NORTH AMERICAN WIDOW SPIDERS 
OF THE LATRODECTUS CURACAVIENSIS GROUP 
(ARANEAE: THERIDIIDAE) 
By John D. McCrone ' 1 and Herbert W. Levi 2 
Our taxonomic knowledge on widow spiders was summarized in 
a previous study of Latrodectus (Levi, 1959). However, at the time 
it was known that there were several areas of difficulty: the Near 
East, where several species with similar genitalia occur; and northern 
Argentina, where one or two additional species are found (Abalos, 
1962). Field and laboratory work in Curasao, Lesser Antilles, and in 
Florida, as well as additional specimens, have provided many more 
data on the species called L. cnracaviensis in the previous paper. 
We wish to thank Drs. B. de Jong of Curasao and Dr. I. Kristensen 
of the Caribbean Marine Biological Institute, Curasao, for their 
hospitality and help in the field work on the island. We are also 
grateful to Dr. P. Wagenaar Hummelink, Dr. L. van der Hammen 
and Mr. P. J. van Helsdingen of the Natural History Museum, 
Leiden, for specimens collected in the Netherlands Antilles. Dr. A. R„ 
Brady photographed the Abbot manuscript with the help of the staff 
of the British Museum (Natural History), Mr. J. Beatty provided 
specimens from Florida, and Mr. P. Dell gave technical assistance. 
This investigation was supported in part by Public Health Service 
Research Grant AI-01944 from the National Institute of Allergy 
and Infectious Diseases and Public Health Service Research Grant 
GM 11206-01 from the National Institute of General Medical Sci- 
ences. 
Descriptions and Nomenclature 
The specimens considered to be L. cnracaviensis in the previous 
paper belong to several species. Only females from the type locality of 
L. cnracaviensis were examined ; males are unknown from the type 
locality, and the species seems to have disappeared from the island 
of Curacao. The specimens examined were collected by Hasselt over 
one-hundred years ago (Hasselt, i860, 1887). The specimens con- 
sidered to be curacaviensis from Argentina (Levi, 1959) also appear to 
belong to two or more species. The oldest name for the additional 
’Florida Presbyterian College, St. Petersburg, Florida. 
2 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. 
Manuscript received by the editor February 25, 19<64t. 
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