Spider Photos 2010 (1)

Disclaimer: Replies that I publish are done so with no guarantee of authenticity or validity. Please DO NOT rely on identifications from any other than an official source like a Museum or entomologist. Furthermore, where a spider is described as  "not dangerous" does not mean that it doesn't bite or cause a reaction. Any spider can bite and some people react differently to others, so it's best to treat all spiders with caution. That doesn't mean of course, going around killing them!!! Leave them alone and they will leave you alone - we are NOT spider prey and they don't jump in out mouths while we are asleep or attack unprovoked! Most countries only have one or two spiders that are considered really dangerous to humans, there are thousands of spiders that aren't!!

Here's some photos sent in by viewers. Many thanks for allowing me to use these photos. All photos are copyright to their owners and may not be reproduced without permission. If anyone can help with identifying those that people have asked about, please email me so I can pass the info on. I have made 2 pages - Common spiders Australia and Common spiders USA, where you might see your spider if you are in Australia or USA. Please check this out before emailing me. Click here for a map showing the location of some of the dangerous spiders found in the USA. Rick Vetter has put out a great guide for identifying hobo spiders which is one of the common dangerous spiders in the US. Click here.

If you are in Queensland, you could try the Qld Museum's identifying spiders page. It's great! A new page is the Brisbane Insect and Spiders page. Another site to identify spiders from is Bug Guide which has some nice photos of American spiders on it and a new one I just found from Cirrus on Common American spiders, which has lots of photos. for European ones try Ed Nieuwenhuys' pages. This page has some medically significant spiders from South Africa. Another new page is the Find a Spider Guide Page  from the University of Southern Queensland. Many thanks to Richard Adams, Paul Day, Nathan Hepworth, Brian Post and Josh Hillman, FloridaNature.org for their many identifications. Please choose a section below.

UNIDENTIFIED SPIDERS

Reply: This is Poecilothomisus speciosus  - a type of crab spider - glen
Hello again, funnily enough I suddenly found the answer! http://www.findaspider.org.au/find/spiders/363.htm Thanks anyway! Cheers, Sven

14 August, 2010:
Hello! please find attached a picture of a very crazy looking spider I found in Australia! Took this picture in the rainforest north of Cairns! The body of this spider was about 3cm long. What kind of spider is this??? Couldn't find anything even looking similar in encyclopaedias or the internet... If you need more pictures or details, just ask me! Thank you! and many greetings from Austria, Sven

14 August, 2010:
I’ve included a shot of a brown spider shot at the same location who wasn’t as photogenic (the brown guy is shot on a 2x4 and was maybe twice the size of the yellow one) Let me know if you know him also. Thanks, Josh

Click for a larger view

14 August, 2010:
Do you know what this is? Thanks...love you website. Tracy

Click for a larger view

Another Reply: The spider with the flat abdomen that was found on august 2, 2010 is probably a Ravine Trapdoor Spider. I have found them many times in Tennessee and they are very common here. The scientific name is Cyclocosmia truncata.

Reply: This is some sort of a myglamorph like the trapdoor spider but I have never seen one with this shaped abdomen - very unusual!- glen

2 August, 2010:
hi there someone send me this email and i want to know what is it are you know abut this kind ? is that normal ? please tell me what you know abut it

Reply: Bit hard to ID this one from the pic, cephalothorax looks   a bit like a wolf spider but the chevron pattern on the abdomen looks like that of some sort of tegenaria- glen

31 July, 2010:
hi please could you tell me what type of spider this is? thanks

Reply: Not sure what this one is, could be some sort of steatoda or ant mimicking spider - glen

31 July, 2010:
My husband and I have been seeing many of these spiders in our home in AL. We aren't convinced whether or not it is a brown recluse or a southern house spider or something we haven't even fathomed... When zoomed in the spider seems to have the shape of the recluse but it doesn't seem to have the same front end that is common. We would be ever so thankful if you could help us identify this spider so we know whether or not we should be medically concerned if bitten. Thanks so very much! Taylor and Elliott

12 July, 2010:
Hello Glen, I'm sending a couple of more photos as a sizing guide, since the spiders are very small. Hope it helps. Feel free to use any of the pictures if you think they could be useful. Thanks in advance for all your help! Briana

11 July, 2010:
Hey i found this really weird spider outside my house in New Hampshire.. It has a blue butt and it's kinda V shaped in the back, Its about a centimetre long and really skinny in size... They are attached to the email, can you identify this spider for me?

Reply: I have never seen a spider like this before, is it real? - glen

10 July, 2010:
Can u hellp me identify a spider ? Pics in side, not a virus ! Write me back if u don't trust. Pls hellp...

7 July, 2010:
Hello Glen - I was visiting my father for Father's Day -- he lives in Edgewater, Maryland. Went through some of his tools/appliances that he has in a shed he has in his yard and came across the spider in the attached photos. By your site, it appears that this one's a "Black House Spider" -- but I am not certain. Was wondering if you wouldn't mind identifying it for me, if you have a moment. Use the photos how you see fit, if you find them useful. Thanks! -Cole

7 July, 2010:
Hello Glen Just a quick question mate. You may not be up-to-date with UK spiders however this one doesn’t seem to be a “standard” UK resident. What do you think? Let me know if I should be worried as it is leaving in my garden at the moment. It’s a very zoomed in picture is less than a 10cm in size and is “under its web” seems to have made some form of tunnel to live in. I hope you can help. Cheers Glenn

7 July, 2010:
I found in my garden the other day a green spider. I never saw anything like that before. It is almost like one you have in your website. I thought I would finally know what kind it is, but the spider in my garden has on the bottom part a mark. I saw it once a while ago, and last week I saw another one (I know it is another because the first one was almost dead when I got it). I am sending you a picture attached. tHANK YOU!!! J

Reply: You don't say where you are from and the photos aren't the best quality. The brown spider resembles a brown recluse but from the darker spider in the 2nd photo, it could be a male southern house spider which looks similar - glen

5 July, 2010:
I am terrified of spiders.... i found this one crawling across the ceiling near my four month old baby boy's crib tonight.... i have not slept for a few nights now bc i'm took scared of all of these spiders =( esp of them getting in my baby's crib.

28 June, 2010:
Spider that I can't identify

24 June, 2010:
Can you take a look at this picture and tell me if you think it is a brown recluse? I see the violin shape but the body looks different than described.

24 June, 2010:
My niece wanted me to send in another pics--hope it is better.  

Another Reply: This looks like a golden huntsman, olios fasciculatus. -Brian

Reply: Could be some sort of huntsman but I'm not sure - glen
22 June, 2010:
Hi there, I found this spider in my arm while on a river trip on the San Juan in Utah. I put coffee mug next to it for size comparison. I believe it may have come off a tree where I had hung my clothes the evening before. It didn't seem aggressive but was rather large. I have been looking on the web ;) for a picture of it but can't seem to find one. Thank you for your help,

Reply: It doesn't really look like any of the ones you have mentioned but I don't know what it is - glen
10 June, 2010:
Hi Glen. I stumbled across your site the other day trying to identify a spider that I keep seeing around my apartment in the Seattle, WA area. I find them all over the walls inside usually around spring or summertime. They are about the size of a dime and have a black body and yellowish legs with no apparent markings. I've had no luck identifying it after browsing, but I've narrowed the choices down to Hobo, juvenile Giant House Spider, or Grass Spider? If you could help me it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Sean

Reply: This is similar to the one on 8 April which looks like a scorpion spider,  click here for the link- glen

10 June, 2010:
Hi Glen, this is the best photo I could take, please let me know if its enough? Gemma

Reply: I agree it is either s.grossa male or an ant mimicking spider. I'm not sure which though  - glen

28 May, 2010:
Found this one in the bathroom of my parents house in San Jose. i saw a few diff. pages and they were described as ant-mimicking and as s. grossa male. (Dates on pictures are 31 august, 2009 , 5 august, 2007 and 6 june, 2007) hopefully i can get a clear cut I.D. i have one picture, but plan to send a few more. thanks, and good hunting Don

Reply: I agree it is Calisoga - False Tarantula and the  one in the bottom photo on the right is a male - glen

11 May, 2010:
Hi, I live in Mendocino County in N. California. I am hoping you might be able to confirm my spider identification. We have a fair amount of these spiders. The photo of the burrow is from last summer. The others are of two individual spiders taken on different occasions. I assume based on what I have read that they are Calisoga. Would I be correct? Is Calisoga and/or False Tarantula and appropriate designation? We share our property with an amazing array of spiders.... and a large number of scorpions. It keeps life interesting.... and me occupied removing them from indoors to out :^) Thank you for your assistance. Regards, Kim

Reply: It's a bit hard to see it properly but could be an ant mimicking spider, really not sure - glen

11 May, 2010:
Hi Glen, I was Googling to find out what spider I found and I discovered your wonderful website! After looking at the images on the site, I thought I might have found a brown recluse. If you might be able to identify this spider, I would love to hear your thoughts! I found this spider in my bathroom in Northern California. It was descending on a strand of web over the tub when all of a sudden it raced back up the strand and had what appeared to be a fight with a daddy long legs on the ceiling. This spider then fell a few feet and was caught by the strand. It slowly lowered itself down into the tub and recovered. I'm sorry the pictures are not the best, but if you have any idea what it is, I would love to hear it. Thanks so much, Kristen

Reply: It could be a white banded  fishing spider   - glen

11 May, 2010:
Hi Glen, I saw this when I was in Monemvasia, in Greece a couple of summers ago. It was very fast moving and I think it was around 8-10cm across the span of its legs- I've trawled the web for a while but can't find anything quite like it- can you help identify it? cheers Dan

3 May, 2010:
Hi, I found this outside my bedroom lying in water in Auckland... I have no idea what kind it is and can't find it anywhere.. Can you tell me what kind it is?

Reply: This one looks a lot like the one below  - glen

24 April, 2010:
Hi Glen! I love your website, it's helped me several times with spiders I didn't know! I've lived in Pennsylvania for nearly all my life and have never seen a spider like this, and he doesn't resemble anyone on your site either... My husband found him on the back of our bearded dragon's water bowl (thank goodness the beardie didn't eat him!) with a few strands of webbing near him. We struggled to take a good photo of his face and also had trouble counting his eyes ourselves, but we think he has a row of 4 eyes with 2 eyes above that.

Reply: Not sure what this one is either sorry  - glen

24 April, 2010:
I have photographed this spider but i don't recognize it. Can you help me to identify it? Thanks in advance. Massimo.

Reply: I am not familiar with this spider, it looks like some sort of crab spider, perhaps someone can ID it - glen
24 April, 2010:
Dear Glen, I found this in my kitchen last night. I live in Bahrain. I have been in the Middle East for nearly 7years and seen many jumping spiders but never anything like this. Some people have suggested it is a baby camel spider or a crab spider......I have two toddlers so am concerned to get an identification so I know what to do.....and obviously more concerned where is its Mummy! We have just had a week of thunderstorms so maybe it has come in from outside for shelter? We have mains a/c and a tin roof, is it likely to live in the roof space or more likely to head back outdoors.... Please your advice would put my mind at ease. Thanks Cathy

Reply : I couldn't find any more information on these spiders but they are not listed as being amongst the dangerous spiders of Africa - glen

Reply from Tiffany: Hi glen I found this link on your site, posted by one of the readers . I think this (scorpion Spider) is very similar to the spider I found. Are they venomous?

8 April, 2010:
Hi I stay in Johannesburg, South Africa. I recently moved into a new house and keep finding these spiders inside the house I have found three so far, two of which were in the bathroom and the one in the pictures above we found in our laundry basket. I have a serious phobia when it comes to all spiders but this one really freaked me out. I was hoping you could help me in identifying this spider as well as if it is venomous or not. Thanking you in advance Tiffany

Reply: It is a some sort of myglamorph to which tarantulas also belong. It could be a trapdoor spider, they live underground - glen

17 March, 2010:
I found this one in my garden in Austin, TX, near Lake Travis. I have tarantulas but this one looked and acted different. He was about 6 inches beneath the dirt when I dug him up and was about the size of a large thumb. What kind of spider is this? Thanks

Reply: It is a bit hard to tell from these photos. The markings are similar to that of a parson spider but the front legs are more crablike so I'm not sure that it is - glen
17 March, 2010:
Hello Glen I would really appreciate your help in identifying the attached picture of a spider that we keep getting indoors. At first I thought it was a white-tip but having looked at the websites it doesnt seem to fit. I keep finding them in amongst linen and towels in the bathroom. We live in Mount Gambier, SA. The size is about the size of a 50 cent coin. Many thanks in anticipation for your help - I keep killing them as they look dangerous and we have two young children. Kind regards Sarah

Reply: The markings on its cephalothorax are like a huntsman and it is probably a male. However its legs are a bit thick and short like a wolf spiders so I'm not sure. I would need to see the eye pattern to ID it properly - glen

1 March, 2010:
do you know this large spider from copan ruinas honduras?

Reply: The other 2 short "legs" are its pedipalps and because of the length of them and the large ends are the male reproductive organs- glen

23 February, 2010:
hi glen my girlfriend saw a spider crawling into the kitchen from outside it would seem, she asked me to remove it. I caught the spider but b4 letting it go i wanted to ID it.. after an hour or more of searching.. i am still not sure. i live in sydney nsw. the spider was about 1&1/2-2 inches in diameter. silver bum to black/dark brown head. thing thats throwing me off is it seems to have 6 long legs and 2 realy short front legs. or maybe two have been snapped off in a fight.. i dnt know... i have attached a photo. if u could get back to me with your thoughts would be great. thanks for any help. daniel

Reply: This is not a spider but it is an arachnid - probably a tick - glen

23 February, 2010:
Spider photo taken through a glass! The body is about size of an acorn and the head tiny in comparison. The legs are quite thick. There is also a very distinct horseshoe shaped marking where the head and body join. It's not moving so dead but still freaking me out. Can you ID it? C Jones

Reply: This is very hard to ID due to the lack of detail in the pic - glen

23 February, 2010:
Hi, First -- thank you for any help you can provide! Last Thursday I woke up in the middle of the night with a welt on my neck and one on my collarbone - in the morning there was an additional one on my arm (same side as neck & collarbone). These wound up swelling such that almost 1/3 of my entire arm & about half of my entire neck were swollen (I couldnt turn my head without pain), both areas were reddened, insanely itchy and very hot to touch. There was some sort of bite mark in the middle of each, which sometimes oozed a clear liquid. I didn't feel well and was exhausted until mid-day Sunday. My whole body itched at times. The itching and swelling started to go d own Sunday afternoon, and now, Tuesday morning, there is a faint red area at each bite. I found this spider crawling in my comforter yesterday. I haven't been able to find any other spiders (or spider webs) in, under, or near my bed. I've attached a few pics - one for an idea of scale and the others for, hopefully, identification. Thank you so, so much!! Melissa
PS The spider looks black to the naked eye - I don't think we had great light on it -- we had to photograph it at night.

26 January, 2010:
Hi Glenda! Love your page. My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon in Costa Rica (late Dec-early Jan) where we took many photos of wildlife, though with an inferior small digital camera. I have six photos here that I wanted to show you so you could tell me what species they are, if you have time and don't mind. I believe they're all different species, except maybe the two tarantula photos, which we were told were both "Red-kneed" or "Red-legged" tarantulas (or something like that). The two biggest orb spiders might be two different species (first and last photos). Sorry the small fuzzy pic of the round-abdomened spider may not be good enough quality to Identify. And lastly, there's the small, twiggy, camoflaged spider that's trying to look like a twig after being touched. These photos were all taken in various locations/elevations in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Thank you so much for your help and feel free to use any of these photos on your "web"site. :) Fellow spider-appreciater, Rebecca

Reply: This one is an argiope but I can't see what species because this is its underside. The other is some sort of long jawed orb weaver maybe. glen

Reply: While this looks like a wolf spider, they don't make webs like this. So I guess it is a funnel weaver/grass spider but I'm not really sure - glen
1 January, 2010:
Hi Glen I've just spent way more time that I had to spare staring at awesome spider pix on your site. I found this groovy spider's web with my hand in the dark this morning, fumbling for the light switch. Now that I know he's there, I'll be wary of where I put my hand. From the pix on your site, it looks like either a funnel web grass spider, or maybe a small wolf spider. Except the funnel webs seem to have a pointy end. This one seems more round. Maybe you could easily clarify that for me? Sorry I couldn't get a better shot, but I didn't want to disturb it. As you can see, there's a bunch of "stuff" in the way. The last picture is actually the first one from this morning, when I first saw it. It was hiding in the crevice. It's pretty small. Overall length with legs is maybe 1.5 inches. I'm in Anaheim CA.

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