What kind of spider is this?
April 23, 2010
I was on a uni field trip in the Toomba Nature Refuge/ Great Basalt National Park in Queensland, Australia (April 2010) and I almost walked straight into this guy’s web. The spider was quite big, I’d say a bit smaller than a person’s hand length. The area was grassy eucalypt woodland and it was early in the morning. In the picture the spider has a big parcel in its hands. Not sure what it was, just assumed that it was food. Anyway, his colouring is pretty awesome!
Esther
Great Basalt National Park, QLD, Australia
Golden Silk Spider
Hi Esther,
Collectively, Spiders in the genus Nephila are known as Golden Silk Spiders because of the color of the silk they spin. Australia has several species in the genus Nephila and we believe your spider is Nephila edulis, based on the Brisbane Insect website, which indicates the spider is commonly called the Golden Orb Weaver, a name shared with the OzAnimals website. On Wikipedia, the Latin meaning of the species name edulis is translated to edible, and there is mention of this spider being roasted and eaten in New Guinea: “While it is not entirely clear why this particular species is considered edible, it is known that several Nephila species are considered a delicacy in New Guinea, where they are plucked by the legs from their webs and lightly roasted over an open fire.”
1
Sunday Morning Spider
April 25, 2010
Found this little one waiting at my desk this morning. It was sitting on top of the scrap of paper that acts as my things to do list, so I happily put off cleaning my desk and checking my e-mail so we could take some spider glamor shots.
I also found what might be an easier way of searching the site. Rather than going through all the blog postings, you can type the following query into google:
site:www.whatsthatbug.com spider
Replace spider with whatever insect you like, and all the lovely photos on the site with that name appear.
I guess it wasn’t that helpful though, as I still couldn’t identify this one. Oh well, maybe you can help. Thanks!
Pete
Portland, OR
Running Crab Spider
Hi Pete,
Our quick web search did not provide a match, so we are posting your unidentified spider in the hope that someone will be able to assist in the identification. It reminds us a bit of a Lynx Spider, but not enough to provide a match. Those pedipalps indicate it is probably a male spider, and that supports is diminutive size of less than the diameter of a penny.
Identified as Running Crab Spider by Karl
April 26, 2010
Hi Daniel and Pete:
This looks a Running Crab Spider (Philodromidae), probably a male Philodromus dispar. This is actually a European species that was introduced to North America (I don’t know how or when) and has become established in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. There are other species of Philodromus in the region but none of them look like a match to me (see bugguide.net). There is also a least one other European species (P. aureolus) that looks pretty much the same to me, but I don’t think it has made it to this side of the Atlantic. Regards.
Karl
Running Crab Spider
Wow, that’s great! My girlfriend is a huge fan of anything with even the slightest reference to ‘crab’, so she’s got something new to sketch. Thank you so much for the detailed response!
Pete
thick black spider
April 24, 2010
very slow moving, thick spider with shiny legs but flat black abdomen. joints in legs were white-ish.
travis
henry county, georgia
Cork Lid Trapdoor Spider
Hi Travis,
This awesome spider is a Cork Lid Trapdoor Spider in the genus Ummidia, and there is information available on BugGuide where most of the submissions hail from Georgia. We believe your specimen is a female because of her more compact legs. The longer legged males travel in search of females, but females rarely leave their burrows, which makes your sighting a bit unusual.
Big spiders on my patio
April 24, 2010
I keep running into these spiders. All winter long they wait outside the door for a chance to get in. I have a huge fear of bugs, especially spiders. What is this one and is it harmful? I have children that like to play with bugs and I don’t want them getting hurt.
Scared of Spiders
East Tennessee
Possibly Carolina Wolf Spider
Dear Scared of Spiders,
While many spiders are scary, very few are actually dangerous to humans or pets, unless your pets are cockroaches. This looks to us like a Carolina Wolf Spider, Hogna carolinensis, based on comparison to a photo posted to BugGuide, though it does not have the orange chelicera that are mentioned as an identifying feature on the BugGuide information page for the species. Perhaps one of our readers with more skill in the identification of Wolf Spiders will assist in the confirmation of this identification.
Carolina Wolf Spider, we believe
Spider from Columbia made it to the USA!
April 22, 2010
I work in a facility in the USA where we ripen bananas. First off, this is one tough spider. It has traveled thousand of miles at sea, was jostled around within a 2000lb pallet, suffocated with ethylene gas for 24 hours which is used to replace oxygen and start the ripening process of bananas, dodged fork lifts with banana pallets on them only to be swept out of a ripening room by me. I stopped the instance I saw the dust pile moving and quickly got two cups and a bunch of tape to snatch this spider up. It isn’t in the best of shape which I blame myself for but it’s still kicking! I believe it is of the huntsman group. As far as I can tell it is not a Brazilian Wandering Spider. Leg span from front to back is about 1 1/2 inches. it has been given a meal worm and a cricket but hasn’t snatched either up. Any info would be great!
James Price
COLUMBIA (but discovered in the states)
Banana Spider
Hi James,
The Huntsman Spider Heteropoda venatoria has multiple common names including Banana Spider, the most appropriate name for your individual. Banana Spiders got this common name many years ago exactly because they entered distant lands on banana boats, often cropping up in grocery stores when the shipment was delivered. They are often mistaken for Tarantulas. The Banana Spider now has a nearly worldwide distribution, especially in warm port towns where it can survive and reproduce. The Banana Spider is harmless, and it is a shy nocturnal hunter that does not build a web and will eat all the night prowling Cockroaches it encounters. Compare your photos to this one on BugGuide where it is indicated: “Non-native, introduced from Asia, possibly on bananas. Apparently spreading into the US from warmest areas.“ We love your eye witness account.
Banana Spider
HUGE Red Creepy Sow Bug Killer(?) in Oklahoma
April 20, 2010
Hi,
I found this nasty looking spider about a week ago in central Oklahoma. I think it’s a sow bug killer, but the coloring looks more red than the other pictures I’ve seen. He was about an inch and a half long. His eyes were grouped tightly together and his legs and abdomen were covered in black bristles. His pedipalps were really long, almost as long as his front legs, and I think he had “claws” on the ends (I couldn’t really tell because he kept them tucked up by his fangs). When I found him, he was hiding in a burrow under a log. This guy was really calm and cooperative as I took his picture. Thanks any help with the I.D.
Josh Kouri
Folding Door Spider
Hi Josh,
This is definitely not a Sow Bug Killer, Dysdera crocata, which you can compare to this nice photograph of a similar angle on BugGuide. Your spider looks to us like a Folding Door Spider in the genus Antrodiaetus which is also pictured on BugGuide. Folding Door Spiders are a group of Trapdoor Spiders that live in tubes which they close by drawing in the rim according to BugGuide.
Folding Door Spider
Thanks for the I.D. I never would have guessed he was a trap door spider. I didn’t even know we had them in Oklahoma!
Josh
Correction thanks to Eric Eaton
May 7, 2010
Daniel:
I agree the spider posted on April 21 is a type of trapdoor spider, just not in the family Antrodiaetidae. More likely in the family Cyrtaucheniidae. Positive, in fact.
Eric
Friend or foe?
April 19, 2010
I found this spider in my friends pool. The match book should provide a good estimate as to its size.
Aaron Grimes
Marin County, California
Wafer Lid Trapdoor Spider
Hi Aaron,
This looks to us like a Trapdoor Spider, probably a Wafer Lid Trapdoor Spider in the genus Promyrmekiaphila which BugGuide reports from California. It looks like a male, and male Trapdoor Spiders often drown in swimming pools while searching for a mate. Trapdoor Spiders are harmless to humans and pets.
Cork Lid Trapdoor Spider
Distinctive Spider – wonderland?
April 11, 2010
The bright metallic green flash from this guy’s head caught my eye and I was surprised by the white, black and red stripes on the abdomen. Can’t find an example anywhere. Any idea of genus-species? Found on a mile marker along a hiking trail in Southern California.
Adriano
Ventura County, California
Jumping Spider
Hi Adriano,
This is a Jumping Spider in the family Salticidae. We quickly scanned through the images on BugGuide, but could not find a match. Perhaps one of our readers can assist.
Identification and questions
Incorporating IDs from comments?
May 3, 2010
(I might have accidentally submitted this through the “ID this bug” form before I read the directions closely enough; if so, very sorry!)
Hi guys! You run a wonderful, much-needed, and tremendously educational site. My question: Are there any criteria you apply as you decide when to update an entry based on identifications provided in readers’ comments? This was done with the April 30 entry “Longicorn from New Guinea may be Batocera kibleri”, for example, but my ID of the April 11 jumping spider as Salticus palpalis — about which I have much greater confidence than any other identification I’ve attempted here — has gone unremarked, even though my comment was approved. Are commenters’ qualifications, amount of activity on the site, or history of correct identifications among the criteria you consider? Or is it just a matter of what you happen to notice or feel significant in the very limited time you have? 
Not being critical and certainly not upset or anything, just curious. Thanks again for all you do!
Randy
Hi Randy,
WE really are not able to incorporate every comment into the initial posting, but on some occasions we try to incorporate information dealing with difficult identifications. Some longtime contributors email us as well as making postings, and some even older contributors never provide comments. Eric Eaton communicates through our personal email address. We are sorry if you felt snubbed or overlooked. It was not intentional.
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