Subject: Spider
Location: Sitka, Alaska
January 24, 2014 11:20 pm
What kind of spider is this? Its kind of big as the newspaper lettering is about 3/4 of an inch..so the spider must be about over an inch long… I live in Sitka Alaska and I found this spider in the house around early December of 2013. I caught it using a glass mason jar. I released it outside after I took this pic of it. Thank you.
Signature: Don’t kill any bugs please
We believe this is a Ground Spider in the family Corinnidae, possibly in the genus Castianeira. You can see some similar looking spiders on BugGuide. For your kindness to the lower beasts, we are tagging this posting with the Bug Humanitarian Award.
On Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 9:08 AM, daniel marlos wrote:
Hi Mandy,
Any thoughts on this critter?
Daniel
Hi Daniel,
That one is a female “hacklemesh weaver” in the genus Callobius, family Amaurobiidae. There are only two species recorded from Alaska: C. nomeus and C. pictus. Of those two species, C. pictus is the one that usually has faintly banded legs like this Sitka specimen has. Callobius aren’t your run-of-the-mill house spiders, so this one probably got in accidentally, or was carried in on firewood if the photographer uses a wood stove or fireplace. They are really gorgeous spiders in person, vibrant burgundy or wine-colored!
Mandy
Wow, thanks Mandy,
I will look for some links.
Daniel
You’re welcome. =) Here’s also a link to the Callobius section at BugGuide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/18812/bgpage. Not every species is represented there yet, but we have some examples of both the Alaskan species (nomeus & pictus).
Geez, I can’t believe we’re already a month into 2014! Time goes too fast. Happy Chinese New Year to you too!