Hey guys, I have hundreds (more like millions in fact) of these spiders in my house and I don't know what they are. I have 2 comprehensive SA spider books and they don't appear in any. The closest it comes is something from the button spider family, i.e related to the brown widow. It's definitely not a black widow I know that much. Anyways there are millions of slings running round my house and at least 6 mommy's pumping out more all the time. I need to know if they are poisonous, what spider is it exactly and whats the best way to reduce the numbers in my house or evict them?

Let me know if you need more pics, sorry about the quality i used my iphone.

Another pic:

Definitely looks like Widow spider family.
There are not that many species in SA, so should be able to pin down.

Which area do you stay in?
I am in Gauteng Pretoria and have many of the brown widow spiders in the area.

www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachnids/s...ctus_geometricus.htm
Latrodectus geometricus
Bottom left hand picture.

It could also be a False Button Spider.
Steatoda capensis

2 ways to verify is check that hour glass shape, the false doesn't have an hour glass and the egg cases are different.
The real button spiders have solid roundish egg cases with or without spikes. The false one has a softer less defined roundish egg case.
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steatoda...sis_with_egg_sac.jpg

Would say that spider it is not a Lactrodectus species.
If it were a brown button spider(L.geometricus), you would see a clear red hour class ventrally.
You can't see from the pic, but let us know if you see one:-)
The black button spider(L.indistinctus) is very different to your spider. I have only ever seen one specimen and
I must say they are beautiful!Pitch black, velvet looking with a red marking(stripe) on the dorsal side.
But they might not have this marking though, and may just be plain black.

I would reckon your spider is from the false button spider genera, the more common genus Theridion.
Could also be Steatoda, but their abdominal markings look different.
Theridion vary from light "creamy" to dark brown in colouration with patterns on the dorsal side of the abdomen.
Here is a pic of the more common Theridion sp. found around houses,
www.spiderclub.co.za/images/Resized/Fami...0Button%20Spider.jpg ,
Now, picture it in dark colour form, that abdomen pattern is very similar.
Also, Theridion normally to have striped legs.
They are also a smaller genus compared with the Lactrodectus.

With Lactrodectus, the egg sac shape is a good way to id them.
For example, L.geometricus have spiky looking egg sacs and
L.indistinctus have smooth egg sacs.

It's a difficult one, but would put money on it not being a Lactrodectus species
Oh yes, False button spiders are harmless.

email some pics to ruanlambrechts@gmail.com for some help. He is the pro in this department ;)