Editing Redback spider (section)

===History===
Before [[DNA]] analysis, the [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of the widow spider genus ''[[Latrodectus]]'' had been unclear—changes in the number of species reflect the difficulty of using [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]] to determine subdivisions within the genus.<ref name="garb 2004"/> Substantial interest in their systematics was most likely prompted by the medical importance of these venomous spiders.<!--garb ref for previous two sentences--><ref name="garb 2004"/> Swedish arachnologist [[Tamerlan Thorell]] described the redback spider in 1870<ref name=thorell>{{cite journal | author= Thorell, Tamerlan |year=1870|title= Araneae Nonnullae Novae Hollandiae, Descriptae |language=la |journal= Öfversigt Af Kongelige Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar, Stockholm |volume= 27 |pages= 367–89 [369–71] |url=https://archive.org/stream/fversigtafkongl21vetegoog}}</ref> from specimens collected in [[Rockhampton]] and [[Bowen, Queensland|Bowen]] in central Queensland.<ref name="FOPC">{{cite journal|last=Pickard-Cambridge|first=Frederick Octavius |year=1902|title=On the Spiders of the Genus ''Latrodectus'' Walckenaer|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|volume=1|pages=247–61 [255, 258–59] |url=https://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_101275_onthespidersofthegenuslatrodec1833/onthespidersofthegenuslatrodec1833#page/n17/mode/2up}}</ref> He named it ''Latrodectus hasseltii'' in honour of colleague A.W.M. van Hasselt.<ref name="Species bank">{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/species-bank/sbank-treatment.pl?id=69198|title=''Latrodectus hasseltii'' (Family Theridiidae)|last=Gray|first=M. R.|date=7 February 2007|work=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities: Species Bank|publisher=Australian Government|access-date=8 September 2013|location=Canberra, Australian Capital Territory|archive-date=10 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910150536/http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/species-bank/sbank-treatment.pl?id=69198|url-status=live}}</ref> In the same paper, he named a female from [[Cape York Peninsula|Cape York]] with an all-black abdomen ''L. scelio'',<ref name=thorell/><ref name="FOPC"/> now regarded as the same species. These specimens are in the [[Swedish Museum of Natural History|Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet]] in Stockholm.<ref name="levi 1959"/><!-- cites previous 1.5 sentences --> Between 1872 and 1972, all subsequent authors spelled the species name as ''hasselti'', and that altered spelling is maintained today.<ref name=WSC_s39048 />

German arachnologist [[Friedrich Dahl]] revised the genus in 1902 and named ''L. ancorifer'' from New Guinea,<ref name=dahl>{{cite journal |author=Dahl, Friedrich |year=1902 |language=de |title=Über algebrochene Copulationsorgane männlicher Spinnen im Körper der Weibchen |journal=Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin |volume=1902 |pages=36–45 [43] |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7931174 |access-date=20 February 2018 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306094755/http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7931174 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was later regarded as a subspecies of the redback. Another subspecies, ''L. h. aruensis'', was described by Norwegian entomologist [[Embrik Strand]] in 1911. Subspecies ''indica'' (of ''L. scelio'') had been described by [[Eugène Simon]] in 1897, but its origin is unclear.<ref name="levi 1959"/> [[Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge]] questioned Dahl's separating [[species]] on what he considered minor anatomical details but Dahl dismissed Pickard-Cambridge as an "ignoramus".<ref name="levi 1959"/> Pickard-Cambridge was unsure whether ''L. hasselti'' warranted species status, though he confirmed ''scelio'' and ''hasselti'' as a single species,<ref name="FOPC"/> other researchers such as [[Ludwig Carl Christian Koch]] noting the differences to be inconsistent.<ref name=SMH1907>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14853380 |title=The Red-striped Spider |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=23 March 1907 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia |author=Rainbow, William Joseph |access-date=1 September 2013 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019062746/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14853380 |url-status=live }}</ref> The redback was also considered by some to be conspecific with the [[katipō]] (''L. katipo''), which is native to New Zealand,<ref name=Camperdown1893>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19363887 |title=The Deadly Red-Backed Spider. |newspaper=[[The Camperdown Chronicle]] |location=Camperdown, Victoria |date=1 June 1893 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019062746/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19363887 |url-status=live }}</ref> though Koch regarded them as distinct.<ref name=SMH1907/>

Reviewing the genus ''Latrodectus'' in 1959, arachnologist [[Herbert Walter Levi]] concluded that the colour variations were largely continuous across the world and were not suitable for distinguishing the individual species. Instead, he focused on differences in the morphology of the female sexual organs, and revised the number of recognised species from 22 to 6. This included reclassifying the redback and several other species as subspecies of the best-known member of the group, the black widow spider (''[[Latrodectus mactans]]''), found in North America and other regions.<ref name="garb 2004"/> He did not consider the subspecies ''L. h. ancorifer'', ''L. h. aruensis'' and ''L. h. indicus'' distinct enough to warrant recognition.<ref name="levi 1959">{{cite journal|last=Levi |first= Herbert Walter |year=1959|title=The Spider Genus ''Latrodectus'' (Araneae, Theridiidae)|journal=Transactions of the American Microscopical Society|volume=78|issue=1|pages=7–43|jstor=3223799|doi=10.2307/3223799}}</ref> Subsequently, more reliable genetic studies have split the genus into about 30 species, and the redback has no recognised subspecies in modern classifications.<ref name="garb 2004"/><ref name="AFD">{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Latrodectus_hasseltii |title=Species ''Latrodectus hasseltii'' Thorell, 1870|author=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities |date=25 October 2012|work=Australian Faunal Directory |publisher=Australian Government|access-date=8 September 2013|location=Canberra|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061610/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Latrodectus_hasseltii|archive-date=21 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>