Spider with Egg Sac
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
October 11, 2011 2:24 pm
I took a photo of a spider about .75” long in Santa Rosa, California, recently and would like to identify it. Can you help? Thanks
Signature: Glenn McCrea
Wolf Spider with Egg Sac
wolf spider
Hi, Daniel –
Thanks so much for your help in identifying these creatures. This is a fabulous service. Do you know any local resource in my area where I could find help with local creatures so I don’t have to bug you (so to speak) on a regular basis? I live in Santa Rosa, CA, about 50 miles north of San Francisco.
Thanks again,
Glenn McCrea
Hi Glenn,
We ran out of time yesterday, and though we wanted to post this photo of a Wolf Spider dragging her Egg Sac from her spinnerets, we had to leave for work. You are welcomed. Your photographs were all quite nice. We would suggest your local natural history museum for assistance. Nearby universities should also have entomology departments. As long as you are understanding that we cannot answer all of our mail, you are free to continue sending us identification requests. The Wolf Spider is our featured Bug of the Month for October 2011.
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Spider in Peru
Location: Peruvian Amazon near the village of Santa Maria, 20 miles from Iquitos
October 13, 2011 12:22 am
Hello, while we were in the Peruvian Amazon last month, we found this spider on one of our beds in our jungle lodge. It was about 3-4 inches in size (including the legs).
Signature: Misa
Huntsman Spider
Dear Misa,
We believe this is a Huntsman Spider or Wandering Spiderthough obviously not the same species we provided a link to. Huntsman Spider or Wandering Spiders are hunting spiders that do not build a web to trap prey. They often hunt nocturnally. Some tropical species are reported to be poisonous to humans.
Huntsman Spider
Thank you! We tried to sweep it out of the room but it just quickly dodged our attempt and stood it’s ground. We eventually had to ask one of the jungle guides to come into the room to get it out. When the jungle guide saw it, he took a quick swat at it to get it off of the bed and repeatedly stepped on it until it eventually died. He then grabbed some toilet paper to pick it up and take it out of the room. This was the complete opposite of how the guides gently handled the other spiders we had encountered, so I can’t help but think this one was poisonous!
Steatoda grossa?
Location: Western New York
October 11, 2011 11:07 pm
I found this spider in a web above my window. Looking at pics of Steatoda grossa, it seems to be a match. But I am asking a pro, to satisfy my own curiosity.
Signature: Tim from Fredonia, NY
Cobweb Spider
Hi Tim,
We believe this is one of the Cobweb Spiders in the family Theridiidae, but we cannot confirm that is is the False Widow, Steatoda grossa, which is pictured on BugGuide. The family also contains the notorious Widow Spiders in the genus Lactrodectus, but we feel confident that we can exclude them from the possibilities for your individual’s identity. We believe the strongest contenders are the members of the genus Theridion, also well represented on BugGuide. Perhaps one of our readers more skilled in spider identification will be able to provide something more definitive.
Sierra Leone Spider
Location: WAPFR, Sierra Leone
October 10, 2011 9:20 am
Hi – I found this spider on my backdoor in the Western Area Peninsular Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone this week. At first it looked dead but when I nudged it, one of the front pairs of legs moved around a bit. It seems to group it’s legs into pairs… I’ve never seen one like this so am fascinated to get any more information. Thanks!
Signature: Keira
Unknown Spider from Sierra Leone
Hi Keira,
We do not recognize your spider, and it has been our experience that other than moths and butterflies, African insects and arachnids can be very difficult to identify because there is not much credible internet information available, and we also suspect that many species have still not been correctly described. We suspect this is one of the Orbweavers, but we are not certain. This posture is often seen in members of the genus Argiope which your spider somewhat resembles, though Argiope species are usually more brightly colored. We are posting your letter and photo and tagging it as unidentified, and we hope to eventually be able to provide you with an answer.
Karl is knocking identifications out of the ball park!!!
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 2:47 PM
Unknown Spider from Sierra Leone – October 10, 2011
Hi Daniel and Keira:
It looks like a Net-casting Spider (Deinopidae) in the genus Deinopis, often referred to as Ogre-faced Spiders. The genus occurs globally, primarily in the southern hemisphere and particularly in Australia and Africa. The leg posture is typical and their hunting tactic is unique. They spin a web but rather than creating a stationary web that passively captures prey, they hold the web in their front four legs and drop with it onto passing insects as they hang in suspended ambush. The prey becomes entangled in the net and a quick bite then immobilizes it before it has a chance to struggle free. There are at least three genera of Deinopids in Africa (four globally) but the size and appearance suggest it is a species of Deinopis. Most online images are of Australian species, especially D. subrufa, and I was unable to determine a particular species name for this one. Regards. Karl
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beautiful spider
Location: NE Oklahoma
October 9, 2011 9:30 am
Hello, I live in North Eastern Oklahoma and was getting ready to winterize my pond. I began pulling excess surface water plants out and found this spider. We would love to know what kind he was. The blue on his abdomen was sky blue.The Pennywort leaf he was on is approximately 2 inches across.
Signature: Thanks so much!! Love your site.
Six Spotted Fishing Spider
Thanks for the compliment. Your lovely spider is a Six Spotted Fishing Spider, Dolomedes triton, a species rarely found far from ponds or slow moving bodies of water. This is one of the most aquatic of the Fishing Spiders. They are capable of walking across the water and even diving beneath the surface to escape predators and to capture prey. The Six Spotted Fishing Spider is known to catch small fish or tadpoles for food.
Antrodiaetus found in Texas?
Location: Austin, TX
October 8, 2011 10:25 pm
This one was spotted in a patch of grass at the edge of a front yard facing a residential street. It was engaging ants (for food, perhaps). We were walking the dog when we spotted him (her?) and the dog almost ate it for breakfast. We spotted it shortly after a very light drizzle, in the midst of a Texas drought.
Signature: Alexis
Female Wafer Lid Trapdoor Spider
Good Morning Alexis,
First we want to commend you on your excellent sleuthing attempt to identify your Trapdoor Spider, however, we disagree with your genus identification. We believe this is a Wafer Lid Trapdoor Spider in the genus Eucteniza, based on photos posted to BugGuide. With Trapdoor Spiders, females have shorter legs and rarely leave their burrows. Males tend to wander, generally after a rain, in search of a mate. We doubt if she was trying to feed upon the ants, though the ants might have been the reason she fled her burrow. Perhaps there was enough rain to flood her out. Prey tend to be larger creatures, including crickets and similar ground dwelling insects and arthropods. We are very excited to have received your excellent images.
Wafer Lid Trapdoor Spider
Thank you, Daniel! We were very interested in finding out the identity of this spider because it was the largest spider we’ve seen outside of a terrarium.
I think you’re correct about the ants. They seemed to be bothering her more than she was bothering them. We have some aggressive fire ants in Texas. Perhaps the rain disturbed both of their homes.
Please feel free to add my photos to your collection. The exact location was 22nd Street and Leon Street, Austin, Texas (Travis County). Thanks again!
uncatalogued Nephila species, or Argiope ocula?
Location: Taiwan
October 4, 2011 1:23 pm
Taiwan is full of amazing animals. Is this critter an example of Nephila, and if so, has the species been identified? Or is this gorgeous beast an Argiope ocula? I was very interested in the post by bugman on January 17, 2011, and the following discussion regarding genus and species. My first impression is that the spider in this picture and the spider in bugman’s picture are not the same genus -despite the similar translucent red legs. Bugman’s spider strikes me as Argiope, whereas this one appears to be Nephila. What do you think?
Signature: Dane Harris
Golden Silk Spider
Dear Dane,
We agree with your speculation that this is a Golden Silk Spider in the genus Nephila, and not Argiope ocula, the Taiwanese spider we posted in January 2011. Golden Silk Spiders take their name from the beautiful golden silk they spin, one of the strongest fibers that has been woven into clothing. You can read about the shawl that was woven by Golden Silk Spiders from Madagascar on the Ecouterre website. Your spider doesn’t look too different from the Australian Nephila rufapoda on the OzarkWild website that states this in its totality: “Nephila rufapoda Ross 2003 is about the biggest spider in Australia : with RED LEGS bigger than male handspan, totally new to science and a sensation, now in captivity, has bred and awaiting 2000 babies… I’ve just finished 494 night walks on a 3 year research project and what an incredible experience…
Nephila Rufapoda…locality Kuranda rainforest, 17 degrees south of equator, leg span 200mm, leg thickness letter ‘o’, large orb web high in canopy, (which is why not seen before). Eats small birds and cicadas, males 5mm rusty brown, related to other Nephila orb weavers but larger. At last count there were 28,700 spiders known from Australia BUT only 7,000 have been described. It costs up to $1,500 to describe a species and can take 3-4 years to get published. By ROSCO Dr R J Ross”
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Spider
Location: Dublin, Ireland
October 3, 2011 8:26 am
Hello,
This spider is in my garden, but I’ve never seen one like it before. What is it?
Signature: Claire
Cross Spider
Hi Claire,
Your spider is one of the Orbweavers, and we are nearly certain it is a Cross Spider, Araneus diadematus. Two Cross Spiders named Anita and Arabella were the first spiders sent into space aboard Skylab II as an experiment to see if Spiders could spin webs in space. They were chosen in part because the orb web of the Cross Spider is very regular. This European species has been introduced to North America where it has naturalized. You may read more about the Cross Spider on BugGuide.
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