Western Black Widow Spider
Scientific name: Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935
Overview
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 in length and is black, often with an hourglass-shaped red mark on the lower abdomen. This "hourglass" mark can be red, yellow, and on rare occasions, white. The male of the species is around half this length, and generally a beige color with lighter striping on the abdomen. The population was previously described as a subspecies of Latrodectus mactans, and it is closely related to the northern species Latrodectus variolus. The species, as with others of the genus, build irregular or tangled webs. Unlike the spiral webs or the funnel-shaped webs of some other spiders, the strands of a Latrodectus' web have no obvious overall organization.
From the Wikipedia article “Latrodectus hesperus”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Canada, USA, Mexico. Introduced to Israel, Korea; USA.
Common names
Also known in English as Western Black Widow.
Names in other languages (5)
- Arabic
- أرملة سوداء غربية
- German
- Westliche Schwarze Witwe
- Japanese
- ツヤクロゴケグモ
- Persian
- بیوه سیاه غربی
- Portuguese
- Viúva-Negra
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The World Spider Catalog.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — names in other languages. Q113414, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Latrodectus hesperus”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — B D, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — NordNordWest, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026