I just thought I'd share my new Black Widow!

[Anonymity82]

First one I ever caught. Boy, they move faster than I thought they did. Scary stuff haha. I didn't have and experienced person with me so it was all guess work. However, it turned out well and hopefully I can keep this girl alive. She's not very big yet so maybe she'll live long.

As for care, I think I have this right because I was reading up on another thread asking how to care for them plus catfishrod69 has helped me plenty on how to care for them too!

Mist once a week (gently, very little), feed pretty much any bugs (I'm going to just give it crickets mostly) and enjoy? Is that it? Also, is it okay to feed them pill bugs?

Thanks everyone!

This is the new gal. L. mactans?
View attachment 102320
This was her boyfriend, unfortunately for him he will have to look elsewhere, and don't worry I'll keep my eye out for a sac
View attachment 102321

Finally, here is her new home until I can find a taller container.
View attachment 102319

Also, she has a bum back leg if you look closely you can see it. She doesn't seem as bright as the others were, they didn't come back out after I attempted to catch them, she returned three times

 

[Shrike]

I was under the impression that L. mactans was characterized by the ventral hourglass with no dorsal marks. I think your spider is a Northern Black Widow, L. variolus, which is characterized by three or more dorsal marks. I've been lucky enough to find a few here in VA.

I'm no expert so hopefully others will chime in as well.

 

[Anonymity82]

I was under the impression that L. mactans was characterized by the ventral hourglass with no dorsal marks. I think your spider is a Northern Black Widow, L. variolus, which is characterized by three or more dorsal marks. I've been lucky enough to find a few here in VA.

I'm no expert so hopefully others will chime in as well.

I've been researching it and all I can find on the internet are contradicting "facts". So far, I've found many pictures of both species that claim to be the other and vice versa.

 

[loxoscelesfear]

Ignore the dorsal markings rule. If the spider has a complete hour glass then go w/ mactans; if it has a broken hour glass, go w/ variolus. Keep in a container turned upside down to make access to your spider easier. Widows head to the top of the container so a lid opened from below makes for easy enclosure maintenance, feeding, and is less stress on the spider. I mist every couple of weeks, but really don't worry about it too much. Crickets are fine. Carolinas are chock full of widows. I have collected there numerous times.

 

[Shrike]

Ignore the dorsal markings rule. If the spider has a complete hour glass then go w/ mactans; if it has a broken hour glass, go w/ variolus. Keep in a container turned upside down to make access to your spider easier. Widows head to the top of the container so a lid opened from below makes for easy enclosure maintenance, feeding, and is less stress on the spider. I mist every couple of weeks, but really don't worry about it too much. Crickets are fine. Carolinas are chock full of widows. I have collected there numerous times.

Thanks for clarifying.

To the OP: What's the verdict? Can you post a ventral shot? If not that's cool. It's probably not a subject you want to meddle with too much

 

[Anonymity82]

Thanks for clarifying.

To the OP: What's the verdict? Can you post a ventral shot? If not that's cool. It's probably not a subject you want to meddle with too much

I can try later. I'm unable to say at the moment whether or not it is broken, it didn't look broken but I wasn't actually looking for it so I'll check later. So far she has webbed a little bit right at the top so I'll look into getting her something more suitable for that. I threw in a couple of pill bugs but they're staying towards the bottom and she hasn't really moved or made a large webbing. If I open one side of the container slightly (enough to spray or throw in a bug) she doesn't move at all. I really just want her to live. I saved her from being sprayed as well as satisfied my selfish need to keep one . Now, I just have to keep her alive. She's not really showing any interest in the pill bugs but I've read they can go awhile without eating. Thanks!

 

[Oreo]

Nice find! That's a nice looking male as well. She looks pretty young to me, so maybe she'll show you more definitive markings if she molts. I like your fresh foods market habitat, and I see you've thrown an isopod in there already. I'd suggest adding a few more sticks where you would like her to be able to expand her web. She hunts with her web, and unless something snags her web, she probably has no idea there's a walking lunchable crawling in there with her.

If she's established a good-looking web and doesn't seem interested, there could be a few reasons. I've seen widows ignore or seem uninterested in food when they are either close to a molt, very sated, close to death from old age, or injured. You could try placing some disabled crickets directly in her web later if she needs some help.

 

[catfishrod69]

Nice find man. Pretty girl. The enclosure looks plenty big enough for her forever. I keep mine in 32 oz deli cups, which is about that same size. Yeah see if the hourglass is broken in the middle or not. Let us know.

 

[Anonymity82]

She's pretty small. It's only a 16oz. Of course she went and webbed up the top part but I'll be very careful. I just feel bad, because everytime I open it I have to break up some of her webbing. She's really cool! I just hope she eats!!

 

[catfishrod69]

Yeah someof mine web the lids shut too. But i just open the lid enough to sueeze a cricket in. Have you gotten ny looks at the hourglass?

 

[Anonymity82]

The red dots on the back resemble the images I've seen posted as L. variolus but the hourglass doesn't look broken from what i can tell. Again, she's pretty small right now I don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[catfishrod69]

If you are positive the hourglass isnt broken than its mactans. But give her a molt, and fatten her up really good, and the hourglass will be alot easier to tell from.

 

[Anonymity82]

If you are positive the hourglass isnt broken than its mactans. But give her a molt, and fatten her up really good, and the hourglass will be alot easier to tell from.

I'm getting some crickets today so I'm hoping the widow eat. She hasn't gone for the pill bugs but they really haven't been climbing up to her web. I'm confident the crickets will climb to the top and become dinner!

 

[catfishrod69]

What i do is drop the cricket straight into the middle of the web. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, and the cricket walks around for a day or two. But either way they end up eaten. The widow will make drop lines down to the substrate, and will feel the cricket walking around. You will be able to see her "tracking" it by the vibrations. I really doubt the isopods will ever get eaten, they will either die from lack of humidity, or just hang out forever living off leftovers. They wont hurt anything at all though.

 

[Anonymity82]

the container I have wont allow me to drop them right on to the top of the web because she's webbed up the top. I feel bad for the isopods then. I'd like them to get eaten and not just dehydrate to death lol.

 

[catfishrod69]

Well some of my widows web the lid to the bottom, and some dont. What i do for the ones that do, is open the lid about 1/3-1/2 way, then tilt the container partially so the webbing is somewhat horizontal, then drop the cricket in. If the cricket makes it down to the substrate, dont worry, crickets are dumb critters, and you will soon see it webbed up and eaten.

 

[Yoxigan]

I would use waxworms or mealworms. Also, for my web-spinners, I use crane flies. They get tangled up really easily.

 

[Anonymity82]

I do have a bunch of those (crane flies) that get in here. It's just that she has the top all webbed up so I can't open it too much without destroying it or her trying to escape (this is scary stuff lol).

---------- Post added 04-24-2012 at 01:19 AM ----------

Lol! Crickets are pretty stupid so at least I have that going. Is there a size I should use? Does the abdomen rule work for widows too? I put in a medium cricket and is pretty big when I compare it to her but she's a widow and I don't think the cricket can cause her harm unless she molts?

 

[Anonymity82]

An hour after I put the cricket in she found him and has been eating him ever since.
Also, here's a clear shot of her hourglass.
View attachment 102585

 

[catfishrod69]

Thats a mactans. Pretty girl. Just keep up what you are doing, and she should live a while. My first one i caught in NC, i have had for 1.5 years. She is doing great.