Habitat
The Latrodectus sp., or Black Widow Spider, is found in a wide variety of places around the United States. They can be found on the east coast as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Florida. Black Widow Spiders can also be found as far west as California. They are also abundant in all four of the United States’ major deserts: The Great Basin desert, the Mojave desert, the Sonoran desert, and the Chihuahuan desert. Latrodectus sp. can also be found in countries other than the United States including Canada, Mexico, the West Indies, and many countries in South America. Within this wide variety of regions, the black widow spider lives in four main biomes. These biomes are temperate forest, tropical rainforest, temperate grassland, and desert biomes.
Black Widow Spiders make their own habitat because they make a web. They also live in closed off spaces. Members of the Latrodectus sp. prefer to make their homes in dark, sheltered spots that are close to the ground. Many times their webs are found underneath logs or stones, in holes, and in abandoned animal burrows. Black Widow Spiders will also make their homes in low human traffic manmade spaces like in barns and around stacked material. They rarely make their way into human homes. Common places that these spiders are found are littered areas like garbage dumps, garages, and storage sheds. The Black Widow Spider will often have a closed off hole or area as their home and have a web made directly outside of for the use of catching prey. When the prey is captured, they retreat back into the more sheltered home.
Figure 1. Black widow spider in natural environment.