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Red Spider with Large Brown Shiny Abdomen
January 13, 2010
Found in the garage this morning next to a box that had been in storage for a long time and had been taken out.
It seems “shy” – it prefers to stay motionless with its legs drawn tightly to the body. I wasn’t even sure it was a spider at first since the abdomen resembles some kind of seed.
To take the photo and get it to extend its legs I had to shake the container a bit.
MAK
Malibu, CA

Sow Bug Killer

Hi MAK,
Your spider is Dysdera crocata, and BugGuide calls it by three different common names that refer to variations on the common name of its prey.  The names on BugGuide are Woodlouse Hunter, Sow Bug Hunter and Pill Bug Hunter, though Charles Hogue, in his wonderful book Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, refers to it by the even more accurate name Sow Bug Killer.  The Biosecurity of New Zealand website calls this species a Slater Spider because Slater is a common name for the prey in New Zealand and Australia.  According to that site:  “Slater spiders originate in Europe but are now common throughout much of the world. They may be found throughout New Zealand and are common in suburban gardens.“

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