Western black widow

[KevinsWither]

I found an adult female near the garage door and I captured it. I have belief that it's gravid.

 

[Python]

Nice catch. If it's a widow, you'll know soon enough if she's gravid or not. They seem to drop sacks every 2 weeks or so, regular as clockwork. If you don't have a sack in a couple of weeks, she's likely not bred. She's a looker though. Great species to keep. they are very good eaters and extremely good at what they do.

 

[KevinsWither]

I believe that there were spiders near her web and on it, but it was almost dark outside.

 

[Python]

If there were spiders in her web, it was either a male or a meal or both. Widows aren't known for having guests over. As far as babies go, they are usually about the size of a period on a page when they emerge from the sack but they leave the web soon after. Does she have the hourglass on her abdomen? If not she may be a steatoda which is still a cool spider.

 

[KevinsWither]

Yeah she has an hourglass on her abdomen. At first she was scared and shocked but then she adjusted and started to build a web.

 

[pannaking22]

It's nice that widows adjust quickly to a new environment and settle in. Hope you enjoy her! Widows are a great group to keep.

 

[KevinsWither]

I just caught 4 babies. Could I feed them fruit flies?

 

[Python]

Sure. Have they built a web yet? Did you get them all out of the same web as the adult?

 

[KevinsWither]

I believe I caught them from different areas at different stages.

 

[RebelWolf]

View attachment 221717 I found an adult female near the garage door and I captured it. I have belief that it's gravid.

Latrodectus Hesperus is my favorite species of widow spiders. Beautiful spider you got there

 

[KevinsWither]

I did manage to feed the babies with fruit flies and they eagerly went after them.

 

[KevinsWither]

She made an egg case.