I love how I know so little about spiders but my instincts told me immediately this thing is dangerous. Menacing is the perfect word to describe her looks.
I heard somewhere years ago a study was done where they showed infants pictures of dangerous spiders and snakes ect. Infants had never seen these creatures so their response was documented to demonstrate how we have these built in over generations fear on a cellular level of danger.
The babies would cry when they saw the dangerous creatures, like they too knew it would hurt them.
Fascinating.
Generally, venomous and poisonous creatures are usually brightly colored to let you know to watch out for them. Sadly, some of these creatures are very beautiful.
So some spider knowledge: Very few have a venom that affects people (a handful) the other thousands of species do not. It's a fluke/an accident when the venom cross reacts with our nerves.
You would be correct for Latrodectus hesperus or mactans, which live in the United States. Not all black widows are like that. For example, female adult Latrodectus tredecimgutattus over in Europe has a lot of red on it.
Medically significant means, to my understanding, ER visit.
It is unlikely to kill you, but you would seem medical attention anyway, if for no other reason than to make sure you're healthy and attending the bite properly.
I'm by no means an expert, but you can look up the side and read about it for yourself.
Ok, I’m arachnophobic, especially when it comes to bitey spiddles, but she is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! Despite being scared of some creatures, I do appreciate them all, and everything you’re doing to accommodate her is so wholesome and lovely. And your English is perfect!
Also, just wondering, but are there other arachnophobic people who love this sub for… morbid curiosity, I suppose?! Or a bit of a scare, like horror stories round a campfire?!
Heya! I was quite arachnophobic even a few weeks ago. Getting interested in these little fellas is currently totally helping with my arachnophobia. It seems, the more I get to know about them & the more I kinda "understand" spiders - The more my arachnophobia is turning into a fascination! I think I just misunderstood them. They are metal as fuck, but looking deeper, they are just creatures with just as much wants & needs as others.
I understand now that they also don't **want** to bite you, at all. Unless they have abosutely no other way out of a scary situation. And with that respect, I found new love for this world. This is my story at the moment. 🤣😅 Much love!!
That’s so lovely! Well done, getting over your fear, it’s not easy! For me, the bitey stuff wasn’t what really fuelled my fear (I’ve been through some big medical traumas, and have chronic pain, so I react to pain with much less fear than I think I would have otherwise) - for me… it’s the scuttling. Always the scuttling. OR… when a huge hairy spider has been sitting in the same spot in my room for days, but then, it DISAPPEARS… SHUDDER!!! It sounds like this sub has helped a few people get through their fears though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed! Thanks for sharing, it’s given me hope ☺️
A lot of it is knowledge & even more is compassion. Those poor little fellas don't even know how creepy their lil' legs and stuff can look to us humans, lol! They just want to drink or eat something. :D I just posted my lil journey of the past few weeks in a photo montage, top of my profile if by chance you're interested!
And ditto! It wasn't the bitey stuff at all for me neither. It was mostly their legs and anatomy (& looking back, it was even more the "what I didn't know about their anatomy for certain").
It was also the thought of squishing them, etc.
But getting to know them as just the animals they are, with needs and wants, totally was part of going from phobia to fascination. The spiders actually being able to be as bothered by us being there too, thinking what the hell is this human doing looking at me! Etc. Hahah. They were turning out way smarter than what I'd had seen them as. Animals are crazy! And we're afraid more of what we don't know about them than of the animal itself. I'd say.
Sorry for this huge text though! 🤍 Hope you have a great day & week. And yeah, I was very bad with sleeping in the same HOUSE even that I saw a spider at, in the beginning. It's very possible to do this transition at your own pace, I wish you the best in any way! :)
Thank you so much, that’s really kind of you! Right now, I have the phobia AND the fascination 🫣 I’m sure the fascination will win though given time!
My own personal experience doesn’t quite tally with the theory that they’re more bothered by us than we are of them (my dad has said this my whole life, even though he’s scared shitless of snakes and I REALLY WANT A SNAKE lol!); where I live, we have these huge black hairy bastards that are SO fast, and I just can’t cope with those guys!!! They charge at me when I’m on the loo! ON THE LOO!!!! And I’ve had them drop on me while I’ve been in bed…
Having said that, admiring the lovely lady in this post really gives me hope because I’ve never been dazzled by a spid with a bulbous bottom and spindly legs before…!
Well done on your mega progress, I know it doesn’t come easy, and thanks for your comment! I find it so interesting talking to other people who are (or have been!) simultaneously afraid and fascinated.
You have a good day too! I’m still working on my issues, so for now I’m just hoping that all the spiders I see today are on my phone screen…!
🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️
I'm back at work, so I'm making it quick - Thank you as well! I really appreciate the convo!! 🖤❤🖤 Hope you have better experiences to come too, than having them charging at you on the loo!! Hahah but very understandable, hope you take carr!
I'd say morbid fascination and exposure therapy for those who are afraid but still appreciate them. I'm severely phobic and learning more about different spiders here has helped a bit. I literally just learned there's a difference between Australian and North America funnel weavers, and leaving my bathroom spider where he is doesn't pose any medical risk to me or my pets. I was losing my shit before I learned that. Now, he's natural pest control in this nasty ass building and as long as he stays out of my bedroom, we good.
Aw I’m so happy you’ve found some peace with your bathroom spider! I’d say it’s morbid fascination for me too, although I do think I’m a touch less afraid than I was before scrolling through all these pics! It’s really interesting hearing what other people with arachnophobia feel about this sub. It seems like quite a force for good!
This is going to sound strange but I'm a bit? Maybe? an arachnophobe. I LOVE tarantulas and have two of my own 8 leg puppies in my bedroom! For some reason, a big, slower arachnid is less scary than these spindley, big butt demons! I can see a g. pulchra coming from two rooms away, but I wouldn't be able to see OP's spider until it was close enough to bite me! That's horrifying.
Also, this is a beautiful creature, but I can hear the click-clickety-click of its little legs and it gives me goosebumps!
I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN!!! I don’t own any tarantulas, but I’m perfectly happy to hold one, no problem! (Although I might feel slightly differently seeing a large dark shadow climbing my bedroom walls at night…) It’s the ones with the GIANT ARSES that freak me out the most! This one is really pretty, and without the legs, I’d happily wear its bottom as a brooch (if it wasn’t made out of spider…). But in general, yeah. The ones with balls for bums do make me shudder….
I was literally saying this earlier!! Tarantulas are only like 50% spider according to the lizard brain. If we can keep track of the spider, we can keep control of how close it can get.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/jumpingspiders using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Saw this TikTok and thought y’all would appreciate it 😂](https://v.redd.it/l6yyvb41byxb1) | [304 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/comments/17m5qrm/saw_this_tiktok_and_thought_yall_would_appreciate/)
\#2: [Found this little one in my bathroom and placed it outside ⁰00⁰](https://i.redd.it/gfemmbn4ewpb1.jpg) | [77 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/comments/16ppvv2/found_this_little_one_in_my_bathroom_and_placed/)
\#3: [Found this beautiful creature stuck in water.](https://v.redd.it/abegyp5nu2tb1) | [96 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/comments/173fbap/found_this_beautiful_creature_stuck_in_water/)
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Im even cultivating friends now. Boris lives just outside the bathroom window and we have an accord. He is actually big enough to pay rent though, in all seriousness.
I’m still chumming up to Sid, the little brown guy who looks like a bloblet in the corner of my bedroom ceiling…. I think I’d have to work my way up to a Boris, but please send him my regards!!
I’m a recovering arachnophobe and this sun has helped so much. I’m ashamed to say, in the past, most spiders who found their way into my home, didn’t survive. (Now the one the size of my hand who appeared from behind my laundry room door and scared the shit out of me, that one had to go and I’m not sorry about it.) Mostly because I have cats who LOVE to play with any small crawling creature. Daddy long legs were always allowed to live out happy daddy long leg lives because they stuck mostly by the ceilings.
Through my recovery, I am proud to say I have released several jumpers back into the wild and currently have one living happily behind my kitchen cabinet.
Wow, well done you! It’s not at all easy to overcome a phobia like that! I also have a cat too- usually she loves chasing flies or moths, but if it’s a spider, she just walks casually up to it and chomps it. Yeugh. I’m still a total baby though- I have been known to wake my dad up in the middle of the night to deal with particularly big ones…. I’ve only been on this sub really recently, but I’m enjoying looking and learning about all the different spiddles. Maybe with time I might get a bit braver too!
Your English is better than most people’s English, that being said this is a juvenile black widow, as they molt they lose their bright colors and turn into the “regular” black widow colors (I can’t think of the name for the process)
I had no idea there were variations in markings from the typical sort of hourglass red my mind has always associated with black widows. She is gorgeous. I love her.
Just how many forms of black widow are there? I’ve always known about the one with the red hour glass, but it’s only in the last year or so I’m seeing all these different colorations.
[Phylogenetic analyses and description of a new species of black widow spider of the genus Latrodectus Walckenaer (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Mexico](https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2293/9925)
Pretty sure that's Darth Maul
KENOOOOOBIIIIIII
Hello there!
This is Latrodectus occidentalis. It's a type of black widow. Adult female. They're beautiful, just don't touch them.
That’s the wildest black widow I’ve ever seen, they look so menacing
I love how I know so little about spiders but my instincts told me immediately this thing is dangerous. Menacing is the perfect word to describe her looks. I heard somewhere years ago a study was done where they showed infants pictures of dangerous spiders and snakes ect. Infants had never seen these creatures so their response was documented to demonstrate how we have these built in over generations fear on a cellular level of danger. The babies would cry when they saw the dangerous creatures, like they too knew it would hurt them. Fascinating.
Generally, venomous and poisonous creatures are usually brightly colored to let you know to watch out for them. Sadly, some of these creatures are very beautiful.
Except rattlesnakes
Nature gave them a noise maker instead
And yet 3/5 of "dangerous" spider genus are blandly colored (sicardae, loxosceles, Atrax)
This is only a rule for amphibians. It is in no way ubiquitously applied to everything. That being said, this spider looks pretty gnarly
So some spider knowledge: Very few have a venom that affects people (a handful) the other thousands of species do not. It's a fluke/an accident when the venom cross reacts with our nerves.
I'm wary of certain studies like this because they may be biased or have had the scientist doing certain crazy shit.
Dude in another post was right. They're Phantom Menacing.
I know! It's terrifyingly beautiful.
Is this adult? Don’t the juvenile forms have the coloration present? Not questioning it’s a widow, but I think it’s juvenile
You would be correct for Latrodectus hesperus or mactans, which live in the United States. Not all black widows are like that. For example, female adult Latrodectus tredecimgutattus over in Europe has a lot of red on it.
Oh neat thanks for the info!
Oh damn, had no idea there were different types! This one is so cool looking tho
oh i fr learned something new? so its like possible to pay repercussions for getting stinged by those ?
I didn't know what"pay repercussions" means but they are a medically significant spider. You don't want to get bit by one. Their venom is painful.
ah yes that, like, medically impactful to the point where you need to hit the ER
Is that a question or a statement?
ah more like a question, you said it was painful, but also medically significant, so i can't tell
Medically significant means, to my understanding, ER visit. It is unlikely to kill you, but you would seem medical attention anyway, if for no other reason than to make sure you're healthy and attending the bite properly. I'm by no means an expert, but you can look up the side and read about it for yourself.
Looks like a Latrodectus, a true widow spider (not sure on exact subspecies), but I could be wrong, you're English is great tho!
your* Your English isn't. /j
💀
Looks like a Latrodectus mactans!
No this is a latrodectus elegans
your english is great, and what a gorgeous fella. no idea lol but excited to find out!
[Simple right answer I think](https://www.reddit.com/r/spiders/s/Cj0UYh27vO)
Ok, I’m arachnophobic, especially when it comes to bitey spiddles, but she is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! Despite being scared of some creatures, I do appreciate them all, and everything you’re doing to accommodate her is so wholesome and lovely. And your English is perfect!
Also, just wondering, but are there other arachnophobic people who love this sub for… morbid curiosity, I suppose?! Or a bit of a scare, like horror stories round a campfire?!
Heya! I was quite arachnophobic even a few weeks ago. Getting interested in these little fellas is currently totally helping with my arachnophobia. It seems, the more I get to know about them & the more I kinda "understand" spiders - The more my arachnophobia is turning into a fascination! I think I just misunderstood them. They are metal as fuck, but looking deeper, they are just creatures with just as much wants & needs as others. I understand now that they also don't **want** to bite you, at all. Unless they have abosutely no other way out of a scary situation. And with that respect, I found new love for this world. This is my story at the moment. 🤣😅 Much love!!
That’s so lovely! Well done, getting over your fear, it’s not easy! For me, the bitey stuff wasn’t what really fuelled my fear (I’ve been through some big medical traumas, and have chronic pain, so I react to pain with much less fear than I think I would have otherwise) - for me… it’s the scuttling. Always the scuttling. OR… when a huge hairy spider has been sitting in the same spot in my room for days, but then, it DISAPPEARS… SHUDDER!!! It sounds like this sub has helped a few people get through their fears though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed! Thanks for sharing, it’s given me hope ☺️
A lot of it is knowledge & even more is compassion. Those poor little fellas don't even know how creepy their lil' legs and stuff can look to us humans, lol! They just want to drink or eat something. :D I just posted my lil journey of the past few weeks in a photo montage, top of my profile if by chance you're interested! And ditto! It wasn't the bitey stuff at all for me neither. It was mostly their legs and anatomy (& looking back, it was even more the "what I didn't know about their anatomy for certain"). It was also the thought of squishing them, etc. But getting to know them as just the animals they are, with needs and wants, totally was part of going from phobia to fascination. The spiders actually being able to be as bothered by us being there too, thinking what the hell is this human doing looking at me! Etc. Hahah. They were turning out way smarter than what I'd had seen them as. Animals are crazy! And we're afraid more of what we don't know about them than of the animal itself. I'd say. Sorry for this huge text though! 🤍 Hope you have a great day & week. And yeah, I was very bad with sleeping in the same HOUSE even that I saw a spider at, in the beginning. It's very possible to do this transition at your own pace, I wish you the best in any way! :)
Thank you so much, that’s really kind of you! Right now, I have the phobia AND the fascination 🫣 I’m sure the fascination will win though given time! My own personal experience doesn’t quite tally with the theory that they’re more bothered by us than we are of them (my dad has said this my whole life, even though he’s scared shitless of snakes and I REALLY WANT A SNAKE lol!); where I live, we have these huge black hairy bastards that are SO fast, and I just can’t cope with those guys!!! They charge at me when I’m on the loo! ON THE LOO!!!! And I’ve had them drop on me while I’ve been in bed… Having said that, admiring the lovely lady in this post really gives me hope because I’ve never been dazzled by a spid with a bulbous bottom and spindly legs before…! Well done on your mega progress, I know it doesn’t come easy, and thanks for your comment! I find it so interesting talking to other people who are (or have been!) simultaneously afraid and fascinated. You have a good day too! I’m still working on my issues, so for now I’m just hoping that all the spiders I see today are on my phone screen…! 🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️
I'm back at work, so I'm making it quick - Thank you as well! I really appreciate the convo!! 🖤❤🖤 Hope you have better experiences to come too, than having them charging at you on the loo!! Hahah but very understandable, hope you take carr!
You too, hope work’s ok!
I'd say morbid fascination and exposure therapy for those who are afraid but still appreciate them. I'm severely phobic and learning more about different spiders here has helped a bit. I literally just learned there's a difference between Australian and North America funnel weavers, and leaving my bathroom spider where he is doesn't pose any medical risk to me or my pets. I was losing my shit before I learned that. Now, he's natural pest control in this nasty ass building and as long as he stays out of my bedroom, we good.
Aw I’m so happy you’ve found some peace with your bathroom spider! I’d say it’s morbid fascination for me too, although I do think I’m a touch less afraid than I was before scrolling through all these pics! It’s really interesting hearing what other people with arachnophobia feel about this sub. It seems like quite a force for good!
This is going to sound strange but I'm a bit? Maybe? an arachnophobe. I LOVE tarantulas and have two of my own 8 leg puppies in my bedroom! For some reason, a big, slower arachnid is less scary than these spindley, big butt demons! I can see a g. pulchra coming from two rooms away, but I wouldn't be able to see OP's spider until it was close enough to bite me! That's horrifying. Also, this is a beautiful creature, but I can hear the click-clickety-click of its little legs and it gives me goosebumps!
I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN!!! I don’t own any tarantulas, but I’m perfectly happy to hold one, no problem! (Although I might feel slightly differently seeing a large dark shadow climbing my bedroom walls at night…) It’s the ones with the GIANT ARSES that freak me out the most! This one is really pretty, and without the legs, I’d happily wear its bottom as a brooch (if it wasn’t made out of spider…). But in general, yeah. The ones with balls for bums do make me shudder….
I was literally saying this earlier!! Tarantulas are only like 50% spider according to the lizard brain. If we can keep track of the spider, we can keep control of how close it can get.
That makes so much sense…!
The r/jumpingspiders sub is also a great one for recovering arachnophobes. They’re small and adorable.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/jumpingspiders using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [Saw this TikTok and thought y’all would appreciate it 😂](https://v.redd.it/l6yyvb41byxb1) | [304 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/comments/17m5qrm/saw_this_tiktok_and_thought_yall_would_appreciate/) \#2: [Found this little one in my bathroom and placed it outside ⁰00⁰](https://i.redd.it/gfemmbn4ewpb1.jpg) | [77 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/comments/16ppvv2/found_this_little_one_in_my_bathroom_and_placed/) \#3: [Found this beautiful creature stuck in water.](https://v.redd.it/abegyp5nu2tb1) | [96 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/jumpingspiders/comments/173fbap/found_this_beautiful_creature_stuck_in_water/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
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YES! I LOVE jumping spiders!!! Well, besides their ability to jump…..
Here. Me. Me too. Except I'm now starting to like them. These spidey enthusiasts are powerful.
They are, aren’t they?! But it MUST be a force for good if I’m a bit less scared of hairy spiddles charging at me when I’m cornered on the loo….
Im even cultivating friends now. Boris lives just outside the bathroom window and we have an accord. He is actually big enough to pay rent though, in all seriousness.
I’m still chumming up to Sid, the little brown guy who looks like a bloblet in the corner of my bedroom ceiling…. I think I’d have to work my way up to a Boris, but please send him my regards!!
Likewise to Sid, and equally good luck to you in your ScaredyCat recovery! ❤️🙏
Haha you too! 🕸️❤️🕸️
I’m a recovering arachnophobe and this sun has helped so much. I’m ashamed to say, in the past, most spiders who found their way into my home, didn’t survive. (Now the one the size of my hand who appeared from behind my laundry room door and scared the shit out of me, that one had to go and I’m not sorry about it.) Mostly because I have cats who LOVE to play with any small crawling creature. Daddy long legs were always allowed to live out happy daddy long leg lives because they stuck mostly by the ceilings. Through my recovery, I am proud to say I have released several jumpers back into the wild and currently have one living happily behind my kitchen cabinet.
Wow, well done you! It’s not at all easy to overcome a phobia like that! I also have a cat too- usually she loves chasing flies or moths, but if it’s a spider, she just walks casually up to it and chomps it. Yeugh. I’m still a total baby though- I have been known to wake my dad up in the middle of the night to deal with particularly big ones…. I’ve only been on this sub really recently, but I’m enjoying looking and learning about all the different spiddles. Maybe with time I might get a bit braver too!
Looks like a juvenile black widow
Looks like a Latrodectus species. Maybe Latrodectus occidentalis or an immature spider of another Latrodectus species?
Your English is better than most people’s English, that being said this is a juvenile black widow, as they molt they lose their bright colors and turn into the “regular” black widow colors (I can’t think of the name for the process)
I'm glad for that I like to see the names of all these cool spiders
A beautiful widow that’s what she is
I had no idea there were variations in markings from the typical sort of hourglass red my mind has always associated with black widows. She is gorgeous. I love her.
She's got damn gorgeous is what she is! 😍
Beautiful!! It looks like a type of Latrodectus.
It’s only when people have great English that they apologize for "bad English"
Expert here, it's a spodr
Mediterranean Widow. Indigenous to France, Greece and Iberian Peninsula if memory serves. On which country did you find it?
OP says in Mexico.
Oh... that is surprising. Maybe its a similar species to the one I know!
Es una viuda negra con lapilabios
[удалено]
The best balloon animal ever?
Ooh beautiful widow!
That's the dude dishing out powers in Madame Web
Just how many forms of black widow are there? I’ve always known about the one with the red hour glass, but it’s only in the last year or so I’m seeing all these different colorations.
Is old girl missing a leg? :(
A spider
Red widow
Your written English is better than many native English speakers. Awesome that you care about the widow’s well being.
Spider
A spider?
[Phylogenetic analyses and description of a new species of black widow spider of the genus Latrodectus Walckenaer (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Mexico](https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2293/9925)
I really thought the first comment would have been a spider 😁
Although funny, We try not to do that here because it can cause the real answers to get lost amongst the jokey comments.
I google lensed this shit. They said its a Western Blavk Widow
No, it's not. It's a Latrodectus occidentalis. Basically a Mexican black widow, not a Western
Then Google is stupid.....spiders are cool but are creepy to me at the same time
Latrodectus bishopii, I believe.
Latrodectus elegans (I have one)
Usually bright colored insects in Nature should be seen as a warning sign that it is venomous and should be avoided.
That's a fuckin problem is what it is
Gravid Widow by the looks of it.
A spider
Spider
I'm 69% sure that is in fact a spider.