Steatoda sp?

MissEkka

Arachnopeon
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Mar 30, 2011
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Hello everyone.
This will be my first post. I'm an enthusiast in Canada and while i do enjoy arachnids I'm really more of a beetle person. So what brings me here is the hope that people who are better versed with arachnids will have some idea of what this is.
I'm attempting to help identify this little guy for someone, so I apologize for the quality of photograph, it leaves a lot to be desired.
If you have any ideas, let me know.
Thank you all kindly! =)
 

TomM

Arachnobaron of Pennsylvania
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Oct 15, 2009
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If I were to take a stab in the dark, I'd guess Steatoda triangulosa. Again, it's just a stab in the dark and a better picture would be needed for a more accurate identification. Also, size and location of where the spider was found would help (Canada's not that small;)).
 

MissEkka

Arachnopeon
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Mar 30, 2011
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Well, from what I can gather it's black and the markings are apparently fairly vivid red. She's in a panic thinking it's a black widow but I'm really not convinced. The marking don't seem to add up completely to me, but I could be wrong.
We're in Newfoundland as well, widows rarely happen here and strictly when brought in on produce.
 

MissEkka

Arachnopeon
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There's a chance, but I'm pretty doubtful. I really wish she had a better photo or description to work with. Anything else that could look like this but be a local newfoundland species? I'm still trying to find anything that fits but without knowing first handhow it looks it's hard to tell.
 

The Spider Faery

Arachnodemon
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Is it confined? If it is, then try and see the underside (its belly). If it's a widow, most likely there will be an hourglass shape on the underside and that would help narrow the options. Otherwise, it does look like a steatoda, but I can't think of any species of steatoda with red markings on their back.

Wait..I know what it's most likely to be. It could be a Northern black widow. They have a line of red dots on their back (sometimes they can be other colours but they can be red). They're found in Canada...Usually Ontario, but if they're here, they could pop up in Newfoundland also, who knows? Probably more likely than a redback anyways.
 
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Widowman10

Arachno WIDOW
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unless the angle, shades, and picture in general are playing a trick on me (which they very well could be) i'm not so sure that is anything but a steatoda.

better picture please, even if only a little bit better.

if not, check this out in the meantime:
https://sites.google.com/site/widow...ting-between-latrodectus-and-steatoda-species

---------- Post added at 01:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:23 PM ----------

but I can't think of any species of steatoda with red markings on their back.
Steatoda paykulliana?

here's a PIC if you want proof... :D
 

Widowman10

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The Spider Faery

Arachnodemon
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seriously?! those idiot people called the POLICE b/c of a 1.5" spider? you have got to be kidding me...
There are seriously a handful more articles where that one came from... Venomous creatures are just not common to the island of Newfoundland (snakes are supposedly not even native there), so I guess people get nervous when they find something... That's why I asked if it was the same spider that was reported there in Cornerbrook. Hopefully it hasn't started a rash of spider frenzy.
 

KnightinGale

Arachnoknight
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Well thanks Widowman. I learned something new from you today (again). I had read that there weren't any Steatoda with vivid markings, but that pic pretty much says it all! Reminds me a little of L. exlaos. Steatoda certainly can be good imitations (looks, web, behavior).
That said, I have no new guess for the spider in question. Sorry. :)
 

Widowman10

Arachno WIDOW
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Nice. That's a pretty steatoda. I guess I was only thinking of North American steatoda which don't have red.
true, as it pertains to north america.

course, there are red steatoda in north america too!!
 

MissEkka

Arachnopeon
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Mar 30, 2011
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some people...

Yeah, that's her alright.
I really can't believe she involved the media over the spider.
I found it on a local facebook group early this morning when she was asking people to help her figure out what it was.
At the time I told her I thought it was genus Steatoda but I wasn't able to narrow down it's species.

But yes, we have nothing native here anything like the black widow (and you're right, not even any snake species) and people tend to severely overreact when they find something that they don't know. Especially people who aren't exactly spider friendly. After going through the comments on facebook of people panicking about it being deadly, I was hoping that letting them know it wasn't would have been of some use. Apparently, I was wrong.
 

jsloan

Arachnoangel
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According to the most recent Checklist of The Spiders of Canada and Alaska (May, 2010), S. bipunctata is the only species of Steatoda that has been found in Newfoundland. Also, Latrodectus is not native to that province. So, if this is a widow, it's an import.

Here are some pictures of a S. bipunctata specimen from NF that you can compare your spider to:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/172185

It looks like someone at Memorial University might be able to identiify your spider for you.
 
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MissEkka

Arachnopeon
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Mar 30, 2011
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Well, I really wish I could offer a better photo or more of a description. Apparently she tried to vacuum the thing up and at some point lost it behind the heater. Pest control workers then found a black spider with red markings behind the heater, but she says it wasn't the same one.
I tried telling her it was more likely to be a Steatoda sp. then a widow, especially considering where we're located. But the police told her it's a widow (going on the same photo and description we are here) and she seems content to cause herself more stress than is necessary.
Whatever the case, I really hope she finds it and gets some better photographs so I can find out what species it is.
 

buthus

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Pic looks as if her abdomen is twisted somewhat(?), causing it to appear more spherical like that of a Latrodectus ...and if thats the case, we very well could be looking at her big crescent dorsal marking along with her dorsal line as if all that is dead center.

Those markings could be something like this... S.paykulliana. This ones not vibrant red, but they can vary greatly when it comes to marking color ...including bright fire-engine red.


Having something in the pic that gave us a comparable reference for size would be helpful here. Since most adult widows are, on average, substantially larger than even the biggest mutant adult Steatoda AND for the fact that USUALLY Latrodectus do not have red in their markings until final molt... well, anyway :D ...knowing its true size could help with blurry spidie pic ID'ing. ...but only a little. :)
 

The Spider Faery

Arachnodemon
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That pic of an S. paykulliana is sweet.

By the way, the yahoo trending has had 'black widow spiders' in the top ten searched topics ever since the articles regarding this unknown black spider found in Newfoundland have surfaced. Apparently it's drawn some attention.
 
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