HELP! I found this spider in my mailbox. We think it's a black widow but my students and I searched pictures and they don't seem to match. The red and yellow are very obvious and it's more brown than black.
The pic was taken in Mathis, Texas at the lake. It was about 55 degrees.
Any ideas?
Here is some info that may be of help to you. If I read correctly, there are over 900 different spiders that call Texas home.
https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/health/zoonosis/animal/bites/information/venom/spider/
http://www.bugsinthenews.com/spiders_in_the_fern_bluff_mud.htm
http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/k/Texas_spiders.htm
Appears to be a brown widow spider, closely related to the black widow, but whose venom does not appear to be quite as potent.
http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/IPM/BrownWidow.htm
