Red Widow

The red widow, L. bishopi, has a red-orange cephalothorax, its abdomen is black with yellow rings outlining the rows of red spots and its legs are vermillion red. On its underside, it does not have the familiar hourglass marking and instead usually has one or two small red marks. Females are almost double the size of the male.

L. bishopi is endemic to central and southern Florida. It is restricted to sand-pine scrub – inland areas of dry sand dunes dominated by sand pine, Pinus clausa. Within these areas, the species makes most of its webs in palmetto bushes (Serenoa repens and Sabal etonia) at heights of 30 cm or more above the ground. The webs are tangled, with a funnel shaped retreat for the spider below. The spider also stores its egg sacs in this retreat. The species is a known predator of Hemisphaerota cyanea. Possible predators of L. bishopi include sphecid wasps and the Florida scrub jay.