Comments on: Unknown Unusual Spider or Fungus Infection

By: bugman

bugman — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:31:50 +0000

Thanks Jessa,
It would be great if you took a specimen to a nearby natural history museum to have an expert evaluate it.

By: Jessa_KAtara

Jessa_KAtara — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:11:31 +0000

OMG! yes, I found a few hundred of these in my mothers basement today when I was down there sealing cracks! I looked up and almost messed myself! I watched them move around on the ceiling and freaked myself out! They are VERY much alive and I swear they are waiting till night time to eat someone! They are between 1/2 and 2 1/2 inches in diameter and have the same balls on the joints. I can get a specimen if anyone wants one. My facebook is the most reliable way to reach me, Jennah Kohorst, Lima Ohio. Thanks!!

By: XindianaX

XindianaX — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:49:30 +0000

These are not alive!!!!!!!!!All this is is the shell of a spider. Correct me if I’m wrong but spiders do shed like snakes or the correct term for arthropods, it is actually called molting . As far as the white substance well it could be protein or the stuff they made bullet proof skin out of lol http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/17/breakthrough-bulletproof-human-skin-made-from-spider-silk/ thank you

By: bugman

bugman — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:56:16 +0000

Dear Terry.M, This is one of the most exciting comments we have gotten ever. We are going to feature this posting after so many years. From our perspective, all spiders we have received images of that were fungus ridden in this manner have been Cobweb Spiders (Hogue) or Cellar Spiders from the family Pholcidae according to BugGuide.

By: Terry.M

Terry.M — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:57:47 +0000

I recently found quite a few of these spiders while fixing a water line under my house. They defiantly caught my attention that’s for sure i have studied bugs and arachnids since i was very young. I did not see any alive all where dead and their where quite a few other spiders of different species with webs very close to them. So this makes me wonder what type of fungus this is and does it kill the spiders or just consume the ones already dead, also does it target all spiders or is it species specific. To that end i am going to conduct a few control test and see what i can find out i will post my results and the pic when they are finished and see if we can shed some light on this. On a side note seeing these spiders and reading these story’s reminds me of a fungus from the rain forest i once read about that targets ants and once they are dead sprouts a spore from its head. “not saying theirs any relation here to that just reminded me of something interesting.

By: bugman

bugman — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:40:05 +0000

We do not have a mycologist on our staff who can provide any information on the possible threat to humans from the fungus that attacks spiders.

By: dn05

dn05 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:26:13 +0000

Hi, I have an old farmhouse in Massachusetts. I went to clean out the basement and found lots of these spiders. They were hanging from their webs. I could not tell if they were alive.
If they are covered in a fungus, does anyone have an idea as to which fungus it would be? Also, is it harmful to humans? Thanks for your help!

By: bugman

bugman — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:55:27 +0000

Thanks for supplying your observations. We have had a very hard time trying to convince folks that these are actually corpses.

By: HadleyGrass

HadleyGrass — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 03:41:30 +0000

I have numerous examples in my basement, they are not alive, but being very light and still attached to their webs, they move at the slightest breath or breeze. Dead spider or dead Harvestman, either way, death by spore invasion is creepy.

By: bugman

bugman — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:29:28 +0000

Thank you for supplying more information on this perplexing mystery. We have had numerous individuals write to us insisting that these creatures are alive and thriving though they appear to us to be dead spiders with a fungal infections.