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<blockquote data-quote="Bob Blaylock" data-source="post: 578973" data-attributes="member: 16749">I've got a response from the author of the <a href="http://cisr.ucr.edu/identifying_brown_widow_spiders.html" target="_blank">How to identify (and misidentify) Brown Widow</a> page:This specimen is really undernourished which makes ID difficult, but I would say you are correct that this is an immature western black widow (who is in need of a good meal).&nbsp; Besides the continuous stripe on the anterior portion of the abdomen, the hourglass is top heavy and with crisp margins which is indicative of a western black widow.&nbsp; People often used the black and tan leg coloration to assume that this is a brown widow but that trait is not diagnostic as both brown widows and immature western black widows display that coloration at some point in their existence.&nbsp; Also, another aspect although I would not call it diagnostic is that I don’t ever see that vivid of a red stripe on a brown widow.&nbsp; Usually the best they can offer is a vivid orange longitudinal abdominal stripe.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bob Blaylock, post: 578973, member: 16749"] I've got a response from the author of the [url=http://cisr.ucr.edu/identifying_brown_widow_spiders.html]How to identify (and misidentify) Brown Widow[/url] page: [indent][i]This specimen is really undernourished which makes ID difficult, but I would say you are correct that this is an immature western black widow (who is in need of a good meal). Besides the continuous stripe on the anterior portion of the abdomen, the hourglass is top heavy and with crisp margins which is indicative of a western black widow. People often used the black and tan leg coloration to assume that this is a brown widow but that trait is not diagnostic as both brown widows and immature western black widows display that coloration at some point in their existence. Also, another aspect although I would not call it diagnostic is that I don’t ever see that vivid of a red stripe on a brown widow. Usually the best they can offer is a vivid orange longitudinal abdominal stripe.[/i][/indent] [/QUOTE]

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