Latrodectus hesperus.

[SilentWidowMaker]

I'm mating my second pair of black widows my first pairing went overall good as far as mating ritual. Its been around 7 to 10 days since mating before my female layed her first egg sac. My question is in captivity should I be looking out for any clear signs that my female does not want to mate? I always make sure that they are both feed and full before putting them together. Any helpful hints along this line of question or any others that could give use for my research. I know out in the wild the males will molt his last and then after we'll seek pheromones from a female I've heard up to 200 ft along with other males that could possibly be there with her to breed. The male also has a chance to leave the web if he's so desires in the wild if my male looks like he is not comfortable or is trying to get out I normally will just remove him from the enclosure. I know there's a lot of intelligent helpful people on this forum I hope to get some good insight and leave all the negativity away thank you

 

[The Snark]

Here's hoping you can come up with some new or additional data.

There was a study done in the 1970s examining several aspects of L Hesperus. One study determined they had cells resembling olfactory cells in the knees of the front legs. This was tentatively concluded why they are attracted to outhouses and other water sources. The conclusion was they are attracted to those location since said locations attract prey,
Another study was comparative predation in the wild extending from San Diego urban environments out through Trona and near to Searchlight in Nevada. Essentially the entire spectrum of their native habitats. It was inconclusive. Predation of males seemed to be uniform throughout their entire environmental range.
One speculation is available prey. Not just at the present time but continuously during their mature cycle. Also, some females tended to accept a male while others of the same environment and prey availability always predated the males.

So the field is wide open in determining what motivates or restricts the predation. Best of luck to you.

 

[SilentWidowMaker]

Thankyou for your reply and insight I appreciate it. Some things were meant for humans to never know and I guess the mystery is the beauty in the Black widow