What subspecies of Latrodectus is this?

Veigar

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
25
A few years back I was cleaning out my balcony since there were a few black widows that made it their homes, and I caught a tiny spider which I decided to raise. Upon reaching adulthood I fed it until it was very plump, then noticed it didn't really look like the other black widows in my area:




No idea why the pictures are turned on their sides but here are the raw links if you want to see them normally:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450590722702311425/458346981291458592/image.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450590722702311425/458346981291458592/image.jpg

She appears to be a coffee-style marble looking widow.

A friend and I were talking about it and he said it may have been a BROWN WIDOW, but researched deemed it unlikely as it didn't really quite look like one. She looks like a marble here, if anything..
 

NYAN

Arachnoking
Joined
Dec 23, 2017
Messages
2,511
Looks like it is latrodectus geometricus. What color is her hourglass? Geometricus tends to be more orange than red and overall looks different. Pretty sure it’s geometricus though. Also, geometricus tends to be quite variable in coloration, some look white and others look more like yours.
 

Veigar

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
25
Looks like it is latrodectus geometricus. What color is her hourglass? Geometricus tends to be more orange than red and overall looks different. Pretty sure it’s geometricus though. Also, geometricus tends to be quite variable in coloration, some look white and others look more like yours.
Sorry about limited information I have, she's no longer with me since she lived to be about 2.5 years old before passing. I have a few videos of her walking around when I transferred her into a larger home, this was her underside. This is a screenshot from a video, so, I apologize for the quality:

 

dangerforceidle

Arachnoangel
Joined
Aug 4, 2017
Messages
780
I don't know that L. geometricus has been confirmed in Nevada. It doesn't appear to be on the range map of bugguide, which could be out of date.

I would imagine this is L. hesperus.
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,044
Geos are invasive and being found everywhere. They also come in just about every color and pattern found in yarn. (Check grandma's knitting)
 

AngelDeVille

Fuk Da Meme Police
Joined
May 7, 2018
Messages
274
Where did you catch her?

I have L. hesperus and L. mactans for sure around me in NM, but can't tell them apart.
 

dangerforceidle

Arachnoangel
Joined
Aug 4, 2017
Messages
780
Geos are invasive and being found everywhere. They also come in just about every color and pattern found in yarn. (Check grandma's knitting)
True, but this doesn't look like a geo outside the less-than-black colour. The dorsal stripe is solid, and the stripes along the side have a smaller black marking where the 'finger' extends, which is more characteristic of L. hesperus where range overlaps.

Based on this: http://cisr.ucr.edu/identifying_brown_widow_spiders.html
 

Veigar

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
25
Where did you catch her?

I have L. hesperus and L. mactans for sure around me in NM, but can't tell them apart.
On my balcony as a ling. It was with a bunch of Western Black Widows, but I'm not sure if it came from their egg sacs. I never bred her because I don't like dealing with spiderlings so I have no idea what her egg sac would've looked like. She kind of seems to be a mix of brown widow, redback, and western black widow
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,044
The dorsal stripe is solid, and the stripes along the side have a smaller black marking where the 'finger' extends, which is more characteristic of L. hesperus where range overlaps.
Makes me idly wonder if Geos are so adaptable they are romancing Hesperus.
 

Veigar

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
25
Makes me idly wonder if Geos are so adaptable they are romancing Hesperus.
I don't think there are any Geos here, but I have seen some that looked nearly identical - like, to the brim identical. Makes you wonder how some Hesperus' can bear really wacky patterns for no reason instead of looking like a normal Black Widow.
 

Mr Centipede

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
15
I've caught and bred Latrodectus geometrics which are in the same family as black widows and when they bred the parents died. Is this normal?
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
Staff member
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
4,096
I've caught and bred Latrodectus geometrics which are in the same family as black widows and when they bred the parents died. Is this normal?
Both immediately after mating? That would be rare, because the mother needs to be alive in order to make an egg sac.

Sometimes males get munched after mating, especially in captivity.

Females will normally live long enough to produce more than one sac. (They are prolific.) If she died shortly after producing a sac, she might have been older.
 
Top