Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a spider that looks like it could be a black widow. It's pretty small, so I think it might be a young one. It is black, has 3 (I think) white stripes going down it's back, and an orange hour glass on it's belly.

Can you post a picture?

Sorry, we aren't quite caught up with the "digital world" yet. It's a cute little thing though.

There is only one spider that mimics black widows closely : the Steatoda cobweb weavers. They are brown to near-black, and have a maroon hourglass / figure eight on their belly. I do not think this is what you have, since they only have two light stripes, and they are arranged differently than you say. From the size, and the white stripes, I would say this could very well be an immature black widow. If the spider has a large, ( compared to the rest of its body ), pea-shaped rear end, I would say it is probably a widow, as none of the other cobweb weavers match widows this closely. If you still have the spider, you could put it in jar with twigs, and wait for it to build a web. If it builds a tangled cobweb, then a widow it is. But whatever you do, be careful with it; even an immature widow will have a nasty bite.

YES IF ITS HAS AN HOUR GLASS ITS A BLACK WIDOW AND IF IT HAS WHITE STRIPES ITS FROM THE EAST COAST OF U.S.A.
I LIVE IN CALI AND IVE CAUGHT FIVE SO FAR, ONE INCLUDING THE
WHITE STRIPPED ON THE BACK SIDE.. ALL THE REST ARE BLACK EXCEPT ONE HAS ORANGE SEGMENTS IN ITS MID LEGS. TODAY I LET ALL OF THEM GO IN A FAR AWAY FIELD ,EXCEPT THE WHITE STRIPPED ONE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE BIGGEST ONE WAS STARTING TO EAT THE LITTLE ONES EVEN THOUGH I FEED THEM PLEANTY OF MOTHS AND FLIES??
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