Two views of a spider on flower

[Jbailey]

Here are two views of a spider on a Creeping Bellflower from my front yard. I would appreciate an I.D. of the spider.


Jim

[Ken Ramos]

Quite a beautiful spider, though I am afraid the only thing that I know about spiders is how to step on them. Nice photographs though, with good details.

[P_T]

Judging by the eye arrangement, body shape and messy web, I'd say that's a type of Widow spider genus Latrodectus. It could be a Red Widow spider.

I'm afraid that's as close an ID as I can do. These spiders are very hardy and can survive without food for months. It's quite possible that this spider is not native to America. I have seen what looks like a White Widow and a Hellfire Widow spider here in Australia, both not being native Australian spiders.

I hope you won't kill it knowing it's a widow spider. They're actually very timid and they don't wander around unless their web is destroyed. They also help kill annoying bugs. If you don't want it there, just relocate it somewhere.

Great shot by the way, you don't often see that spider making web on a flower.

[rjlittlefield]

Beautiful spider, beautiful pictures!

About the ID, consider Enoplognatha ovata. Same family as the widows, different genus.

--Rik

[P_T]

You learn something new everyday... Thanks for the info Rik! I thought it's a bit weird for a widow spider to build its web on a flower.

[Jbailey]

Many thanks for the comments and I.D. assistance. I took the photo indoors and then put the cutoff plant and spider back in the wildflower patch.

Jim