Americas, southern Europe. Under logs, rocks, and debris. In shaded places. Varied species worldwide. Black widow in United States, red widow in Middle East, and brown widow in Australia.
Females are the poisonous gender.
Red Widow in the Middle East is the only spider known to be deadly to man. Dull orange to brown, with black point eyes at the base of the antenna. There are 2,800 species worldwide. Under bark and stones by day. Active at night.