Completion of an extensive distribution survey of the brown widow spider in Israel

The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus, is an invasive species in Israel (as well as many other countries around the world). We conducted a wide geographic survey, from Eilat in the south to Kyriat Shmona in the north, to determine its presence within Israel.

We found that the brown widow is present in 15 out of 18 sites. In conclusion, the brown widow is already present in most of Israel.

The brown widow's egg sacs were collected to study also the parasitism rate of each site, by the parasitoid wasp Philolema latrodecti.

Looking for brown widow's nests under the garbage in Haifa