AnimalvsAnimal
Latrodectus variolus (Northern Black Widow), F Theridiidae🪲

Photo: Marshal Hedin · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesAraneaeTheridiidae
Arthropods

🪲Latrodectus variolus

Latrodectus variolus Walckenaer, 1837

Latrodectus variolus is een spin uit de familie der kogelspinnen, die inheems is in Canada en de Verenigde Staten, voornamelijk in de staat Ohio en Michigan. De soort, die in het Nederlands wel aangeduid wordt als noordelijke zwarte weduwe, is familie van de beruchte zwarte weduwe en hoeft er niet voor onder te doen. Het neurotoxische gif van de L. variolus is gevaarlijk, maar zal zelden tot de dood lijden, omdat het gif in zeer kleine hoeveelheden wordt geproduceerd. Bij een beet treden zwellingen, spiercontracties en hevige jeuk op. Een tegengif en ook pijnstillers moeten zo snel mogelijk worden toegediend.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
None yet
Photos
3
Measurements
1
Also called
Northern Black Widow
Conservation status
Not evaluated

The IUCN Red List has not assessed Latrodectus variolus yet.

Key measurements
Body mass
not recorded
Body length
0.01 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Latrodectus variolus

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body length
0.01 maverage
Other figures ↓

Species-level value synthesised as the mean of: female.

By sex

  • Female0.01 mWorld Spider Trait DatabasePekar et al. 2021, Database 2021:baab064Lyons et al 2025 trait data; Kaston 1972

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Latrodectus variolus yet: body mass, shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumArthropoda
  3. ›classArachnida
  4. ›orderAraneae
  5. ›familyTheridiidae
  6. ›genusLatrodectus
  7. ›speciesLatrodectus variolus
Full lineage
  1. orderSpiders · Araneae
  2. superfamilyAraneoidea
  3. familyTheridiidae
  4. genusLatrodectus
All 8 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. subphylumChelicerata
  4. orderSpiders · Araneae
  5. suborderAraneomorphae
  6. superfamilyAraneoidea
  7. familyTheridiidae
  8. genusLatrodectus
More

More about the Latrodectus variolus

In other languages
Nördliche Schwarze Witwe (de), Latrodectus variolus (vi), Latrodectus variolus (nl), Latrodectus variolus (fr), Latrodectus variolus (ru), Latrodectus variolus (sv) … and 12 more languages
More photos
Latrodectus variolus (Northern Black Widow), F TheridiidaeNorthern Black Widow Latrodectus variolus, Julie Metz Wetlands, Woodbridge, VirginiaNorthern Black Widow Latrodectus variolus, Woodbridge, Virginia 7005698012
All 3 photos in the gallery →
Videos

No videos of the Latrodectus variolus yet.

We have 44,653 videos so far, and none of them features this animal yet.

All videos →
Tools

Compare the Latrodectus variolus

Pick a tool — the Latrodectus variolus is already selected.

Side by side

Compare every stat with any other animal.

994 animals to compareOpen →
Who's bigger?

Stand them on the same floor and see who's bigger.

Weight not recordedOpen →
Scaling lab

How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.

Not in the sampleOpen →
Tree of life

See where it sits in the tree of life.

8 branchesOpen →