This spider has been living in my bathroom. Today for the first time it was in a position that I could check it out and photograph it. It will be relocated out into the big wide world tomorrow!
Latrodectus is a genus of spider. The common name widow spiders is sometimes applied to members of the genus due to the behaviour of the female of eating the male after mating. The black widow spiders are perhaps the best-known members of the genus. The injection of neurotoxic venom latrotoxin from these species is a comparatively dangerous spider bite, resulting in the condition latrodectism, named for the genus. The female black widow's bite is particularly harmful to humans because of its unusually large venom glands; however, Latrodectus bites rarely kill human beings if their wounds are given medical treatment.
Not all adult female black widows exhibit the red hourglass on their abdomen—some may have a pair of red spots or have no marking at all, but any markings that are present are bright red. Adult male black widows are a quarter the size of the female, and are usually gray or brown rather than black and red; while they may sometimes have an hourglass marking on their abdomen, it is usually yellow or white, not red. The bite of a male black widow is not considered dangerous to humans; it is the bite of the adult female black widow from her much larger venom sacs that has given this spider its dangerous reputation. While there is great variation in specifics by species and by sex, any spider exhibiting a red hourglass on the abdomen and having a shiny black body is an adult female black widow.
I'm from Tulbagh, Western Cape, South Africa. Tulbagh is a small farming community.
Get Pushed Challenge: I have been doing this challenge on and off...
