Taxon details


Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775)

  • Rank: Species
  • Status: accepted
  • Described: m f
  • Last updated: 2021-11-12
  • LSID: [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:007816]
  • Distribution: Probably native to North America only. Introduced to South America, Asia
Type deposit provide information
  • Holotype: ; Aranea mactans Fabricius, 1775 - type material probably lost or destroyed (Zimsen, 1964)
  • Syntype: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB), Germany; ff (4080, 8434, 29145–49) of Latrodectus hahli (Levi, 1959c)
  • Syntype: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB), Germany; ff (11434, 11434a) of Latrodectus insularis (Levi, 1959c)
  • Syntype: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB), Germany; ff (11435) of Latrodectus insularis lunulifer (Levi, 1959c)
  • Syntype: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB), Germany; ff (3835, 3835a–c) of Latrodectus luzonicus (Levi, 1959c)
  • Syntype: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB), Germany; ff (2473, 2473a) of Latrodectus sagittifer (Levi, 1959c)
Taxonomic references
Aranea mactans Fabricius, 1775: 432 (D).
Aranea mactans Fabricius, 1793: 410 (D).
Latrodectus mactans Walckenaer, 1805: 82 (T from Aranea).
Meta schuchii C. L. Koch, 1836a: 10, f. 167 (Df; N.B.: see Schmidt, Piepho & Samm, 2001: 1 for comments on this taxon).
Latrodectus formidabilis Walckenaer, 1837: 647 (Df).
Latrodectus perfidus Walckenaer, 1837: 647 (Df).
Latrodectus mactans Walckenaer, 1837: 648 (Df).
Latrodectus intersector Walckenaer, 1837: 649 (Df).
Latrodectus schuchii C. L. Koch, 1837b: 7, pl. 1, f. 14 (f).
Tetragnatha zorilla Walckenaer, 1841: 221, pl. 19, f. 2 (Dm).
Latrodectus mactans C. L. Koch, 1841a: 115, f. 682 (f).
Theridion verecundum Hentz, 1850: 280, pl. 10, f. 1-2 (Dmf).
Theridion lineatum Hentz, 1850: 281, pl. 10, f. 3 (Dm; preoccupied).
Latrodectus malmignatus tropica van Hasselt, 1860: 62, pl. 5, f. 1-6 (Df).
Theridion carolinum Butler, 1877: 75, pl. 13, f. 3 (Df).
Theridion lineamentum McCook, 1879b: 203 (replacement name for Theridion lineatum Hentz).
Latrodectus mactans Keyserling, 1884a: 145, pl. 7, f. 91 (Dm).
Latrodectus mactans McCook, 1889: 274, f. 250-252 (mf).
Lathrodectus mactans Tullgren, 1901a: 6, pl. 1, f. 2 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Emerton, 1902: 123, f. 288, 291 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902a: 378, pl. 35, f. 19-20 (mf).
Latrodectus insularis Dahl, 1902a: 41 (Df).
Latrodectus insularis lunulifer Dahl, 1902a: 41 (Df).
Latrodectus sagittifer Dahl, 1902a: 42 (Df).
Latrodectus hahli Dahl, 1902a: 44 (Df).
Latrodectus luzonicus Dahl, 1902a: 44 (Df).
Latrodectus mactans F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902c: 253, pl. 27, f. 2.
Latrodectus mactans Carbonell, 1923a: 351, f. 2.
Latrodectus mactans Petrunkevitch, 1925a: 103, f. 10 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Brazil & Vellard, 1926: 266, pl. 22, unnumbered fig. (f).
Latrodectus albomaculatus Franganillo, 1930: 11 (Dj).
Latrodectus mactans Petrunkevitch, 1930a: 172, f. 10-13 (mf).
Latrodectus agoyangyang Plantilla & Mabalay, 1935: 188, f. 1 (Dmf) [rather S of L. hasselti].
Latrodectus mactans Franganillo, 1936b: 81, f. 41-42 (m).
Latrodectus mactans albomaculatus Franganillo, 1936b: 81 (Df, reduced to subspecies).
Latrodectus mactans Franganillo, 1936c: 57, f. 24-25 (m).
Latrodectus mactans mexicanus Gonzalez, 1954: 455, f. 1 (Dmf).
Latrodectus mactans Levi, 1959c: 24, f. 1, 5-7, 15, 19-21, 53-67, 72-79 (mf, S).
Latrodectus mactans Carcavallo, 1960: 91, f. 1, 5, 8 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Wiehle, 1960c: 466, f. 11a-c (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Levi & Levi, 1962: 59, f. 254 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Gerschman & Schiapelli, 1965c: 58, f. 1-7, 9, 12-16 (mf, in part, S).
Latrodectus mactans Wiehle, 1967c: 200, f. 14-16 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Levi, 1967c: 185, f. 60-62 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Zumpt, 1968: 385, f. 3 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Kaston, 1970: 37, f. 2, 12, 13a-d, g, i, k (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Bücherl, 1972: 19, f. 10b (f).
Latrodectus mactans Canese, 1972b: 87, f. II, IV (f).
Latrodectus mactans Levi & Randolph, 1975: 39, f. 6-8 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Abalos, 1980: 31, f. 14-16 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Roth, 1982: 47-8, f. 6-8 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Roth, 1985: B43-7, f. 6-8 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Coddington, 1990: 17, f. 87 (m).
Latrodectus mactans Schmidt & Klaas, 1991: 9, f. 3 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Breene et al., 1993: 57, f. 23A-B, 24A-B (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Roth, 1994: 181, f. 7-8 (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Barrion & Litsinger, 1995: 457, f. 276a-f (f).
Latrodectus mactans Kim, 1999b: 23, f. 13-15 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Kim, Cho & Lee, 2003: 83, f. 13-15 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Agnarsson, 2004: 569, f. 54D-E (m).
Latrodectus mactans Jäger, 2009: 35, f. 1-2 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Gómez-Rodríguez & Salazar, 2012: 3, f. I.9A-B (mf).
Latrodectus mactans Macas-Pogo & Astudillo, 2019: 61, f. 3-6 (f).
Latrodectus mactans Vanuytven, 2021: 27, 176, f. A.13d, B.166 (m).
Latrodectus mactans Cabrera-Espinosa & Valdez-Mondragón, 2021: 4, f. 8-10, 17, 21-23, 30-33 (mf).
References

Abalos, J. W. (1980). Las arañas del género Latrodectus en la Argentina. Obra del Centenário del Museu de La Plata 6: 29-51. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Agnarsson, I. (2004). Morphological phylogeny of cobweb spiders and their relatives (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 141(4): 447-626. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00120.x download pdf -- Show included taxa

Barrion, A. T. & Litsinger, J. A. (1995). Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia. CAB International, Wallingford, UK, 700 pp., 16 pls. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Brazil, V. & Vellard, J. (1926). Contribuição ao estudo do veneno das aranhas (continuação) (segunda memoria) Lycosa raptoriaCtenus nigriventer–genero Latrodectus–genero GrammostolaLasiodora curtior e Acanthoscuria sternalis. Memórias do Instituto Butantan 3: 243-299, Pl. 12-22. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Breene, R. G., Dean, D. A., Nyffeler, M. & Edwards, G. B. (1993). Biology, Predation Ecology, and Significance of Spiders in Texas Cotton Ecosystems with a Key to Species. Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, College Station, 115 pp. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Bücherl, W. (1972). Invertebrados as Aranhas. São Paulo, Edart, 158 pp. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Butler, A. G. (1877). Myriopoda and Arachnida. In: Günther, A. (ed.). Account of the zoological collection made during the visit of H. M. S. "Peterel" to the Galapagos Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 45(1): 75-77, Pl. XIII. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Cabrera-Espinosa, L. A. & Valdez-Mondragón, A. (2021). Distribución y modelaje de nicho ecológico, comentarios biogeográficos y taxonómicos del género de arañas Latrodectus (Araneae: Theridiidae) de México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 92(e923665): 1-20. doi:10.22201/ib.20078706e.2021.92.3665 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Canese, A. (1972b). Latrodectus mactans: variaciones del dibujo y del color. Revista Paraguaya de Microbiología 7: 87-89. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Carbonell, J. (1923a). Algunos datos sobre las arañas del género Latrodectus que se hallan en la Argentina. Physis 6: 350-353. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Carcavallo, R. U. (1960). Una nueva Latrodectus y consideraciones sobre las especies del género en la Republica Argentina (Arach. Theridiidae). Neotropica 5: 85-94. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Coddington, J. A. (1990). Ontogeny and homology in the male palpus of orb-weaving spiders and their relatives, with comments on phylogeny (Araneoclada: Araneoidea, Deinopoidea). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 496: 1-52. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Dahl, F. (1902a). Über abgebrochene Copulationsorgane männlicher Spinnen im Körper der Weibchen. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1902: 36-45. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Emerton, J. H. (1902). The common spiders of the United States. Boston, 225 pp. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.5617 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Fabricius, J. C. (1775). Systema entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis, synonymis, locis descriptionibus observationibus. Libraria Kortii, Flensbvrgi et Lipsiae [= Kortensche Buchhandlung, Flensburg & Leipzig], 832 pp. (Araneae, pp. 431-441). doi:10.5962/bhl.title.36510 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Fabricius, J. C. (1793). Entomologiae systematica emendata et aucta, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species adjectis synonimis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus. Tom. II. Christian Gottlieb Proft, Hafniae [= Copenhagen], 519 pp. [Aranea pp. 407-428]. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.122153 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Franganillo B., P. (1930). Arácnidos de Cuba: Mas arácnidos nuevos de la Isla de Cuba. Memorias del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas 1: 47-99. [reprinted separately, pp. 1-55; only reprint seen and cited] download pdf -- Show included taxa

Franganillo B., P. (1936b). Arácnidos recogidos durante el verano de 1934 (Prosigue). Revista Belen 1936(57-58): 75-82. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Franganillo B., P. (1936c). Los arácnidos de Cuba hasta 1936. Cultural, La Habana, 183 pp. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Gerschman de P., B. S. & Schiapelli, R. D. (1965c). El género Latrodectus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Theridiidae) en la Argentina. Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina 27: 51-59. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Gómez-Rodríguez, J. F. & Salazar O., C. A. (2012). Arañas de la región montañosa de Miquihuana, Tamaulipas: listado faunístico y registros nuevos. Dugesiana 19: 1-7. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Gonzalez T., L. (1954). Latrodectus mactans mexicanus subsp. nov. Anales del Instituto Biológico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 24: 455-457. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Hasselt, A. W. M. van (1860). Studien over de z. g. curaçaosche Orange-Spin, eene nog weinig bekende Latrodectus-soort. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie (3) 16: 46-66. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Hentz, N. M. (1850). Descriptions and figures of the araneides of the United States. Boston Journal of Natural History 6: 18-35, 271-295. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Jäger, P. (2009). Latrodectus mactans nach Deutschland eingeschleppt (Araneae: Theridiidae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 37: 35-38. doi:10.5431/aramit3707 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Kaston, B. J. (1970). Comparative biology of American black widow spiders. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 16: 33-82. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Keyserling, E. (1884a). Die Spinnen Amerikas II. Theridiidae. Bauer & Raspe, Nürnberg 1, 1-222. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.64832 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Kim, J. P. (1999b). Study of poisonous spiders from China. Korean Arachnology 15(1): 19-26. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Kim, J. P., Cho, Y. J. & Lee, Y. B. (2003). A list of venomous spiders of the world. Korean Arachnology 19: 75-88. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Koch, C. L. (1836a). Die Arachniden. Dritter Band. C. H. Zeh'sche Buchhandlung, Nürnberg, pp. 1-104, pl. 73-105 (f. 164-245). [for the correct year of publication see Brignoli, 1985b] doi:10.5962/bhl.title.43744 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Koch, C. L. (1837b). Übersicht des Arachnidensystems. Heft 1. C. H. Zeh'sche Buchhandlung, Nürnberg, 39 pp., pl. 1-6. [for the detailled publishing date see Nagel & Grieder, 2019: 47] doi:10.5962/bhl.title.39561 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Koch, C. L. (1841a). Die Arachniden. C. H. Zeh'sche Buchhandlung, Nürnberg, Achter Band, pp. 41-131, pl. 265-288 (f. 621-694); Neunter Band, pp. 1-56, pl. 289-306 (f. 695-726). [for the correct year of publication see Brignoli, 1985b] doi:10.5962/bhl.title.43744 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Levi, H. W. (1959c). The spider genus Latrodectus (Araneae, Theridiidae). Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 78(1): 7-43. doi:10.2307/3223799 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Levi, H. W. & Levi, L. R. (1962). The genera of the spider family Theridiidae. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 127: 1-71. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Levi, H. W. (1967c). Cosmopolitan and pantropical species of theridiid spiders (Araneae: Theridiidae). Pacific Insects 9: 175-186. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Levi, H. W. & Randolph, D. E. (1975). A key and checklist of American spiders of the family Theridiidae north of Mexico (Araneae). Journal of Arachnology 3: 31-51. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Macas-Pogo, P. & Astudillo, M. D. (2019). Registro de Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius, 1775) (Araneae: Theridiidae) en Chingazo Alto, provincia de Chimborazo, Ecuador. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 35: 61-62. download pdf -- Show included taxa

McCook, H. C. (1879b). A monograph of the habits, architecture and structure of Pogonomyrmex barbatus. In: The Natural History of the Agricultural Ant of Texas. Philadelphia, 311 pp. (Araneae, p. 203). download pdf -- Show included taxa

McCook, H. C. (1889). American spiders and their spinningwork. Philadelphia 1, 1-373. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Petrunkevitch, A. (1925a). Arachnida from Panama. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 27: 51-248. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Petrunkevitch, A. (1930a). The spiders of Porto Rico. Part two. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 30: 159-356. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Pickard-Cambridge, F. O. (1902a). Arachnida - Araneida and Opiliones. In: Biologia Centrali-Americana, Zoology. London 2, 313-424. [for the exact dates see Lyal, 2011] download pdf -- Show included taxa

Pickard-Cambridge, F. O. (1902c). On the spiders of the genus Latrodectus, Walckenaer. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 72(I, 1): 247-261, pl. 26-27. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Plantilla, F. C. & Mabalay, E. (1935). Latrodectus agoyanyang, preliminary notes on the entomological, clinical and experimental studies. Monthly Bulletin of the Philippine Health Service 15(6): 187-197, 1 pl.. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Roth, V. D. (1982). Handbook for spider identification. Published by the author, Portal, Arizona, 128 pp. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Roth, V. D. (1985). Spider genera of North America. American Arachnological Society, Gainesville. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Roth, V. D. (1994). Spider Genera of North America, with Keys to Families and Genera, and a Guide to Literature, third edition. American Arachnological Society, Gainesville, 203 pp. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Schmidt, G. & Klaas, P. (1991). Eine neue Latrodectus-Spezies aus Sri Lanka (Araneida: Theridiidae). Arachnologischer Anzeiger 14: 6-9. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Tullgren, A. (1901a). On the spiders collected in Florida by Dr. Einar Lönnberg 1892–93. Bihang till Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 27(IV, 1): 1-29, 1 pl. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Vanuytven, H. (2021). The Theridiidae of the World. A key to the genera with their diagnosis and a study of the body length of all known species. Newsletter of the Belgian arachnological Society 35(Supplement): 1-363. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Walckenaer, C. A. (1837). Histoire naturelle des insectes. Aptères. Tome premier. Roret, Paris, 682 pp., pl. 1-15. [plates in second pdf] doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61095 download pdf download pdf -- Show included taxa

Walckenaer, C. A. (1841). Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Tome deuxième. Roret, Paris, 549 pp., pl. 16-22. [not published in 1837, see pp. 430, 452, 505; plates in second pdf of Walckenaer, 1837] doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61095 download pdf -- Show included taxa

Walckenaer, C. A. (1805). Tableau des aranéides ou caractères essentiels des tribus, genres, familles et races que renferme le genre Aranea de Linné, avec la désignation des espèces comprises dans chacune de ces divisions. Dentu, Paris, 88 pp. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Wiehle, H. (1960c). Der Embolus des männlichen Spinnentasters. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft 1960: 457-480. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Wiehle, H. (1967c). Steckengebliebene Emboli in den Vulven von Spinnen (Arach., Araneae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 48: 197-202. download pdf -- Show included taxa

Zumpt, F. (1968). Latrodectism in South Africa. South African Medical Journal 42: 385-390. download pdf -- Show included taxa

External Resource References

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As External Resources, the World Spider Catalog links here to species pages of other databases. They may contain further information for the given species. The databases, listed as External Resources, however, are not managed by World Spider Catalog and the information given there is not necessarily in agreement with the World Spider Catalog. All responsibility for such data is with the external database.

GBIF.org (2019). GBIF Home Page (via GBIF API). Available from: https://www.gbif.org [1 September 2019]

Nentwig, W., Blick, T., Bosmans, R., Gloor, D., Hänggi, A., Kropf, C.: Spiders of Europe. www.araneae.nmbe.ch. Version 05.2018. doi: 10.24436/1

Edit history
Date Type Reference Detail
2021-11-12 New taxonomic reference entry Cabrera-Espinosa & Valdez-Mondragón, 2021 n/a
2021-02-15 New taxonomic reference entry Vanuytven, 2021 n/a
2019-12-31 New taxonomic reference entry Macas-Pogo & Astudillo, 2019 n/a
2016-09-19 New taxonomic reference entry Brazil & Vellard, 1926 n/a