Latrodectus mactans (Fabricius)
Common names.—Black widow, hourglass, or shoe-button spider.
Natural prey.—Cockroaches, Puerto Rico (Petrunkevitch, 1930). U.S.A., Florida, on shipboard (Anonymous, 1939): This is a presumptive host record, as the spiders were not reported as having been seen eating cockroaches; however, heavy infestations of both were found together.
Family LYCOSIDAE
Lycosa helluo Walckenaer
Experimental prey.—Young nymphs of Diploptera punctata, U.S.A. (Eisner, 1958): Larger nymphs and adults repelled the spider by ejecting a repellent secretion, which has been identified as a mixture of p-benzoquinone and its derivatives by Roth and Stay (1958).
Lycosa sp.
Experimental prey.—Supella supellectilium, U.S.A. (Roth and Willis, unpublished data, 1953): The lycosid (pl. [30], B-E) was probably L. avida Walckenaer (tentatively identified by Dr. B. J. Kaston from a photograph).
Order ACARINA
Family PHYTOSEIIDAE