dar_clicks Loc: Utah

Attached are photos of a very small spider that hangs upside down under its web. The body and head together only measure one and a half millimeters from front to back. If the legs are included it becomes approximately eight millimeters total. It is easy to just walk right by it without even seeing that it is there and the web is so fine that it is almost impossible to see unless there is some light shining on it just right. It comes out onto its web every day and remains motionless unless a clumsy photographer happens to accidentally disturb its web -- easy to bump into the parts that are hard to see ... then it moves pretty fast to get somewhere safer. Otherwise, it doesn't bother me and I don't bother it. From what I can tell it seems to have caught some even smaller gnats or whatever they were.

I don't know what kind it is and wanted photos of it in order to see its markings more clearly. I've since seen another that was a bit larger and has marking on the top quite similar to how the bottom appears. If anyone knows what it is, let me know.

The first photo is a bit of a side view that shows some of the web with the spider under it. The second view shows the bottom side of the spider as seen from above. It was not possible to get a photo of its "back" or what I normally think of as its "top side." The 2nd photo might be just slightly shy of being true macro.

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Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

I had a feeling as to what this is, and sure enough, here is a strong candidate:
https://bugguide.net/node/view/424364
Immature black widow spider.

tinusbum Loc: east texas

thats one spider i dont like,nice shots

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

👍

napabob Loc: Napa CA

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Job well done. Very nice image of an interesting spider.

dar_clicks Loc: Utah

Sorry I couldn't do a follow-up reply sooner. I appreciate the comments and the I.D. information. A couple of friends here also agree and so I'm going with "immature Western Black Widow." I'd never noticed them before while they were that small so I've probably seen a lot of them over the years thinking they were just another spider.

We've lived at this location for 47 years and it has always been commonplace to see Black Widow webs and sometimes Black Widows. A few decades ago we'd see the full grown black ones with the red marking just out back on the patio next to the lawn -- sometimes two or three! I've been more cautious than concerned and actual sightings in recent years have been in the "pretty much never" category. I know some are still around though, because that unmistakable mess of a web shows up here or there every now and again. No misunderstandings -- they don't bother me, but I believe in being very careful around wherever they might be, and I'm getting old enough now that effects from a bite of theirs would be even worse than it would have been in the past.

Thanks again for your help!