Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the summer of 2010 I caught a juvenile female northern black widow spider (Latrodectus variolus). Since then it has reached full size and has had NO CONTACT with any other spiders (I am certain of this). Yet two days ago I found it guarding an egg sac.

Are the eggs simply not viable?
Could it have mated as a juvenile?
Are there cases of parthenogenesis in Latrodectus variolus?

I am very curious as to what is going on, any thoughts or references would be much appreciated!!

Thanks.
Mike

Female spiders will produce infertile egg sacs.

It can be so dangerous i know because i suffered black widow bite on my vocation..
i was in texas at my uncles home and spider bites me.
In first time i didn't know that was spider bite. After few hours pain was horrible and i decided to go to explore on internet some about spider bites.
Informations and pictures was telling to me that was really spider bite. I called 911 and went to hospital a my vocation, can you imagine??!.
Doktor sad to me that black widow is so dangerous spider that can produce anputation, i was shocked!
That's my story people. I'm hoping i will help someone if read this and learn more about bites..
Sorry about mine bad english, i'm from bulgaria.
spider bites

That’s a fascinating observation! I’d be curious about the viability of the egg sac as well. If the spider truly had no contact with a male after being collected, parthenogenesis would certainly be an interesting possibility to investigate. It might also be worth checking whether females can retain sperm from an earlier mating or whether there are documented cases in related Latrodectus species. Hopefully someone with experience breeding black widows can shed some light on this!
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