Do false black widows have a hourglass on the abdomen?

[AriZoNaS HacKeR]

i have a black widow but its more like a purple black instead of all black, im wondering if its a real black widow but it has the red hour glass

 

[John Apple]

some very fat widows have brownish or purplish abdomens.....

 

[Venom]

L. hesperus "western" black widows often have maroon-colored abdomens instead of true black. Do you know the species of your widow?

 

[catfishrod69]

could be a L. geometricus..i have a girl that is very dark brown, almost black..she has a orange hourglass.

 

[Widowman10]

regarding the question in your title: no. if it has the glass, it's a latro.

if you found it locally, it is more than likely L. hesperus, which, as stated above, will sometimes appear to have a brownish / purplish abdomen.

 

[catfishrod69]

holy crap....how can that spider drag that abdomen around? haha

regarding the question in your title: no. if it has the glass, it's a latro.

if you found it locally, it is more than likely L. hesperus, which, as stated above, will sometimes appear to have a brownish / purplish abdomen.

View attachment 97594

 

[Widowman10]

haha i know, right?! had a discussion with another member here a few years back who said he had a widow whose abdomen became too large and actually fell off...

 

[catfishrod69]

i had a L. mactans i caught, and her abdomen was the hugest i had ever seen...she also had a sac that was the size of 4 or 5 sacs...and i gave her to a friend...the sac hatched, and she popped another one...haha

 

[Vespula]

regarding the question in your title: no. if it has the glass, it's a latro.

if you found it locally, it is more than likely L. hesperus, which, as stated above, will sometimes appear to have a brownish / purplish abdomen.

View attachment 97594

Wide load! Beautiful spider.