Comments on: Male Black Widow Spiders Try to Avoid Sex That Will Kill Them

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:36:20 +0000

I live in North Carolina and I recently found a big black widow that has a prominent red stripe on her back just like the one pictured here. She also has the typical hourglass on her abdomen. I had never seen one before with a stripe on the back, so I’m wondering if the one I found is the common black widow native to North America, or have I possibly found an introduced Australian redback? With global commerce these things do hitch rides to new territory, after all.

By: Georgia

Georgia — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:27:08 +0000

Australian redback spiders are a type of black widow – all black widows have the hourglass marking on their belly. Different species of black widow may also have additional markings.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:18:56 +0000

Not a scientist but an Aussie that has squashed a lot in her time and that looks like an Australian Redback spider to me. Also the female redback spiders are the striking black with bright red back, the males have a duller colouring, so I suspect your photo is of a female redback spider.

By: Devin Carroll

Devin Carroll — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:13:59 +0000

Why is the photo of a different species? It looks like the red-backed widow, Latrodectus hasselti. In Arizona they were probably using Latrodectus hesperus, which has red only on the belly.

By: MikeK

MikeK — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:26:01 +0000

Male widow spiders may just like big butts.

By: Chrisj

Chrisj — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:54:38 +0000

I’d have thought that a well-fed female is a better bet reproductively, as she’s likely to have more energy to devote to egg-manufacture. So yes, interesting research, but as you say, the conclusions are still somewhat open.

By: B. Neuenschwander

B. Neuenschwander — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:20:14 +0000

*Male Black Widow Spiders Try to Avoid Death by Snoo Snoo