4 Types of Black Widows in Florida

4 types of black widows have a verified observation record in Florida. The most frequently recorded are Brown Widow, Southern Black Widow and Red Widow. Here is the full list, ranked by how often each is reported on iNaturalist.

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4 types of black widows have a verified observation record in Florida. The most frequently recorded are Brown Widow, Southern Black Widow and Red Widow. Here is the full list, ranked by how often each is reported on iNaturalist.

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Real sighting data, source iNaturalist

3,046 verified observations on iNaturalist of black widow have been recorded in Florida, most often in July, June, August.

When black widow are recorded in Florida

Verified species, source iNaturalist

4 types of black widows recorded in Florida

4 black widow species have a verified observation record in Florida, each with at least 10 confirmed sightings. The full list, ranked by how often each is recorded, is below.

1 of the 4 shown is recorded as introduced to Florida rather than native, and 1 is endemic to Florida, found here and effectively nowhere else.

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    1

    Brown Widow

    Latrodectus geometricus

    2,022 recordsIntroduced
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    2

    Southern Black Widow

    Latrodectus mactans

    632 records
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    3

    Red Widow

    Latrodectus bishopi

    271 recordsEndemic
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    4

    Northern Black Widow

    Latrodectus variolus

    26 records

Counts from verified iNaturalist observations.

The Brown Widow (Latrodectus geometricus) is the most commonly recorded, with 2,022 verified observations, about 69% of all black widows reported in Florida. If you spot a black widow here, it is statistically most likely to be this one.

Not every one of these is originally from here. Brown Widow is recorded by iNaturalist as introduced in Florida rather than native, so it arrived with human help rather than on its own.

Red Widow is endemic to Florida, meaning it is found here and effectively nowhere else. Those are the sightings worth reporting.