Latrodectus mactans, known as southern black widow or simply black widow, and the shoe-button spider, is a venomous species of spider in the genus Latrodectus. The females are well known for their distinctive black and red coloring and for the fact that they will occasionally eat their mates after reproduction. The species is native to North America. The venom can cause pain and other symptoms, but is rarely fatal to healthy humans.
Latrodectus is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. However, the diversity of species is much greater. A member of the family Theridiidae, this genus contains 34 species, which include several North American "black widows". Besides these, North America also has the red widow Latrodectus bishopi and the brown widow Latrodectus geometricus, which, in addition to North America, has a much wider geographic distribution. Elsewhere, others include the European black widow, the Australian redback spider and the closely related New Zealand katipō, several different species in Southern Africa that can be called button spiders, and the South American black-widow spiders. Species vary widely in size. In most cases, the females are dark-coloured and can be readily identified by reddish markings on the central underside (ventral) abdomen, which are often hourglass-shaped.
uMkhuze Game Reserve is a 40,000-hectare game reserve in northern Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was proclaimed a protected area on 15 February 1912.
Latrodectus bishopi is the scientific name for the red widow spider, which is endemic to certain habitats of central and southern Florida, where it lives primarily in sand dunes dominated by sand pine, Pinus clausa – a type of vegetation found only in peninsular Florida.
The katipō is an endangered species of spider native to New Zealand. It is one of many species in the genus Latrodectus, such as the Australian redback, and the North American black widow. The species is venomous to humans, capable of delivering a potentially dangerous bite. It is a small to medium-sized spider, with the female having a round black or brown pea-sized body. Red katipō females found in the South Island and the lower half of the North Island, are always black, and their abdomen has a distinctive red stripe bordered in white. In black katipō females found in the upper half of the North Island, this stripe is absent, pale, yellow, or replaced with cream-coloured blotches. These two forms were previously thought to be separate species. The male is much smaller than the female and quite different in appearance: white with black stripes and red diamond-shaped markings. Katipō are mainly found living in sand dunes close to the seashore. They are found throughout most of coastal New Zealand except the far south and west. Katipō feed mainly on ground dwelling insects, caught in an irregular tangled web spun amongst dune plants or other debris.
Latrodectus geometricus, commonly known as the brown widow, brown button spider, grey widow, brown black widow, house button spider or geometric button spider, is one of the widow spiders in the genus Latrodectus. As such, it is a 'cousin' to the more infamous Latrodectus mactans. L. geometricus has black and white patterns on the sides of its abdomen as well as an orange-yellow colored hourglass shape marking. Their eggs are easily identified by points that project from all over the egg sacs. L. geometricus are found all over the world, but are believed to originate in Africa or South America. Their bites, though painful, are not considered to be dangerous.
Button spider is a common name used in Southern Africa to refer to local members of the spider genus, Latrodectus, the family Theridiidae. There are both black and brown button spiders in Southern Africa, that are known elsewhere as widow spiders. Seven Latrodectus species can be found in Southern Africa; six of them are native, one is possibly imported.
The ornate sleeper-ray is a species of electric ray in the family Narkidae, and the only member of the genus Electrolux. It lives on reefs feeding on polychaete worms and small crustaceans, it has only been seen by divers to feed during the daytime. It is endemic to the coast of South Africa. It was first recorded in 1984 but was not described until 2007. It was ranked as the number one newly described species of 2007 by the International Institute for Species Exploration.
Opisthopatus roseus is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family. As traditionally defined, this species is rose pink with 18 pairs of legs. Known as the pink velvet worm, it is found only in the Weza Forest, a Mistbelt Forest in South Africa. Specimens have been found on the forest floor amongst leaf litter, beneath, and within fallen logs.
Steatoda capensis is a spider originating from South Africa. Its common names include the black cobweb spider, brown house spider, cupboard spider and due to its similarities to the katipō spider it is commonly known as the false katipō in New Zealand. Common throughout Southern Africa, it has been introduced into other countries and is now present in Australia and throughout New Zealand. It is a small spider, usually an all-over shiny black. It may have a small bright red, orange, or yellow patch near the tip of the abdomen along with a crescent shaped band near the front of the abdomen.
The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot (MPA) is a biodiversity hotspot, a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity, in Southern Africa. It is situated near the south-eastern coast of Africa, occupying an area between the Great Escarpment and the Indian Ocean. The area is named after Maputaland, Pondoland and Albany. It stretches from the Albany Centre of Plant Endemism in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, through the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism and KwaZulu-Natal Province, the eastern side of Eswatini and into southern Mozambique and Mpumalanga. The Maputaland Centre of Plant Endemism is contained in northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.
Rugathodes sexpunctatus is a minute species of spider in the family Theridiidae, the cobweb or tangle-web spiders. This family includes the medically important genus Latrodectus—the widow spiders. The species in the genus Rugathodes are too small to be dangerous to humans. Very little is known about most species in this genus.
Anelosimus nelsoni is a species of spider in the family Theridiidae. It is only known from iSimangaliso Wetland Park, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is named for Nelson Mandela. The male holotype specimen is 2.08 millimetres (0.082 in) in length, and the female paratype is 2.60 millimetres (0.102 in) in length. Both the holotype and paratype were found on Fanies Island, 5 km south of Cape Vidal. Both were collected from bushes or trees in an open forest patch.
Nigorella hirsuta is a species of jumping spider in the genus Nigorella that lives in South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was first describedin 2009 by Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is medium-sized, with a carapace that is between 3.5 and 4.7 mm long and an abdomen that is between 3.2 and 6.6 mm long. The female is larger than the male. The carapace is generally dark brown and hairy. While the male abdomen is similarly hairy and dark brown, the female abdomen is more grey. The species has been confused with the related Nigorella plebeja. However, it can be generally identified by the strongly sclerotized cups in the female epigyne and the male's longer embolus.
Yimbulunga foordi is the type species of the genus Yimbulunga. It is a species of jumping spider species that lives in South Africa. The male was described in 2014 by Wanda Wesołowska, Galina Azarkina and Anthony Russell-Smith. The female has not been identified. The spider is very small, with a carapace that is 1.8 mm (0.071 in) long and an abdomen 1.4 mm (0.055 in) long. Both the carapace and abdomen are rounded, which is reflected in the genus name, the Zulu word for spherical. The species is named for the arachnologist Stefan Foord. The pedipalps are brown with a small lobe on the palpal bulb and a thin embolus that coils all the way round. The shape of the embolus and the overall stout shape of the spider differentiate the species.
Stenaelurillus furcatus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that lives in Namibia. It was first described in 2014 by Wanda Wesołowska. The spider is small, with a brown cephalothorax between 2.2 and 2.9 mm in length and a black abdomen between 2.0 and 3.6 mm long. The carapace is brown and covered in scales, while the abdomen is a black oval. The chelicerae are yellow to light brown. It can distinguished from other members of the genus by the short forked appendage on the male's palpal bulb, after which the spider gets its name. The female has a distinctive arrangement of a deep pocket and separated copulatory openings in the epigyne.
Stenaelurillus modestus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that lives in South Africa. It was first described in 2014 by Wanda Wesołowska. The species is a specialist that preys on Odontotermes termites, although its venom is also effective against other prey. The spider is medium-sized, with a brown cephalothorax between 2.0 and 2.7 mm in length and a black abdomen between 1.9 and 2.8 mm long. It is generally black in colour. The carapace has a border of white hairs and the abdomen is edged with bristles. It is distinguished from other members of the genus by the male's elongated palpal bulb and straight embolus, and the horseshoe-shaped depression in the female's epigyne.
Stenaelurillus guttiger is a species of jumping spider in the genus Stenaelurillus that is native to southern Africa. It was first described in 1901 by Eugène Simon based on examples found in South Africa, and subsequently also identified in Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Initially allocated to the genus Aelurillus, the species was moved to its current genus in 1974. The spider is medium-sized, with a carapace that is between 2.0 and 2.75 mm long and an abdomen that is between 1.8 and 2.9 mm long. It is dark brown or brown, and has a pattern of white hairs on both the abdomen and carapace and a pattern of two stripes on the carapace. The abdomen has a white pattern of straight and V-shaped stripes and spots which varies between specimens. The colouring of the clypeus and legs can also range from yellow to dark brown depending on the particular example. It is distinguished from other species in the genus by the design of its sexual organs. The male has an embolus that is short and crab like. The female has a flat plate epigyne with widely separated copulatory openings and insemination ducts and a deep narrow pocket. Stenaelurillusguttiger feeds on termites, particularly Macrotermes and Odontotermes.
Breviceps carruthersi or the Phinda rain frog or Carruthers' rain frog is a species of frog in the Breviceps genus endemic to South Africa. The Phinda rain frog is also known as Isinana sakwaPhinda in IsiZulu which is the local language spoken in this species' native range. An IsiZulu description of this anuran amphibian species appears in a field guide called A Bilingual Guide to the Frogs of Zululand. This frog was first described by Professor Louis H. du Preez, Doctor Edward C. Netherlands, and Professor Les Minter in 2017, and they named it in honour of the naturalist and author Vincent Caruthers.
Diphya wesolowskae is a species of long-jawed orb weaver in the genus Diphya that lives in South Africa. First described in 2020 by Mikhail Omelko, Yuri Marusik and Robin Lyle, the spider is small, with a typical length between 2.8 and 3.17 mm. The female is larger than the male. It has a brown to dark brown and patternless carapace, which distinguishes the species from the more common Diphya simoni. The male has an abdomen that is also brown to dark brown and has a pattern of two dark spots, although some examples have more complex, but indistinct, patterns of spots and stripes. The female has a light brown abdomen marked with large spots and stripes. The copulatory organs are distinctive to the species. The female has a epigyne that lacks pockets but has a thicker septal stem than Diphya foordi, and the male has a very long, thin projection that extends from the palpal bulb beyond the cymbium and a very short embolus.
