Unlike most species of widow spider, which are dark in colouration; the white widow spider is, as its name implies, light-coloured, with colouration ranging from beige to white, though with darker legs. The spider lacks the bright red markings found on other widow spiders such as the black widow, the redback spider, or L. tredecimguttatus. Other than colouration, the white widow is similar in appearance to other spiders of the genus. When it comes to mating, widow spiders are a good example of high investment of males in a single mating. Males generally cohabit with a female for a long period of time, provide energy demanding courtship displays, and at times cannibalized by the female after mating. Males are generally smaller than females because after they reach maturity, they do not feed and spend most of their lives searching for females