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Project Noah Nature School
Latrodectus mactans
Brownish spider with orange hourglass with some yellow around the edges on abdomen. Didn't get a shot of the top side of the spider. Thought it might be best not to mess with her too much.
Found on the underside of a leaf on a bush/weed on the edge of a pond.
Such a great spotting! The big, round pedipalps at the front of the head (like boxing gloves) give this spider away as being a male. You did a wonderful job of capturing an image of the underside of the abdomen, which shows the hourglass marking. From what I see on BugGuide, an unbroken red marking denotes the Southern black widow. If it had a split/gap in it, it would be the Northern black widow. The 2 species overlap in quite a few states. Again, great job and I'm jealous that you got to shoot such a nice subject! I'm still looking for a male widow.
Spotted on Jun 8, 2012
Submitted on Jun 9, 2012
+3
