Spider found crawling by house has white across whole back.

brian965 Oceanside, CA Sep 17, 2009

Spider found crawling by house IS THIS SPIDER POISONIOUS I HAVE 2 PRECIOUS KITTYS A CHIHUAHUA AND A FAMILY TO WORRY ABOUT

This message was edited Sep 13, 2009 3:45 PM

This message was edited Sep 17, 2009 3:45 PM

Post #7074823

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drrex Irvine, CA Sep 18, 2009

This appears to be a male western black widow, despite the obvious brown color, Latrodectus hesperus. Juvenile males are brown and white and have the enlarged pedipalps which are present in your picture. These spiders can be medically significant, maybe someone here can give you some suggestions for control. Get a positive ID first, then take proper actions from that point. Infestations may require professional control. If it isn't a black widow, it looks like it could be a spider in the family Theridiidae, most of which are harmless. It would be more helpful if you have another picture from the top or the bottom of the spider. We might be able to make a more definite ID. See http://tinyurl.com/oolbz2 for more images of the black widow. This site is a pretty comprehensive reference of arthropods in Southern California, it is hosted by the University of California, Irvine. See if other spiders look like yours.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2009 7:18 PM