''Latrodectus rhodesiensis'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

in the family

Theridiidae Theridiidae, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, is a large family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. This diverse, globally distributed family includes ...

, found in southern Africa. It is one of six species of ''

Latrodectus ''Latrodectus'' is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. Howeve ...

'' found in southern Africa, two of which, including ''L. rhodesiensis'', are known as brown button or brown widow spiders. Like all ''Latrodectus'' species, ''L. rhodesiensis'' has a neurotoxic venom. It acts on nerve endings, causing the very unpleasant symptoms of

latrodectism Latrodectism () is the illness caused by the bite of ''Latrodectus'' spiders (the black widow spider and related species). Pain, muscle rigidity, vomiting, and sweating are the symptoms of latrodectism. There are several spider species all named b ...

when humans are bitten, although brown button spiders are not generally as venomous as black button or black widow spiders, such as '' L. indistinctus''.

References

rhodesiensis Spiders of Africa Spiders described in 1972 {{Theridiidae-stub