Spider Photos 2010 (1)

Disclaimer: Replies that I publish are done so with no guarantee of authenticity or validity. Please DO NOT rely on identifications from any other than an official source like a Museum or entomologist. Furthermore, where a spider is described as  "not dangerous" does not mean that it doesn't bite or cause a reaction. Any spider can bite and some people react differently to others, so it's best to treat all spiders with caution. That doesn't mean of course, going around killing them!!! Leave them alone and they will leave you alone - we are NOT spider prey and they don't jump in out mouths while we are asleep or attack unprovoked! Most countries only have one or two spiders that are considered really dangerous to humans, there are thousands of spiders that aren't!!

Here's some photos sent in by viewers. Many thanks for allowing me to use these photos. All photos are copyright to their owners and may not be reproduced without permission. If anyone can help with identifying those that people have asked about, please email me so I can pass the info on. I have made 2 pages - Common spiders Australia and Common spiders USA, where you might see your spider if you are in Australia or USA. Please check this out before emailing me. Click here for a map showing the location of some of the dangerous spiders found in the USA. Rick Vetter has put out a great guide for identifying hobo spiders which is one of the common dangerous spiders in the US. Click here.

If you are in Queensland, you could try the Qld Museum's identifying spiders page. It's great! A new page is the Brisbane Insect and Spiders page. Another site to identify spiders from is Bug Guide which has some nice photos of American spiders on it and a new one I just found from Cirrus on Common American spiders, which has lots of photos. for European ones try Ed Nieuwenhuys' pages. This page has some medically significant spiders from South Africa. Another new page is the Find a Spider Guide Page  from the University of Southern Queensland. Many thanks to Richard Adams, Paul Day, Nathan Hepworth, Brian Post and Josh Hillman, FloridaNature.org for their many identifications. Please choose a section below.

UNIDENTIFIED SPIDERS

Reply: The markings on its cephalothorax are like a huntsman and it is probably a male. However its legs are a bit thick and short like a wolf spiders so I'm not sure. I would need to see the eye pattern to ID it properly - glen

1 March, 2010:
do you know this large spider from copan ruinas honduras?

Reply: The other 2 short "legs" are its pedipalps and because of the length of them and the large ends are the male reproductive organs- glen

23 February, 2010:
hi glen my girlfriend saw a spider crawling into the kitchen from outside it would seem, she asked me to remove it. I caught the spider but b4 letting it go i wanted to ID it.. after an hour or more of searching.. i am still not sure. i live in sydney nsw. the spider was about 1&1/2-2 inches in diameter. silver bum to black/dark brown head. thing thats throwing me off is it seems to have 6 long legs and 2 realy short front legs. or maybe two have been snapped off in a fight.. i dnt know... i have attached a photo. if u could get back to me with your thoughts would be great. thanks for any help. daniel

Reply: This is not a spider but it is an arachnid - probably a tick - glen

23 February, 2010:
Spider photo taken through a glass! The body is about size of an acorn and the head tiny in comparison. The legs are quite thick. There is also a very distinct horseshoe shaped marking where the head and body join. It's not moving so dead but still freaking me out. Can you ID it? C Jones

Reply: This is very hard to ID due to the lack of detail in the pic - glen

23 February, 2010:
Hi, First -- thank you for any help you can provide! Last Thursday I woke up in the middle of the night with a welt on my neck and one on my collarbone - in the morning there was an additional one on my arm (same side as neck & collarbone). These wound up swelling such that almost 1/3 of my entire arm & about half of my entire neck were swollen (I couldnt turn my head without pain), both areas were reddened, insanely itchy and very hot to touch. There was some sort of bite mark in the middle of each, which sometimes oozed a clear liquid. I didn't feel well and was exhausted until mid-day Sunday. My whole body itched at times. The itching and swelling started to go d own Sunday afternoon, and now, Tuesday morning, there is a faint red area at each bite. I found this spider crawling in my comforter yesterday. I haven't been able to find any other spiders (or spider webs) in, under, or near my bed. I've attached a few pics - one for an idea of scale and the others for, hopefully, identification. Thank you so, so much!! Melissa
PS The spider looks black to the naked eye - I don't think we had great light on it -- we had to photograph it at night.

Reply: This is Deinopis subrufa, commonly called a net casting spider. Spiders in this genus are also called ogre-faced spiders, due to the similarity between their appearance and that of the mythological creature, the ogre. It is distributed nearly worldwide in the tropics, from Australia to Africa and the Americas. glen

26 January, 2010:
Hi there, I found this spider inside my house in Rowville, Victoria 3178. It measured about 10cm length by 6cm wide. I wonder if you could identify it for me please and let me know if it's venomous ? I caught it and flicked it over into next doors garden as I don't agree with killing them but didn't want it in my house ! I look forward to hearing from you Regards Julie

26 January, 2010:
Hi Glenda! Love your page. My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon in Costa Rica (late Dec-early Jan) where we took many photos of wildlife, though with an inferior small digital camera. I have six photos here that I wanted to show you so you could tell me what species they are, if you have time and don't mind. I believe they're all different species, except maybe the two tarantula photos, which we were told were both "Red-kneed" or "Red-legged" tarantulas (or something like that). The two biggest orb spiders might be two different species (first and last photos). Sorry the small fuzzy pic of the round-abdomened spider may not be good enough quality to Identify. And lastly, there's the small, twiggy, camoflaged spider that's trying to look like a twig after being touched. These photos were all taken in various locations/elevations in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Thank you so much for your help and feel free to use any of these photos on your "web"site. :) Fellow spider-appreciater, Rebecca

Reply: This one is an argiope but I can't see what species because this is its underside. The other is some sort of long jawed orb weaver maybe. glen

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