Latrodectus geometricus

Latrodectus geometricus
Female from South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Latrodectus
Species:
L. geometricus
Binomial name
Latrodectus geometricus
Koch, 1841
Synonyms
  • Theridium zickzack Karsch, 1878
  • Theridion zickzack O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904
  • Latrodectus concinnus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904
  • Chacoca distincta Badcock, 1932
  • Latrodectus distinctus Levy & Amitai, 1983
  • Latrodectus geometoricus Yoshida, 2003

Latrodectus geometricus, commonly known as the brown widow, brown button spider, grey widow, brown black widow, house button spider or geometric button spider, is one of the widow spiders in the genus Latrodectus. As such, it is a 'cousin' to the more infamous Latrodectus mactans (black widow).

L. geometricus has black and white patterns on the sides of its abdomen as well as an orange-yellow colored hourglass shape marking. Their eggs are easily identified by points that project from all over the egg sacs. L. geometricus are found all over the world, but are believed to originate in Africa or South America. Their bites, though painful, are not considered to be dangerous.