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Black widow spiders reproduce sexually when the male inserts his palpal bulbs into the female's spermathecal openings. The female deposits her eggs in a globular silken container in which they remain camouflaged and guarded. A female black widow spider can produce four to nine egg sacs in one summer, each containing about 100–400 eggs.
Latrodectus hesperus, the western black widow spider or western widow, is a venomous spider species found in western regions of North America. The female's body is 14–16 mm (1/2 in) in length and is black, often with an hourglass-shaped red mark on the lower abdomen. This "hourglass" mark can be yellow, and on rare occasions, white.
Females of a few species are paler brown and some have no bright markings. The bodies of black widow spiders range from 3–10 mm (0.12–0.39 in) in size; some females can measure 13 mm (0.51 in) in their body length (not including legs). [8] Including legs, female adult black widows generally measure 25–38 mm (1–1.5 in). [9] [10]
Female and male black widow spiders differ in characteristics. Smith and Aggson said female black widows are jet black with a distinct mark that looks like a bright orange or red hourglass on the ...
Latrodectus hesperus, the western black widow. “The northern black widow, Latrodectus variolus, lives in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada,” Crawford says. These females lack the ...
The black widow gets its name from a particularly gnarly behavior: Males are often killed and eaten by females shortly after mating. A female can live up to a year or more and produce several egg ...
The primary factor in successful subsequent copulation lies in the tactile communication between the male and female spider that results in female acceptance of the male. [40] The male mounts the posterior portion of the female's abdomen, while rubbing his spinnerets on her abdomen during his attempt at copulation. [7]
The redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti), also known as the Australian black widow, [2] [3] [4] is a species of highly venomous spider believed to originate in Australia but now, Southeast Asia and New Zealand, it has also been found in packing crates in the United States with colonies elsewhere outside Australia. [5]