"False Widow" Breeding
Like 1 Dislike 0 Published on 30 Jul 2013
The theridiid spider Steatoda paykulliana has a body length of about 1.3 cm in the females. The female is an impressive big spider with a mostly black body and just a few yellow-red signs on the back side. These are morphological characters, which S. paykulliana shares with the famous and feared black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus).
Although both spiders belong to the Theridiidae, this similiar habitus evolved independently (= convergently).
Both species live in similar habitats, which are arid grasslands in Southern Europe.
They also appear in the same geographic areas.
In this case, the false widow was discovered during a biological excursion through Istria/ Croatia.
It was hidden under a bigger stone and had several globular silken egg-containers and many spiderlings around. Some aspects of the breeding behavior were documented for this short film.
As the real black widow, the false widow has an effective poison. But it obviously cannot harm humans in the same intensity as Latrodectus.