Painting the town red!
Location: Southcoastal Massachusetts
November 13, 2011 12:35 pm
This spider was in my wood pile amongst MANY others.The reddish and two-toned coloring seemed odd. Recently I encountered another with a very different shape (not round abdomen) that was even more intese color red(unfortunately that one was not around long enough to pose for a pick) My question is what spiders are red and do spiders change colors depending on what they eat, environment, embarrassment etc?
Signature: Afraid of my wood pile:(
Sowbug Killer
Dear Afraid of my wood pile,
The spider in the photo is a Sowbug Killer or Woodlouse Hunter, Dysdera corcata. The bite of a Sowbug Killer is not considered dangerous, but it is possible that it may cause local tenderness. Many spiders are red, and without a photo, it is difficult to speculate. Sometimes spiders change color when they molt. In your area, the only potentially dangerous spiders are the Widow Spiders.
¶ Posted 13 November 2011 § ‡ ° Dulce de Leche Spider
March 13, 2010
Dear WTB,
Longtime reader, first-time inquiring. Cleaning out the woodpile is always a critter goldmine, so I made sure to have the camera handy. Sure enough, this fellow crawled out. He was VERY adverse to sunlight – scrambled immediately for shade/cover – but I did snap a few off before he vanished into the tall grass. I’ve lived here (SoCal) my whole life and have never seen his equal. He had a quarter-sized circumference (sorry I couldn’t get a coin down for reference) and his back half looked like an acrylic nail painted with dulce de leche. I would love an ID and my wife would like to know if he can bite/is poisonous (she doesn’t want it dead, but just wants to know how afraid she should be). Thank you!
greg
Venice, CA
Sowbug Killer
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the nice letter. Your spider is a Sowbug Killer or Woodlouse Hunter, Dysdera corcata. The species is not native and was introduced from the Mediterranean region. As with many other spiders, the bite is not dangerous, but it might be painful and cause local tenderness. The Sowbug Killer is not aggressive, but it might bite if it is carelessly handled.
Thank you Daniel! Your site rules. I cannot wait for the book.
Because of WTB, I have totally started calling Potato Bugs “Jerusalem Crickets” which puzzles my friends but seems to comfort the wife…who is Israeli (and is anti-bug, particularly the abundance of silverfish living in her psych.books).
¶ Posted 13 March 2010 § ‡ ° 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.“
¶ Posted 14 January 2010 § ‡ ° 
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