Subject: RedLegged Purse web spider
Website: Whats’ that bug
June 12, 2013 8:11 pm
This evening I captured a red legged web purse spider , he is now in a jar
Signature: Sissy

Dear Sissy,
We wish you would photograph your Red Legged Purse Web Spider and send us a photo.  Then we wish you would release him where you found him so he can procreate.  Encounters with Red Legged Purseweb Spiders have been known to give folks nightmares.

Red Legged Purseweb Spider from the archives

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What’s this bug, please?
Location: Central Virginia
September 18, 2011 4:22 pm
Looked and could not find this one id’d anywhere. Any idea what it might be?
Signature: Kkildea

Red Legged Purseweb Spider

Dear Kkildea,
Your photo has really brightened our day.  This is a male Red Legged Purseweb Spider, Sphodros rufipes, and only the males have the signature red legs.  Females rarely leave their pursewebs, and the males wander about in search of a mate.  When we first ran a post on this species in 2003, we reported that they were considered rare and possibly endangered.  Most of our reports come in June, so this September sighting is unusual.  Purseweb Spiders are primitive spiders related to Tarantulas and Trapdoor Spiders, and they are not considered to be dangerous to humans. 

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purseweb spider found july 2008 on Block Island RI
i found this spider on BI while walking my dog about 1 full inch long thought i would pass on the info

Thanks for the info as well as the high resolution image with plenty of surrounding habitat, which we cropped to a tight shot. We enjoy getting reports about this endangered, spectacular spider.

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Red Legged Purseweb spider
Hello Bugman
I found this handsome guy running across my driveway near a flower bed, and near where we keep our trash cans. I kept him in the little jar for about 45 minutes until I found your picture of a dead one. I set him free near a young red maple in our front yard. After I read all that you wrote, I am hoping he makes it across our yard to a native rock retaining way that would be paradise for him. (About 35′ from where I turned him loose. He never showed that he felt threatened, but I wasn’t sure if he was poisonous due to his large fangs, and that usually beautiful creatures that are brightly colored are most often poisonous. I have attached several pictures of him. While in the jar he looked as if he was running, and his little pointy things and the tip of his abdomen were wriggling up and down. I am not sure what that was all about. He was very frisky when I let him go. Also, I have attached a picture of a large spider my excited sons called a "camouflage" spider. He has an unusual squared off and pointy abdomen. After I let him run off, I saw a younger version of him, hanging out by one of our patio tables. I would appreciate any info you could give me about him.
Thank you for your site. I have three young sons that are very excited about God’s Creatures, so I will be referencing your site fairly often.
Evie P. (Franklin, TN)

Hi Evie,
After the last image of a Red Legged Purseweb Spider that ended in Unnecessary Carnage, we are happy to see you have a sensitive enough world view to question before reacting. While you may desire the lovely male Red Legged Purseweb Spider to take up residence on your wall, chances are good he was wandering in search of a mate and that he will probably continue to do so until he finds her or is killed, either by a predator, some chance accident like being run over (luckily he escaped that bigwheel in your driveway), or deliberately by a human. Nice rock!!! Your other photo is too blurry for identification.

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Is this a Red Legged Purse Spider (sphodros rufipes)?
My daughter found this spider in an old cemetary that we visit at Memorial Day time. My daughter was sure she had found some rare spider, and I guess maybe she did. We live in Southwestern Kansas, and I don’t think they are very common here After convincing her that she did not need to keep the spider for a pet, she released it. Before releasing it, she took a picture of it, but it was a little too far away, and the crop turned out a little fuzzy. But looking at other pictures in this category, I believe it is a red legged purse spider. What do you think? . Thank you,
Krista

Hi Krista,
Your identification of a Red Legged Purseweb Spider is correct.

(06/02/2008) red legged purseweb spider
Thank you for providing such an excellent identification site for insects and spiders! While putting more native plants into our yard in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, my daughter found this magnificent spider with violet-black body and bright red legs. Everyone in the family came to see it. Even as an astute field biologist myself, I had never seen a spider like this. After some internet searching, I found the ID on your site. You mentioned it as an “endangered” species. Is that a federal listing or state listing? Do you know it’s listing in Missouri? We live in the river hills of the Mississippi river in what once was historically Beech-Tupelo mesophytic forest. We still have a few beech trees and tulip poplar is still common. Is there only one species of this kind (Atypus bicolor) or does the common name refer to several different species? Would you say that the one we have in Southeast Missouri is the endangered species? Any idea about its habitat preferences? I’d like to be able to find it again and take some photographs and video. Thanks again
Steven Juhlin

Hi Scott,
Your letter arrived the same day as a letter with a photo from Krista in Kansas, so we are posting them together. The endangered species status is something we researched back in 2003 when we received the first image of a Red Legged Purseweb Spider submitted to our site. Since then we have received many more. Wikipedia indicates it is a southern species that has been found as far north as Indiana and Missouri, so you are probably among the northernmost sightings, though since Wikipedia cites What’s That Bug? as a source, we may have perpetuated a myth. Wikipedia also indicates it is endangered throughout most of its range due to Fire Ants. Perhaps the spiders are migrating north to escape the warmth loving Fire Ants. The Purseweb Spiders of Kentucky website indicates: “The Red-Legged Purseweb Spider ( Sphodros rufipes , which may occur in Kentucky) has historically appeared on U.S. endangered species lists, but some scientists believe that it may not be a rare spider.” The bottom line is that virtually everything on the planet is endangered right now, but some more than others. We would hazard to guess that the Red Legged Purseweb Spider is more endangered than many.

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red legged purse web spider
I had never seen a spider like this before. While I was taking pictures of it a toad came by and gobbled it up. After looking on your web site, I identified it as a red legged purse web spider. I feel bad that it may be endangered and I let the toad eat it.
Lee
Dallas, GA

Hi Lee,
We first want you to know that through the years, you have been one of our most consistant contributors. Even though we cannot post every image you send to us, nor sometimes even answer personally, you continue to send letters our way. This gorgeous Red Legged Purseweb Spider might be our favorite of all the photographs you have sent to us. Please do not apologize for your toad. That is nature, and far better than the unnecessary carnage photos we have received.

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