Elegant Widow Spider

True Spiders / Huntsmans

MOQ 20 head

Partners Only

~1 – 1.5 cm body (female); ~3 – 4 cm legspan. Males much smaller.

True widow — venom contains alpha-latrotoxin and is medically significant. A bite can cause latrodectism (intense pain, muscle cramps, sweating, autonomic effects); rarely fatal but requires medical attention. Strictly hands-off.

Forest and edge habitats across South, Southeast and East Asia. Builds an irregular tangle (cobweb) low among rocks, logs and vegetation, hiding in a silk retreat by day. 0 – 1,500 m.

Insects and other arthropods snared in the sticky tangle web — beetles, ants, crickets and other ground-active prey.

24 – 28 °C ambient — 22 °C cool end

60 – 75 %. Lightly moist substrate with good ventilation; mostly dry web zone.

None required (nocturnal).

Crickets, flies and small roaches. Every 5 – 7 days.

Terrestrial cobweb — 15 – 20 cm enclosure with twigs/cork for web anchor points and a hide; shallow substrate. Keep singly; secure escape-proof lid.

Shy and retreating rather than aggressive, but the medically significant bite makes it strictly a hands-off display species.