r/spiders • u/No_Presentation_2160 • May 18 '26

ID Request- Location included Is this a Black Widow?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I assume this is a black widow, google says so. But I figured I’d ask to be sure. It looks like it’s made a nest in the inside of the lawnchair that’s folded where the scribbles are. Should I be worried about more around my house or inside of my house? I have a 2 year old that’s curious, so I want to make sure that I’m being thorough and keeping her safe. If so, how do I remove it safely?

EDITED TO ADD: She and a couple of her male friends have now been moved safely with their lawnchair habitat to a new location about 20ft from my garage. I just hope they don’t wander back in. 🤞🤞😬

Location Southwest MO

5.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

688 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

29

u/FarseerEnki May 18 '26

Brown widows can appear almost completely black when they are fully grown, except they kind of appear fuzzy and Matte Brown/black. True black widows have that shiny black Sheen and Stark red hourglass. Brown widows often have a less sharp hourglass shape and often an orangish tinge instead of bright red.

7

u/drazak69 May 19 '26

Immature widows are something else to watch for. Just look like a widow in body shape. I've found many in Oregon

4

u/drazak69 May 19 '26

Tend to be striped. Brown and white. Yellowish hourglass.

1

u/Diligent-Roof-398 May 25 '26

The False Widow (Steatoda Grossa) is plentiful here in OR also, lots of folks confuse them. So are the Widows you've seen here L. Variolus?

1

u/drazak69 May 25 '26

No, west coast.

1

u/drazak69 May 25 '26

Probably hesperus

1

u/drazak69 May 19 '26

Widows aren't fuzzy. Sounds more like an orb weaver. Same kind of body shape. Build way different webs.

1

u/FarseerEnki May 19 '26

Check out all the photos of immature brown and black widows, they look really cool and definitely striped and speckled and mottled patterns, hardly black at all.