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Latrodectus

This article is about the genus of spider. For other uses, see Black widow.

Latrodectus
Female Latrodectus hesperus, or western black widow
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Latrodectus
Walckenaer, 1805[1]
Type species
L. tredecimguttatus
(Rossi, 1790)
Species

34, see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Chacoca Badcock, 1932[2]

Latrodectus is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders.[3][4][5][6] However, the diversity of species is much greater. A member of the family Theridiidae, this genus contains 34 species,[7] which include several North American "black widows" (southern black widow Latrodectus mactans, western black widow Latrodectus hesperus, and northern black widow Latrodectus variolus). Besides these, North America also has the red widow Latrodectus bishopi and the brown widow Latrodectus geometricus, which, in addition to North America, has a much wider geographic distribution. Elsewhere, others include the European black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus), the Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) and the closely related New Zealand katipō (Latrodectus katipo), several different species in Southern Africa that can be called button spiders, and the South American black-widow spiders (Latrodectus corallinus and Latrodectus curacaviensis). Species vary widely in size. In most cases, the females are dark-coloured and can be readily identified by reddish markings on the central underside (ventral) abdomen, which are often hourglass-shaped.

These small spiders have an unusually potent venom containing the neurotoxin latrotoxin, which causes the condition latrodectism, both named after the genus. Female widow spiders have unusually large venom glands, and their bite can be particularly harmful to large vertebrates, including humans. However, despite their notoriety, Latrodectus bites rarely cause death or produce serious complications.[citation needed] Only the bites of the females are dangerous to humans.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WSC_g3502 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference levi 1959 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ushkaryov, Y. A. (2004). "The multiple actions of black widow spider toxins and their selective use in neurosecretion studies". Toxicon. 213 (5): 527–542. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.02.008. PMID 15066411.
  4. ^ Sari, I. (2008). "Myocarditis after black widow spider envenomation". The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 630 (5): e1–3. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2007.09.012. PMID 18534303.
  5. ^ Nentwig, N. (2017). "Impact of Non-native Animals and Plants on Human Health". Impact of Biological Invasions on Ecosystem Services. Springer. pp. 277–293. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-45121-3_18. ISBN 978-3-319-45119-0.
  6. ^ Müller, G. J. (1993). "Black and brown widow spider bites in South Africa". South African Medical Journal. 83.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSC_sl3502 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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