I'm sorry I don't have a better picture, but I'll try to get her out of it's den another day....
I was watering once and notice this spider cave wrapped with an asparagus fern, it ran out because I was watering, and it's legs are a dark brown with a large brown round body [like a black widow body]. It has an orange marking under it's belly...
I tried to get it out, but it only came part of the way..see picture! What kind of spider?
This message was edited Aug 4, 2009 6:23 PM
This could be a widow spider (Latrodectus sp.), such as the western black widow, Latrodectus hesperus - see http://tinyurl.com/oolbz2 - but a clearer photo would be helpful.
Careful. There is such a thing as a Brown Widow Spider (Latrodectus geometricus) that is also poisonous with about the same distribution as the Black Widow Spider. My cousin in San Diego believes she had some in her yard, and I noticed you're in San Diego, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus_geometricus
I found one in my equipment shed nd googled it as Brown Widow
I also should have mentioned the brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus) as a possibility in my earlier post (I was tired and getting ready for bed). There seems to be quite a bit of potentially misleading information on the internet about its venom and medical significance; the bottom line appears to be is that it is less dangerous than the black widow, but one still should avoid being bitten by it - see http://tinyurl.com/nasgvy for a University of California assessment.
Yes it looks like a Brown Widow Spider!
I don't want to kill it, but I may have to move it to a field or something because there are kids around this property... They may just want to play with the plant and get an unwanted surprise!
What's interesting is it built a cave like den using the asparagus fern leaves, and I've never seen a Black Widow do anything like that. I thought Black Widows just used strands of web and stayed in dark places.... Never heard of a Brown Widow until now... Thanks!
This message was edited Aug 6, 2009 10:14 AM
