Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
i recently returned from a trip from central florida.
i collected about a few dozen or so L.geometricus, that were very light brown or tan with a very distinctive pattern.

i than collected 1 L.mactans more south in marion county.
i beleived the widow i caught in marion was a l.mactans because she was black and had a very red hourglass.
now that i returned she laid an eggcase which was golden and pear shaped but tufted, not as tufted as the browns and a little smaller and papery but it had some tufts on it.
she has no pattern and even under bright light i do not see and pattern
what could she be?
a cross?
also she constructed a large sphere out of silk that she lives in.
thanks
Kevin

Do her legs show any signs of banding, and is the bottom portion of her hourglass pointed, as in this picture :

http://forums.insecthobbyist.com/view.php?id=1717,1803

This is a confirmed dark morph of L.geometricus :

http://www.arachnology.org/Arachnology/Pages/Pictures/geometri.jpg

The top picture is most likely an L.geometricus as well, as it exhibits leg banding , tufted eggsacs, and a pointed hourglass.
If you go to this picture below, you will see that the brown widow has a distinctely pointed hourglass :

http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/L-geometricus.html

If your widow doesn't have the different hourglass, or the leg banding, I would say that it is most likely a true L.mactans, and that, a small amount of tufting is possible in other Lactrodectus species.