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Some photos of a Northern Widow (Latrodectus variolus) nest I found while taking a walk in the woods during lunch today. The spider was in the process of removing an empty/hatched egg sac from the interior portion of the nest.
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PHWyvern

Wow, great shots! If they were really the size of that last photo we'd be in BIG trouble! LOL!
Todd Hughes

>>Wow, great shots! If they were really the size of that last photo we'd be in BIG trouble! LOL!
>> Todd Hughes

LOL. I actually love the digital camera we have at work.. I only need to get in about 9 inches of the spider compared to my old camera where I had to be in much closer 2-5 inches to get some nice closeup shots. Compared to some of the northern's I've found, this was a small to slightly medium one. Found a huge one a few years back...abdomen easily the size of my thumbnail.

Last year totally sucked for finding widows.. too much rain with not enough dry days in between. This year looked to be about the same.. yesterday was the first day all summer we had enough dry hot days to insure the spiders would have had enough time to build noticeable webbing beyond the normal interior areas to show me where the nests were. And then of course I am competing with the blue mud dauber wasps which love hunt widows so a lot of times I find a nest to find it's already been raided.
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PHWyvern

That is a awsome northern widow. i have always wanted to find them. i find the westerns out here in cali but have never been able to find them when i go out east. they look so much like the aussie red back.
Any tips?
Bruce
bruceedley@msn.com

>>That is a awsome northern widow. i have always wanted to find them. i find the westerns out here in cali but have never been able to find them when i go out east. they look so much like the aussie red back.
>>Any tips?
>>Bruce
>>bruceedley@msn.com

Northerns don't always keep the dorsal red markings - many lose the color after a while. I have had a few keep it after reaching maturity. This is probably why they earned the 'variolus' part of their name. LOL.

Finding them is hit or miss. They can be locally common or not found at all in various areas. I am lucky to be in an area where the range between northern and southerns actually come together. Where I work - nothing but northerns. Drive 2-3 miles down the road in one direction - nothing but southerns!

Northerns from my experience prefer the outdoors... very rare to find them indoors or in garages, etc. Southerns seem to like human habitation inside as much as they like the outdoors.
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PHWyvern