The False Black Widow is a cosmopolitan species that is found in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It is widespread in British Columbia (
Bennett et al. 2012).
Wikipedia (2012) provides the following description for this species: "like black widows, the female S. grossa is 6-10.5 mm in length, and dark colored, with a round, bulbous abdomen. Typical coloration ranges from purplish-brown to black, with light-colored markings. Unlike black widows, redbacks, and other Latrodectus species, the S. grossa does not have a bright red hourglass pattern or any other bright markings. Like many spiders, the male is sometimes smaller; but can many times be nearly as long as the females. It measures 4.1-10.0 mm in length, and is thinner than the female. The two sexes are colored similarly, however the sexually mature male almost always has lighter, more reddish coloured legs than the female."
The False Black Widow constructs an irregular, 'messy' cobweb. It is known for preying on Black Widow spiders and Hobo spiders (Wikipedia 2012).
