{{wiktionary|black widow|black widows}}

'''Black widow''' may refer to: {{TOC right}} ==Spiders== * Black widow spider, a common name for some species of spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus''

===American species=== * ''Latrodectus apicalis'', the Galapagos black widow * ''Latrodectus curacaviensis'', the South American black widow * ''Latrodectus hesperus'', the western black widow * ''Latrodectus mactans'', the southern black widow * ''Latrodectus variolus'', the northern black widow

===Eurasian species=== * ''Latrodectus tredecimguttatus'', the Mediterranean black widow or European black widow

===Oceanian species=== * ''Latrodectus hasseltii'', the redback spider or Australian black widow

==People== ===Murderers=== * Black Widow Gang, Colombian serial killer group * Black Widows of Liverpool, two women hanged for murder in 1884 * Bodenfelde Black Widows, German serial killer duo * Black Widow Murders, murders committed in 1999 / 2005 by two elderly women in Los Angeles * Belle Gunness, 25–40 victims spanning from 1884 to 1908 * Vera Renczi (1903–1960), murdered 35 men, including her husband and her son * Betty Neumar (1931–2011), dubbed "Black Widow" or "Black Widow Granny", accused of murdering one of her husbands * Blanche Taylor Moore (born 1933), convicted murderer * Griselda Blanco (1943–2012), Colombian drug trafficker, known for ordering or committing the murders of three ex-husbands * Catherine Nevin (1950–2018), responsible for the 1996 murder of her husband in the pub they owned * Stacey Castor (1967–2016), convicted murderer * Lynn Turner (murderer) (1968–2010), convicted murderer * Áurea Vázquez-Rijos, Puerto Rican woman convicted of hiring a hitman to murder her ex-husband Adam Anhang * Melissa Ann Shepard (born 1935), Canadian murderer * Patrizia Reggiani (born 1948), ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, convicted of arranging his murder * Chisako Kakehi (born 1946), Japanese serial killer; {{as of|August 2023|lc=y}}, awaiting execution for three murders * Lyda Southard (1892–1958), American serial killer of husbands and other family members using arsenic from flypaper * Esneda Ruiz Cataño (born 1968), Colombian serial killer of husbands for life insurance benefits from 2001 to 2010; is currently in El Pedregal Prison * Elfriede Blauensteiner (1931–2003), Austrian serial killer * Martha Needle (1863–1894), Australian serial killer * Nannie Doss (1905–1965), American serial killer * Christine Malèvre (born 1970), French serial killer * Margit Filó (1914–1979), Hungarian serial killer * Heloísa Gonçalves Duque Soares Ribeiro (born 1950), Brazilian-American murderer and suspected serial killer currently on the run * Mary Ann Cotton (1832–1873), English murderer and suspected serial killer * Dena Thompson (born 1960), British murderer * Margarita Sánchez Gutiérrez (1953), Spanish serial killer * Marie Alexandrine Becker (1879–1942), Belgian serial killer

===Athletes=== * Jeanette Lee (pool player) (born 1971), so-called because of her fondness for wearing black * Sonya Thomas (born 1967), top-ranked competitive eater

=== Other === * Florentine Rost van Tonningen (1914–2007), Dutch neo-Nazi nicknamed ''Zwarte weduwe'' (Black Widow)

==Arts and entertainment== ===Fictional characters=== * Black Widow (Marvel Comics), the name of several distinct characters: ** Black Widow (Claire Voyant) ** Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) ** Yelena Belova * In the {{visible anchor|Marvel Cinematic Universe}}, the Red Room (Marvel Cinematic Universe) is a program having trained several distinct Black Widows (Marvel Cinematic Universe): ** Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe) ** Yelena Belova (Marvel Cinematic Universe) ** Melina Vostokoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe) ** Ruth Bat-Seraph (Marvel Cinematic Universe) * The Black Widow, a ''Batman'' villain played by Tallulah Bankhead * Black Widow, a character from the ''Saturday Night Slam Masters'' series of games by Capcom * Natasha Kerensky, in ''Tales of the Black Widow Company'', a supplement for the ''BattleTech'' video game

===Film and television=== * ''The Black Widow'' (serial), a 1947 movie serial starring Bruce Edwards * ''Black Widow'' (1951 film), a British film starring Christine Norden * ''Black Widow'' (1954 film), starring Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney * ''Black Widow'' (1987 film), featuring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell * ''Black Widow'' (2003 film), a film directed by Brad Turner * ''The Black Widow'' (2005 film), DVD release title of film by Giada Colagrande, produced as ''Before It Had a Name'' * ''Black Widow'' (2005 film), a Canadian film starring Sarah Slean * ''Black Widow'' (2007 film), with Elizabeth Berkley and Alicia Coppola * ''Black Widow'' (2010 film), starring Jack Scalia and Jennifer O'Dell * ''Black Widow'' (2021 film), a film starring Scarlett Johansson based on the Marvel Comics character * ''A Widow's Game'', a 2025 Spanish film originally titled, ''La viuda negra'', "The Black Widow". * ''Black Widow: A Land Bleeds'', a 2017 Indian film * ''Black Widows'' (2016 TV series), Scandinavian TV serial * ''Black Widows'' (Indian TV series), a 2020 web series * "The Black Widow", an episode of ''Boston Legal'' * "Black Widow" (''Marvel Studios: Legends''), an episode of ''Marvel Studios: Legends''

===Literature=== *the Black Widow, a car driven by the Spider (DC Comics) *''The Black Widow'' (Silva novel), 2016 novel by Daniel Silva *''Black Widow: A Novel'', a 1981 novel by Christina Crawford

===Gaming=== * ''Black Widow'' (video game), a 1982 Atari arcade game * Black Widow Games, a computer games developer

===Music=== * ''Black Widow'' (opera), by Thomas Pasatieri * Black Widow (band), a British rock band * ''Black Widow'' (Black Widow album), 1971 * ''Black Widow'' (Lalo Schifrin album), 1976 * ''Black Widow'' (In This Moment album), 2014 * ''The Black Widow'' (album) * Black Widow Records, an Italian label

====Songs==== * "Black Widow" (Iggy Azalea song), 2014 * "Black Widow" (Pristin song), 2017 * "Black Widow", by Black Tide on the album ''Light from Above'' * "Black Widow", by Mötley Crüe on the compilation ''Red, White & Crüe'' * "Black Widow", by Children of Bodom on the album ''Hatebreeder'' * "Black Widow", by U.D.O. on the album ''Animal House'' * "Black Widow", by Dolores O'Riordan on the album ''Are You Listening?'' * "Black Widow", by Donovan Leitch on the album ''Slow Down World'' * "Black Widow", by In This Moment on the album ''Black Widow'' * "Black Widow", by Lita Ford on the album ''Dangerous Curves'' * "Black Widow", by Michelle Shocked on the album ''Short Sharp Shocked'' * "Black Widow", by Alice Cooper on the album ''Welcome to My Nightmare'' * "Black Widow", by Jefferson Starship on the album ''Winds of Change'' * "Black Widow", by Booty Luv * "Black Widow", by Link Wray and His Ray Men, B-side to "Jack the Ripper" * "Black Widow", by Cage the Elephant on the album ''Melophobia'' * "Black Widow", by Susanne Sundfør on the album ''The Brothel'' * "Black Widow Pt. 2", by RZA featuring ODB on the album ''Digital Bullet'' * "Black Widows", by Grave Digger on the album ''The Last Supper''

===Rides=== * Black Widow (ride), an amusement ride at Kennywood * Black Widow, a roller coaster at Six Flags New England

==Military== * Northrop P-61 Black Widow, a World War II night fighter * Black Widow II, a Northrop YF-23 prototype fighter aircraft, nicknamed after the P-61 * PMN mine, nicknamed Black Widow because of their dark casing * Soviet submarine B-39, nicknamed Black Widow after having been sold off as a museum ship * 421st Fighter Squadron, nicknamed Black Widows

==Other plants and animals== * Black tetra, also known as "black widow tetra", a freshwater fish * ''Stygnobrotula latebricola'', an ocean fish * ''Geranium phaeum'', a herbaceous plant species

==Other uses== * The Black Widow Pulsar * Black Widow (paint mix), paint mix for projection screen * Black Widow (Chechnya), term for female suicide bombers from Chechnya or Dagestan * DHD(J), also called Black Widow, a subgroup of the militant Dimasa organization Dima Halam Daogah of Assam, India

==See also== * Black Widower (disambiguation)

{{disambiguation}} Category:Animal common name disambiguation pages Category:Nicknames