L. geometricus has black and white patterns on the sides of its abdomen as well as an orange-yellow colored hourglass shape marking.

Similar widows include the L. rhodesiensis, a brown-colored relative of L. geometricus which is native to Zimbabwe.

Unlike the black widow, L. geometricus has a black-and-white geometric pattern on the dorsal side of its abdomen.

[1] The World Spider Catalog gives its native distribution as Africa, with introductions to the Americas, Poland, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Japan, China, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Hawaii.

[6] It is found in many areas of South Africa, the United States (including Hawaii),[2][3][4] Australia,[2] Japan,[7] the Dominican Republic,[8] Costa Rica,[9] and Cyprus.

[2] As of 2012, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, suggested that the brown widow spider, newly established in Southern California, may in fact be displacing black widow spiders from the region, competing and/or fighting for territory.

[6] The effects of the toxin are usually confined to the bite area and surrounding tissue, unlike the black widow's.