After reaching adulthood, the brown widow spiders mate. The female will often kill the male — a common practice among widow spiders, and how they got their name. Male brown widow spiders live ...

Young females are more fertile and easy to woo; older females often mate and then eat the male alive. No wonder they’re called widow spiders. To get sex with an older female, a male might fight ...

The brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) is a lesser-known relative of the infamous black widow. The first brown widow spider was discovered in Los Angeles in early 2000. A member of the ...

It is worth noting, however, that male black widows only live for ... 12 months to grow to full maturity. Unlike the brown recluse, black widow spiders lay their eggs in summer.

The rest of the female black widow spider is typically shiny black or dark brown in appearance. The male black widow spider ...

The animals most at risk from the black widow's bite are insects—and male black widow spiders. Females sometimes kill and eat their counterparts after mating in a macabre behavior that gave the ...

The redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) is one of Australia's most iconic arachnids. It's a member of the widow spider family, closely related to the black widow spider. They're famous for their ...

The first brown widow spider was discovered in Los Angeles in early 2000. A member of the cobweb spiders, it is now found in warm, urban areas worldwide. Although their bites are rare and less severe ...