Skip to content

Category Archives: Spiders   rss

White Orbweaver

Big White Spider
Location:  Penrose, CO
October 6, 2010 6:43 pm
I found this guy hanging out in the eaves of my Aunt’s porch in Colorado. I don’t think it’s intentions were harmful, but I never walked under those eaves anymore!
Signature:  Freaked Out

araneus white colorado 300x226 White Orbweaver

Orbweaver

Dear Freaked Out,
Orbweavers in the genus Araneus are perfectly harmless to humans.  We cannot give you an exact species name for this lovely white specimen of a highly variable genus with several highly variable species, though if we were betting, we would place our money on the Marbled Araneus, Araneus marmoreus.  BugGuide has an information page on the species that shows some of the many variations.

Posted 08 October 2010 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

White Banded Crab Spider

strange yellow spider?? Southern CA
Location:  Orange County, CA
October 6, 2010 10:15 pm
Hi!
I photographed this yellow spider on my daughter’s umbrella. Thought it might have changed color to match/blend in? It was exactly the same yellow!
When I blew gently on him, the front legs, which1st appeared to be only single on each side, spread apart and there were two claw-like legs on each side. (see photo)
Very interesting.
He’s living under the eave, undisturbed.
Any help you can give identifying would be appreciated.
Signature:  Thanks, Amy

crab spider amy 300x225 White Banded Crab Spider

Crab Spider

Dear Amy,
Your lovely spider is a Crab Spider in the family Thomisidae, and we are quite certain it is the Whitebanded Crab Spider, Misumenoides formosipes, a common species in Southern California that is well represented on BugGuide as well as being the representative for the family in Charles Hogue’s wonderful book Insects of the Los Angeles Basin.

Posted 07 October 2010 § Crab Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Jumping Spider

Mr Four-Eyes
Location:  Los Angeles, CA
October 6, 2010 12:38 pm
This red/black spider was busily walking around the tips of Canna leaves and dragging a silk line after it. It must be very aware of its environment because it noticed me from relatively far away, stopped what it was doing and then even turned to face the camera some two feet away (see the first picture). Any closer and it’d go hide behind the leaf.
Based on the large front eye pair and its behavior, I think this is a Jumping Spider, is that correct ?
Signature:  Laurentiu

phidippus laurentiu 223x300 Jumping Spider

Jumping Spider

Dear Laurentiu,
You are absolutely correct that this is a Jumping Spider in the family Salticidae.  It is in the genus Phidippus, and based on BugGuide, it is in the insignarius group.  It looks nearly identical to a specimen from nearby Pasadena that was identified on BugGuide as being Phidippus adumbratus, however, it also looks nearly identical to a picture in Charles Hogue’s Insects of the Los Angeles Basin that is identified as Phidippus formosus that is not represented on BugGuide.  Perhaps there was a taxonomy change.  Hogue provides this information:  “Both sexes spend the daylight hours wandering over the ground and vegetation in search of small invertebrates, upon which they may leap from some distance.  Because they are so active, they often wander into houses, where they attract immediate attention (and cause undue concern) with their bright color and rapid movements.”  Your photos are wonderful, and they nicely show the typical eye pattern of Jumping Spiders.

phidippus laurentiu 2 300x268 Jumping Spider

Jumping Spider

Posted 07 October 2010 § Jumping Spiders ‡ Comments (1) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Corklid Trapdoor Spider

Trap Door Spider
Location:  James Island, SC
October 6, 2010 6:08 am
Hi Bugman,
We love WTB. My wife swept up this spider whilst doing her daily chore. I think its a trap door spider. I flipped it over for a better look.
Thanks.
Signature:  Simply Bananas

corklid trapdoor ummidia 300x206 Corklid Trapdoor Spider

Corklid Trapdoor Spider

Dear Simply Bananas,
We wanted to hurry to get one more post up before rushing to work since we had a connectivity issue today.  We agree that this is a Trapdoor Spider, probably in the genus Ummidia which is well represented by specimens from the South in our archives and on Bugguide.  The view of the underside is quite nice, and it matches this image on BugGuide.

corklid trapdoor ummidia 2 300x236 Corklid Trapdoor Spider

Corklid Trapdoor Spider

Posted 06 October 2010 § Tarantulas and Trapdoor Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Orbweaver from France

WTH is this?
Location:  Paris, France
October 2, 2010 12:18 pm
Oh please help me identify this Spider! I am living in the suburbs of Paris and I am forever seeing these in my window. Can you tell me what kind of Spider it is and if it is dangerous?
Signature:  American in Paris

argiope france 254x300 Orbweaver from France

Orbweaver: Wasp Spider

Dear American in Paris,
The Spiders of Northwest Europe website identifies this lovely Orbweaver as Argiope bruennichi, and it is commonly called a Wasp Spider, though it is unclear where that common name is used.  We doubt it is the common name in France since the name is in English.

Posted 03 October 2010 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) °

Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula

Tarantula???
Location:  Salt Lake City
October 2, 2010 10:24 pm
My wife and I were hiking in the foothills just north of Salt Lake City in City Creek Canyon when we happened on this big hairy guy (or maybe gal). The Utah Museum of Natural History website has information on a Salt Lake City Brown tarantula. Could this be a SLC Brown?
Signature:  Chris

tarantula chris cu 226x300 Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula

Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula

Hi Chris,
Your Tarantula is beautiful.  It matches a photo of Aphonopelma iodius which we located on BugGuide. or the Desert Blond Tarantula, Aphonopelma chalcodes, which is also pictured on BugGuide.  BugGuide also has this information posted on the genus page:  “The Aphonopelma of North American are poorly known. Although many species have been described few specimens can be properly identified either by using available keys or by wading through species descriptions . Most identifiable specimens belong to species found in Mexico or Central America that are easily recognized by unique color patterns, such as that of A. seemanni . Correct identification of specimens collected within the United States is often suspect since determinations must be based on the process of elimination using collection dates and locality data in combination with coloration, coxal setation, and metatarsal scopulation ” and the quote is attributed to http://americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v25_n2/JoA_v25_p137.pdf.  At the very bottom of the Spiderzrule Tarantula page we found a photo of the Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula and it is identified as Aphonopelma melanium.  Interestingly, the Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula on the Utah Museum of Natural History website is identified as the first spider we mentioned, Aphonopelma iodius.  It was found in Salt Lake City and it is a brown Tarantula, so we are content calling it a Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula.

tarantula chris 300x225 Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula

Salt Lake City Brown Tarantula

Posted 03 October 2010 § Tarantulas and Trapdoor Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Red and Black Spider from Papua Indonesia

Glossy Red and black spider from Papua highlands
Location:  Tembagapura, Papua, Indonesia
October 2, 2010 10:08 pm
We see these small spiders with a red cephalothorax and upper half of legs and glossy black abdomen and lower half of legs around the house here in the highlands (2500 meters) in Papua, Indonesia. Any ideas what they are?
Signature:  Kevin

spider papua kevin 300x212 Red and Black Spider from Papua Indonesia

Red and Black Spider from Indonesia

Dear Kevin,
This is one awesome looking spider.  We want to GUESS that this might be a Cobweb Spider in the family Theridiidae, the same family that includes such black and red poisonous spiders as the Black Widow from North America and the Red Back Spider from Australia.  Red and Black are codified warning colors in the insect and bug* worlds, and that warning is generally poison.  We hope our readership will come to our rescue with the name of this begloved she-beauty.

* Ed. Note: Bugs are loosely defined as “Thing That Crawl” in Daniel’s new book The Curious World of Bugs.

spider papua kevin 2 300x252 Red and Black Spider from Papua Indonesia

Spider from Papua

Update
Hi Daniel,
Thanks – I think you steered me in the right direction.  I’m going to guess this is in the Nicodamidae family which was split out of the family Theridiidae (according to what I can find on some Aussie web sites) about 15 years ago.  The Australian Red and Black spider (not to be confused with the Red Back) looks almost identical to mine and is a member of this family.
This one has a body length of 8mm, and from what I can tell looking at pictures would appear to be a female.
Regards,
Kevin

Thanks for writing back Kevin.  As you did not provide a link, we searched and found the family Nicodamidae on the Spiders of Australia website and there were photos of Nicodamus peregrinus, which looks very close to your specimen.  The webpage indicates Nicodamus peregrinus can be found in Eastern Australia, and that “The family Nicodamidae consist of nine genera with 29 descibed species, all living in Australia, one in New Guinea and one in New-Zealand.“  The Esperance Fauna website also devotes nice coverage to the family Nicodamidae.

Sorry for not including the links – yes, those were the sites I found most helpful also.
Cheers,
Kevin

3

Posted 03 October 2010 § Cobweb Spiders § Curious World of Bugs ‡ Comments (0) °

Long Bodied Cellar Spider

Weird Bug
Location:  Thetford, Norfolk, England
September 26, 2010 3:57 am
I found this on my toilet wall very near 2 dead spiders. it’s about 5cm long.
Signature:  name of the bug

long bodies cellar spider england 300x237 Long Bodied Cellar Spider

Long Bodied Cellar Spider

This sure looks to us like a Long Bodied Cellar Spider, Pholcus phalangioides, which has a worldwide distribution according to BugGuide.

1

Posted 30 September 2010 § Cellar Spiders ‡ Comments (0) °

Page 31 of 138« First...1020...2930313233...405060...Last »