Identifying Spider Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 12:31 PM
I found this spider when I reached for my soap dispenser in my bathroom! It was in June. The spider was approximately 2″ by 2″. My husband captured the spider on the side of a kleenex box and he “thinks” it made it safely outside. I have not seen it since. By the way, we live in the town where the movie “Arachnophobia” was filmed. Thanks for you help!
Judy
Central Coast of California
Hi Judy,
We thought your spider looked like one of the Giant Crab Spiders, but we didn’t recognize it, so we wrote to Eric Eaton. Here is his response: “Daniel: The spider is a male in the family Tengellidae, related to giant crab spiders. I believe it is an introduced species, native to somewhere overseas, but not recognized as dangerously venomous. Might be in the genus Titiotus, but not sure. There should be some online fact sheets about it since it is such a large spider and easiy commands attention. Eric” Eric’s response made us ponder the possibility that perhaps several of Aracnophobia’s extras escaped and found your town to their liking. It would be an example of life imitating art. We were also quite impressed with your bathroom. Since our recent remodel, we have white bathroom tile with white grout, but it seems our grout always looks dingy. We would love to hear your cleaning secret.