Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:07 pm Post subject: SCABIES Range Study: Latrodectus geometricus
i changed the title a little bit and stickified this
andrew
So, today I found a nice healthy female geo in my back yard. It occurred to me that the is no real knowledge of it's range in SoCal. So I think it would be a good idea for all of us SCABIES to chart the locations that we observe them in around southern California and beyond.
Logs should include:
Location
Maturity/size
Habitat
Date/time
Last edited by What on Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Location: Aliso Viejo, CA near intersection of Aliso Creek rd. and Glenwood dr.
Maturity: Adult female with two egg sacs.
Habitat: Brick wall
Date: 8:00pm 8-17-07
Hey What - that sounds cool. Are those the ones with the spikey egg sacs? i am only just starting to appreciate all the different widow type spiders there really are. Last night Kassie, my brother and i caught a really interesting one. She was insane crazy too! i'll post pics later today in its own thread. Also took pics of widow we didn't try to catch. May have been Latrodectus geometricus but to be honest i need to search the boards/internet for more information on them so i know what i'm looking for. Do you already know of any links to good pics? If not, don't worry about it - i want to see what i can find out about them online. Whatever this one widow was last night, it was the most common thing we found out there - even in the spots that used to guarantee a L. hesperus.
Thanks for the pics!! That is actually like the one we caught and brought home!! Now we know what she is but still don't have a clue what those other brown widow body-type looking spiders were that were EVERYWHERE! i will try to post pics and details of our geo find later tonight. Very cool. This is actually the first time i remember seeing a spider like this.
i am just learning about true spiders so i hope i am right about this. i *think* this is a L. geometricus. i included a couple pics so you guys could check. She has the typical orange hourglass but not any actual orange on the top of her abdomen. i just have a crappy point and shoot camera so this is the best i could do. If it isn't a geo does anyone know what it is?
Location: Irvine (neighbors backyard - we went hunting while she was out of town - hehe!!)
Maturity/Size: Maybe you can get an idea by the pic with the dime. She was INSANE and didn't hold still very long at all.
Habitat: Found her between A/C unit and bush.
Date/Time: Friday, 08/17 11:30pm
Well, sometime between last night and this morning the Geo we caught last Friday night made a typical spikey egg sac. i guess i would know it was a Geo for certain if i hadn't figured it out by now.
Well, sometime between last night and this morning the Geo we caught last Friday night made a typical spikey egg sac. i guess i would know it was a Geo for certain if i hadn't figured it out by now.
No need for a sac to ID that one. Classic geo dorsal markings, hr glass and color around the spinnerets... all clear characteristics of geometricus.
I have not come across one in LA ...yet. Seems that they are moving north at a good pace and I bet Ill find one in my yard in a year or two.
i'm staying over at a pet-sitting job tonight. The outside of this house is always crawling in widows. i took a very quick survey with a flash light. i honestly didn't look every where or even that good because i was tired and there are SO many it gives me the heeby-jeebys (sp?) Anyway, this is what i found taking a quick peak with a flashlight tonight.
L. hesperus = 15
S. grossa = 1
L. geometricus = 35-40
This is NO exageration. i wish somebody from SCABIES lived close enough to see this. This place is crawling with them. In fact, i now remember seeing the Geo's here in the past but to be honest just thought they were different molting stages of the L. hesperus. Duh! i guess i've learned a little since then. i wish i had my camera but have another job to stay here scheduled soon.
Location : Santa Ana
Maturity/size : LOTS of females - males? (didn't look close enough at anything)
Habitat: Lots along side a lot of brick work both front and back yards, side of house, next to shrubs/bushes, out in open dirt - not sure what they anchored their webs to/from. There were so many, they aren't all that far away from one another - mixed in with other widows. Basically, EVERYWHERE!! There are TONS of crickets in both the front and back yards of this place - literally jumping everywhere. i'm sure it provides more than ample food for crazy reproduction and supporting large numbers of widows in close proximity. i also saw 3 roaches out front for the first time since i've been staying here on and off the past couple years.
Date/time: 8-21-07 @ 11pm
The night prior to the Bar-Bug-Q I took inventory just in case I got jacked,,,,,::lol::,,.......nah, I counted them for the heck of it and found 16 black widows (males and females) and 1 brown. Dont know how many of those widows were actually falsies because I did just a quick walk-by count. You guys saw my yard so you know its average and I didnt really do a more precise count. Theyre all over the place ,, I tell ya!
(But then again,,,,theyre in a spider sanctuary protected by a 12 ga shotgun, a BB Gun , a sling shot, a pomeranian, and a rat terrier)
The Brown Widow is so rare to the Los Angeles area that this is the first one out of 3,000 spiders so far to be collected as part of the Museum’s Spider Survey. The survey began last Spring to discover which types of spiders are found in the greater Los Angeles basin. "This is the most unusual specimen we’ve found through the survey so far," Brown said.
Interesting article. It's so hard to believe they are that uncommon right next to Orange County where they have invaded like an army. Is that article fairly accurate as far as you know? i was just curious because everything i had read about the Geo so far said they were from Florida before and didn't mention them coming from Africa before that. This article didn't mention Florida. i was also curious if they were truly thought to be twice as venomous as the L. hesperus? i know they definately 'play possom' as that article mentioned. Ours sure did!!
Anyway, our Geo now has 3 egg sacs. We are planning to collect maybe one more when i return to that Santa Ana pet sitting job in September. There were some HUGE ones when i was there earlier this month.
Thanks Steven!!
<edit> Hey Steven, i just read your other post about the widows you gave my brother. So ya, now i know they do come from Africa. i guess that makes them OW widows!! ::lol:: In that case i wouldn't be surprised if they were in fact twice as venomous as our native L. hesperus.
Interesting article. It's so hard to believe they are that uncommon right next to Orange County where they have invaded like an army. Is that article fairly accurate as far as you know? i was just curious because everything i had read about the Geo so far said they were from Florida before and didn't mention them coming from Africa before that. This article didn't mention Florida. i was also curious if they were truly thought to be twice as venomous as the L. hesperus? i know they definately 'play possom' as that article mentioned. Ours sure did!!
Actually before that discovery in 2003, no geos were reported ...probably in the entire state. They spread like wildfire.
I would suspect one could go back in time and find geos around shipping ports ...from there they spread inland.
Quote:
Hey Steven, i just read your other post about the widows you gave my brother. So ya, now i know they do come from Africa. i guess that makes them OW widows!! ::lol:: In that case i wouldn't be surprised if they were in fact twice as venomous as our native L. hesperus.
I have read they have a strong venom, but cause very little if any problems with humans. ...just another spider bite or maybe a bee sting sort of deal.
Location: San Diego CA / maintenance closet @ local school campus near Balboa Park, specimen noticed about 14" from my arm after opening
Maturity/size: adult fem appx 2.76" est. length
Habitat: usually dark & quite warm in day time
Date/time mid May 2007 about 4:30PM
I noticed another one at different location, spiky egg cocoon was unmistakable as were markings. Oddly, cocoons from L. hesperus were noticed in the same web. About 99% sure that adult fem. hesperus was sharing the web retreat with the geo. Had no idea they could or would cohabit like that!
My brother works at an ACE Hardware in Irvine. The place is infested with Geo's. The owner freaked out and called out Orkin Pest Control. My brother tried to tell them that they've probably been there for some time and don't bother anyone but they weren't taking any chances. Orkin came out today to spray the place. The pest control lady, also named Julie, was completely stumped. She says she has never seen Geo's and hadn't even heard about them. She called her office and they had her collect some live ones!! How funny is that?!?! (Well, not the spraying part of course but the fact that the pest control people were so freaked out!!)
Our Geo from our neighbors backyard has 3 egg sacs with her now. The big girl from Steven is doing well and has turned dark brown.
Question... i know the common name for Geo's is "Brown Widow" (really now?? It's almost like "Geo" has become the common name... ::lol::). Anyway, here comes the dumb part of my question. i always thought that common name didn't make sense since Geo's have all those beautiful markings on them - including those who are at least mature enough to make egg sacs. However, since our Geo from Steven has turned dark brown and still eats, etc. Is that the normal course for a Geo - they all eventually turn dark brown?
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