All spiders have four pairs of legs and two major body regions. The most commonly encountered spider around the outside of a home and inside garages in the Coachella Valley is the Black Widow Spider, Lactrodectus hesperus. The adult female Black Widow has a rounded, glossy black body. The underside of the abdomen usually contains a marking similar to an hour glass and is orange to red in color.
Egg cases are a round, yellowish ball, about the size of a marble.
The young spiderlings are much smaller and hatch in the spring and early summer. From egg to adult may require only 4 months. The females live about one year. Black Widow Spiders are not aggressive to us by nature, but they will bite once disturbed or threatened. This spider is named for the female's habit of devouring the male after mating.