What is it? Is it poisonous?

Venom1080

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there are no poisonous spiders. only venomous, that one is venomous, but not enough to harm you at all even if you managed to get bit. that looks like a classic orb weaver to me.
 

WeightedAbyss75

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That is one cool looking spider. I agree with Venom1080 in that it is an orb weaver. Should never bite you, where actually is it? Looks like a gutter or something like that.

-Edit, I had no idea widows could look like this :bag: I know now this is, in fact, a widow sp. :)
 
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Kuini84

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That is one cool looking spider. I agree with Venom1080 in that it is an orb weaver. Should never bite you, where actually is it? Looks like a gutter or something like that.
It is on a bucket that has a Chile pepper plant in it. The plant is held up by a piece of bamboo and alot of spiders hide inside the bamboo with there webs outside. Keeps the pests off. I am in gilroy, CA
 

Chris LXXIX

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I have to disagree with what others said above. You are in front of one of the most 10 venomous spiders so caution is advised.
A la Stan Schultz: "You have been warned!"

:troll:
 

Ranitomeya

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That is no orb weaver. That's something in the genus Latrodectus, the widows. It looks like a juvenile Latrodectus hesperus.
 

SC Tarantulas

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Be careful with identifications. This looks very much like some species of Latrodectus (Widow Spiders) like L. geometricus or another similar species in the genus. I'm almost certain of it although I am no expert. I have kept several species though. If it is, then it's venom is quite potent. Nothing to be scared and not aggressive in any way but I would be cautious if you have small children or pets that could come in contact with her.
 

Kuini84

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Be careful with identifications. This looks very much like some species of Latrodectus (Widow Spiders) like L. geometricus or another similar species in the genus. I'm almost certain of it although I am no expert. I have kept several species though. If it is, then it's venom is quite potent. Nothing to be scared and not aggressive in any way but I would be cautious if you have small children or pets that could come in contact with her.
I thought it looked like a widow too, just widows don't have those patterns. Picture is not perfectly focused but the pattern is really cool. I know almost nothing about spiders but I have found many including huge tarantulas
 

The Snark

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White band on the front of the abdomen is reminiscent of Steatoda.
 

SC Tarantulas

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I thought it looked like a widow too, just widows don't have those patterns. Picture is not perfectly focused but the pattern is really cool. I know almost nothing about spiders but I have found many including huge tarantulas
Widows most certainly have this pattern. There are many more species of widow aside from the ever popular Black Widow.
 

chanda

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I thought it looked like a widow too, just widows don't have those patterns. Picture is not perfectly focused but the pattern is really cool. I know almost nothing about spiders but I have found many including huge tarantulas
Juvenile widows certainly do have those patterns - they just lose them as they mature to the more familiar all-black form.

See for example http://bugguide.net/node/view/1277772/bgimage and http://bugguide.net/node/view/1160036/bgimage

Given that OP is in California, this appears to be a juvenile Western Black Widow, Latrodectus hesperus.
 

14pokies

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Yea man it's a Latrodectus.. Put him in a 32oz deli with about an inch of coco fiber and a few twigs to web on..
 

Kuini84

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Thanks for all the responses. This is my first post and finding this cool spider peaked my interest. Hopefully I will find some more cool spiders on my trip to Mexico later this year
 

ratluvr76

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As long as you don't try to bring any home lol. If you do see any while you're there you'll have to post some pics for us... please?
 

Widowman10

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I see that it's been resolved (thankfully), but it's definitely a Latrodectus. Most likely a juvenile hesperus.
 

Venom1080

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I have to disagree with what others said above. You are in front of one of the most 10 venomous spiders so caution is advised.
A la Stan Schultz: "You have been warned!"

:troll:
i thought you were completely joking...
looked like a MM orb weaver to me, my bad. :banghead:
 
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