Latrodectus hasselti in Texas

[OldManMuscle]

Hello ladies and gents! I just wanted to report that I, firsthand, saw, captured, and relocated a female Latrodectus hasselti in The Woodlands, TX. I verified that the red line on the dorsal side of the abdomen was not broken and went from the spinnerets and terminated just short of the pedicel. This darling of a specimen was found in a Walgreens pharmacy drive-through carrier (this unit was non-functioning and had been for 6 months). It was amazing how fast she was - but after removing her, and her egg sack, I drove to a remote section of the woods (only accessible via a mountain bike) and placed her in a nice hollowed out stump. I used some of the webbing from the prescription carrier to attach the egg sack to the very back of the hollow - and then released her into the hollow. She immediately began doing repairs to solidify the egg sack in her new home as I watched. After her repairs - she began to construct webbing in the rest of the hollow. Satisfied that she was safe, away from humans, and relatively happy, I left her.
I know that many people would have told me to take her and her egg sack to the university as she is indeed an invasive species... I look at all of the invasive species that we have and I KNOW that this beautiful arachnid would have been much happier if she was still living in Australia - but it is because of US that she was here.

 

[The Snark]

There has been a lot of discussion about Hasselti being in the US. The general conclusion is it is much more likely to be Variolus or Mactans, both of which occasionally have red decoration on their backs. Your location probably rules out the former. Best would have been getting an expert to ID.
That being said, thanks to globalization, boundaries are being violated more and more often. We have had Hasselti and Hesperus turn up in Thailand as well as a death from an ignored Loxosceles Reclusa bite, - spider identified by experts. Actual cause of death was septicemia. Why and how a Recluse ended up in Den Chai, a backwater town many kM from any shipping center remains a mystery.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

Texas hesperus and variolus can be incredibly variable. I am certain you didn't find a hasselti in a Walgreens parking lot.