, Algeria; Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775) — Probably native to North America only. Introduced to South America ...
Chrysso pulcherrima Coscinida japonica Dipoena martinae Enoplognatha abrupta Epsinus nubilus Latrodectus mactans, a black widow spider Theridion impressum Theridula angula moving from one tree to another carrying the egg sac. The largest genus is Theridion with over 600 species, but it is not monophyletic.