12/19/2025
Location: San Diego, California, USA
I caught this young female brown widow in our patio, back in early September 2025. About a week later I was sitting outside, and I looked down and there was a barely alive grasshopper at my feet. If it had been healthy it would have been dangerous food for her - but it was barely moving, so I dropped it in.
She went for it immediately! She fed on it almost continuously for about 2 days, and I could practically see her abdomen getting bigger while I watched.
She's way bigger now, and her abdomen is jet black, and the bands on her legs have faded considerably. But in these videos you can see that the bands are quite striking, and her abdomen has a brownish hue.
I made a time lapse of her feeding on it - which turned out pretty cool.
Here are some interesting Spider Facts about brown widows:
Brown widows are Latrodectus geometricus—a true widow, same genus as black widows.
Western black widows are Latrodectus hesperus.
Key ID clues:
Brown widows have spiky egg sacs, whereas black widows have smooth ones. That's the easiest way to tell for sure.
Juvenile brown widows often have a mottled tan/brown coloration, and (sometimes brightly) banded legs. As they mature, the banding tends to fade, and the body usually turns black. I have yet to see an adult brown widow in this area that was actually brown. They have an orange-ish hourglass that’s usually less crisp than the classic red one.
Adult female black widows, by contrast, are typically glossy jet black with a cleaner red hourglass.
Country of Origin: Thought to be Africa or South Africa
Brown widows are often labeled “invasive,” but that term mostly means non-native and widely spread via human transport; it doesn’t automatically imply ecological devastation.
In practice, they’re especially synanthropic—they thrive around human structures—so people see them more, particularly in urban/suburban areas.
Medically, their venom is similar in type to black widows, but bites are usually milder and far less often significant. Not harmless, but generally less risky.
Spider Facts
