First report of brown widow spider sightings in Peninsular Malaysia and notes on its global distribution.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus Koch, 1841) has colonised many parts of the world from its continent of origin, Africa. By at least 1841, the species had successfully established populations in South America and has more recently expanded its range to the southern states of North America. This highly adaptable spider has been far more successful in finding its niche around the world than its famous cousins, the black widow, Latrodectus mactans, found in the south-eastern states of North America, and the red-back, Latrodectus hasselti, found mostly in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Methods

We performed an extensive web search of brown widow sightings and mapped the location of each sighting using ArcGIS. Specimens reputedly of the species L. geom

SUBMITTER: Muslimin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4438562 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature