ID request?

[jordanclaussen]

(Southern AZ)
Found this guy last night frozen on my front door. Super tiny, for reference he’s currently in a 2oz deli cup with ventilation made from a thumb tack. It was hard to get a shot of the top of his abdomen and carapace as he mostly hangs upside down. But just now the underside of his abdomen caught my attention.
Could it be a Latrodectus geometricus sling, maybe male ? I’m probably way off but I wanted to lock in a guess since I’m just a tarantula hobbyist and I’m trying to learn more about true spiders.
Would just love to find out more about him so I can decide wether he can brave the cold out at a park nearby or if I could set up an adequate warm home for him until the spring. Thanks so much!

Some underside shots-those holes are made with thumbtacks! That’s how small he is
Some above shots, best I could do with my phone camera and macro lens attachment

 

[Hardus nameous]

How to identify Brown Widow Spiders

How to identify (and misidentify) Brown Widow The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus, is not native to the United States. For decades, it lived only in peninsular Florida in the U.S. but in the first decade of the 21st century, it spread remarkably quickly, is now found from Texas to...

cisr.ucr.edu

I think it's a hesperus but I could be wrong. The top and bottom of the abdomen look conflicting to me, so definitely don't take my word as gospel.

 

[jordanclaussen]

How to identify Brown Widow Spiders

How to identify (and misidentify) Brown Widow The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus, is not native to the United States. For decades, it lived only in peninsular Florida in the U.S. but in the first decade of the 21st century, it spread remarkably quickly, is now found from Texas to...

cisr.ucr.edu

I think it's a hesperus but I could be wrong. The top and bottom of the abdomen look conflicting to me, so definitely don't take my word as gospel.

Oh honestly I think you may be right! I hadn’t found any photos of immature males of that species. And with the top of the abdomen sort of conflicting with the bottom, it still matches your suggestion more than it did mine. Oof! For like 2 seconds I thought it was just some garden spider and now it’s likely a widow lol.

for anyone else reading, I’d love your opinion here:
the only true spider I’ve kept is a regal jumper, I have 10 tarantulas but they’re all new world, does anyone have any advice for what I should do with this fella? I’ll research care and behavior for the species but would it be ambitious to commit to a somewhat medically significant spider with my lack of true spider experience?
On the other side of that, would it be irresponsible to take him out to a national park nearby and release him when it’s getting so cold at night?

Side note: if this does turn out to be Hesperus, how bizarre is it that I found him on my front door just smack dab in the middle? I always thought most of the latrodectus genus were shy and don’t like being out in the open like that

 

[Edan bandoot]

Oh honestly I think you may be right! I hadn’t found any photos of immature males of that species. And with the top of the abdomen sort of conflicting with the bottom, it still matches your suggestion more than it did mine. Oof! For like 2 seconds I thought it was just some garden spider and now it’s likely a widow lol.

for anyone else reading, I’d love your opinion here:
the only true spider I’ve kept is a regal jumper, I have 10 tarantulas but they’re all new world, does anyone have any advice for what I should do with this fella? I’ll research care and behavior for the species but would it be ambitious to commit to a somewhat medically significant spider with my lack of true spider experience?
On the other side of that, would it be irresponsible to take him out to a national park nearby and release him when it’s getting so cold at night?

Side note: if this does turn out to be Hesperus, how bizarre is it that I found him on my front door just smack dab in the middle? I always thought most of the latrodectus genus were shy and don’t like being out in the open like that

Care on widows is easy and risk is extremely low if kept properly, it's not like they're particularly fast or defensive

 

[jordanclaussen]

Care on widows is easy and risk is extremely low if kept properly, it's not like they're particularly fast or defensive

Thanks for the reply! After some research I’m pretty confident in raising this little one. Any tips on care for when they’re this small? Or tips in general regarding widows

 

[SilentWidowMaker]

I was looking at the pictures and I agree it's a Latrodectus. Widows are my favorite true spider. They'll eat anything and great hunters. I feed my slings pre killed flies and crickets unless the crickets are little. Once they're acclimated to their home the feeding isn't a problem. Every few days mist the sides for water, I literally watch them drink when thirsty.