Black widow spider
Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775)
Status not recordedspiders
The black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) is a species in the family Theridiidae, order Araneae. It has been recorded in 32 countries, most often in Mexico, United States and Argentina.
Quick facts about the black widow spider
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Recorded in
- 32 countriessrc for Recorded in
Photos of the black widow spider
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the black widow spider live?
Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF. This shows where the species has been recorded, including zoos and introduced populations. It is not a definitive range.
The black widow spider has been recorded in 32 countries, from 2,759 records.
- None on record
- 1–9
- 10–99
- 100–999
- 1,000+
The same figures as a list, most records first
- Mexico1,521
- United States1,114
- Argentina32
- Dominican Republic29
- Australia8
- Peru6
- El Salvador5
- Brazil4
- St. Barthélemy3
- Spain3
- Venezuela3
- South Africa3
- Colombia2
- Costa Rica2
- Cuba2
- Croatia2
- Haiti2
- Madagascar2
- Namibia2
- Sweden2
- Bahamas1
- Canada1
- Chile1
- Germany1
- Ecuador1
- Georgia1
- Greece1
- Israel1
- Italy1
- New Zealand1
- Philippines1
- Türkiye1
What is the black widow spider?
Latrodectus mactans, known as southern black widow or simply black widow, and the shoe-button spider, is a venomous species of spider in the genus Latrodectus. The females are well known for their distinctive black and red coloring and because they occasionally eat their mates after reproduction. The species is native to North America. The venom can cause pain and other symptoms, but is rarely fatal to healthy humans.
Wikipedia contributors, “Latrodectus mactans”, Wikipedia (revision 1381453744), retrieved 2026-11-11. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; this block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black widow spider endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the black widow spider classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classArachnida
- orderAraneae
- familyTheridiidae
- genusLatrodectus
- SpeciesLatrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms Aranea mactans, Latrodectus agoyangyang, Latrodectus albomaculatus, Latrodectus hahli, Latrodectus insularis, Latrodectus luzonicus, Latrodectus sagittifer, Latrodectus schuchii
Names in other languages (14)
- veuve noireFrench
- Südliche Schwarze WitweGerman
- Viúva-negraPortuguese
- oostelijke zwarte weduweDutch
- svart änkaSwedish
- クロゴケグモJapanese
- 黑寡婦蜘蛛Chinese
- أرملة سوداء جنوبيةArabic
- чёрная вдоваRussian
- Schwarze WitweGerman
- Viuda negraSpanish
- Zwarte weduweDutch
- Viúva negraPortuguese
- Svarta änkanSwedish
GBIFWikidataWikipediaNCBI TaxonomyITISEncyclopedia of LifeiNaturalist
Relatives of the black widow spider
Other species in the same class Arachnida.
Emperor scorpion
Pandinus imperator
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
Where does the black widow spider live?
The black widow spider has openly licensed sighting records from 32 countries on GBIF. The most records come from Mexico, United States, Argentina, Dominican Republic and Australia. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.
What kind of animal is the black widow spider?
The black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) belongs to the family Theridiidae in the order Araneae.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · live API 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata, the free knowledge base. - GBIF occurrence aggregates (CC0 and CC BY records only) · CC BY 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
GBIF.org occurrence search, country facet counts restricted to CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 records. - Wikimedia Commons · Per file · live API 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Licence and creator recorded per file. - English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-widow-spider
“Black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-widow-spider.
@misc{black_widow_spider_2026,
title = {Black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-widow-spider},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}