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Spider Photos - Spitting Spiders

Widow Spiders

SPITTING SPIDERS

The Spitting Spider (Latin name Scytodes thoricica) belongs to the family of six eyed spiders. (Haplogynae). It is called the "Spitting Spider" because it spits a poisonous sticky substance over its prey. Its body size ranges between 3 and 6 mm. They catch their prey by spitting a fluid that immobilizes it by congealing on contact into a venomous and sticky mass. They can be observed swaying from side to side, in order to cover the prey in a crisscrossed "Z" pattern; each of two pores in the chelicerae emits half of the pattern. The spider usually strikes from a distance of 10-20mm and the whole attack sequence is over in a little under 1/700th of second. It is a slow hunter and seems to use special long hearing hairs on its legs to locate its prey. It hunts at night and moves slowly towards its prey. When it is about 10mm away, it stops and carefully measures the distance with one front leg. Then it squeezes the back of its body together and spits two poisonous silk threads in one six-hundredth of a second, in a zigzag manner over the victim. The prey is immediately immobilized. If the prey is big, the spider spits several times.  

Reply: I think this is a spitting spider  - glen

30 October, 2011:
Hi Glen, Hopefully this picture attached is clear enough. The spider was about the size of a US Penny. I found it in Gilbert Airzona in a tub. When I stepped in the tub to get a closer look, it actually came after me. It was a fighter! Thanks! Kasey
 

Reply: Closest I can come up with is a spitting spider but not positive, could also be a daddy long legs!! - glen

17 September, 2011:
Hi! This spider is hanging out in my bathroom, I live in Wilmington, NC. I cant figure out what he is! :) -- Martha
 

4 August, 2011:
We discovered this spider in our apartment late last night. We immediately thought it could be a brown recluse. Do you think it is? Thanks in advance!

1 August, 2011:
 I do not know what kind of spiders these are? I was unable to take pictures of their undersides but did get one of their webs.

12 July, 2011:
 also had a spitting spider and he was really cool again, these photos if you want to use them, go right ahead. your site is giving me a better interest in spiders, even though they still creep me out and i dont like them in my home. anything harmless i toss outside. had a cute jumping spider but no photos of him. thanks again :) Casey

PS most likely will send any good photos or any i spiders i'd like ID'd. theyre cool and i want to know whats around me, but good to know only the sac spiders are the only harmful spiders in my area. so makes me more relaxed about it. now i take pictures, then catch and release lol
 

Reply: Yes it is  - glen

12 April, 2011:
Hello, Glen. I found this spider in my closet in a pile of clothing. I was able to catch it and take these pictures- unfortunately all I have is my iPhone to take photos with. Can you tell if it's a spitting spider or not? Thanks! -Christine

11 November, 2010:
Glen, I looked all over the site and was thinking this might just be a Funnel Weaver or a spitting spider. I find about 1-2 a week in the house... usually always a bathroom. I live in Gilbert, Arizona. I kept one in a jar for a day and noticed some liquid in the glass that I thought was odd... that's where I got the idea from the spitting spider...The spider might have also need to use the restroom :) not real sure on that. Any thought would be helpful.. the size of them has varied much little larger than a quarter but most I have found have been about the size of a nickel. I do live around farm land Corn and Cotton and hay. Thanks Much!

11 May, 2010:
Can you help identify this spider?

10 October, 2009:
Hi there, Please could you identify t=ese spiders for me. I live in the South of England. The first picture i= of a spider I found crawling up my wall, he's about 7mm long. I've not se=n colouration on a spider quite like it before. Pictures 2 and 3 are of=a spider I trod on barefoot (which made the spider die shortly after) when=I trod on it I felt a sharp pain in my foot as though I'd just trodden on = small pointy rock, I withdrew my foot pretty quick, there wasn't any mark=on my foot. Thanks in advance Chris

29 May, 2009:
hi, i found this spider in my house, i live in souther desert in Arizona, USA. there are many wolf spiders and black widows around here, but have never seen this spider. it is about an inch (2 cm)across from end of front leg to end of back leg. Thank you. -Josh

29 March, 2009:
Hello, Wondering if you can identify this spider for me. The closest I have found so far is a Spitting Spider, though it looks like most spitting spiders, if not all of the ones I can find online have bands on their legs This one did not. I cannot make out a violin, thankfully, so I am hoping its not a recluse. Also, I read that recluses will never have more than one colour on their abdomens, as this one does. However, with the flash reflecting on the head, its kind of hard to make out, but I think I see the six eye pattern of the recluse, and also spitting spiders. We're in Houston. Any help you can provide would be great. Thanks! Dave

Click for a larger view.

4 October,  2008:
I am attaching a photo of a spider I caught on the ceiling, It is the second one I see inside my home and I don't have a clue about them, I live in Tijuana, Mexico Near San Diego, CA. It was larger than a quarter and very beautiful. Can you tell me something about it? Fell free to post the photo, It is big. Congratulations on the site, it is really good! Ricardo

18 August,  2008:
I was recently bitten by this spider, however, I’m having a difficult time identifying it. I live in the southern United States, Memphis, TN. I believe that it’s in the tegenaria family (the long legs, slender body), but cannot decide. It may be a huntsman or a hobo, too. I’m just not sure. In any case, here is the photo. Hopefully you can help.

29 June, 2008:
Hey there. First of all I'd like to say what an informative website you have! I did some searching and I still can't determine what kind of spider this is. I can't confirm that it's a brown recluse, nor does it seem large enough to be a huntsman. I hope you can help me! They seem to keep to themselves...I've seen them coming out of the bottom of the closet (between the floor and the baseboard) and the same in the bathroom (see attached pictures). The tiles in there are pretty small, maybe an inch by an inch, just to get a feel for the size of these things. I tried to zoom in on it so you could get a closer look at 'em, hope it helps. I have not noticed any webs in the house either. The farthest up I've seen is about a foot up the bathroom wall. All other times I've noticed them, they've been crawling on the floor. I live in Austin, Texas but it's possible my roommate brought them with him when he moved from Napa, California. The homeowners we rent from said they had never had a problem with spiders before we moved in. They do bite, and it isn't fun. A few friends of mine have been bitten, including my roommate and myself. There is usually a great amount of (painful) swelling that occurs around the bite. It got pretty red and a little itchy from what I remember. The area around the bite seemed to "open up" kind of like a small hole in my skin (this is where all the gross stuff came out from). Those who were bitten have a small scar as a result. Please let me know if you might be able to identify this creature! Thank you! -Johanna

29 June, 2008:
Also, I am attaching a picture of a Spitting Spider. These Spitting Spiders are increasing in number around here, and I'm afraid they will replace the Steadota. Every time I observe a Spitting Spider near a Steadota, the Spitting Spider has replaced the Steadota within a couple of days. I suppose they have a slight advantage, like being able to attack and incapacitate their prey from a distance! --Damy

2 March, 2008:
Hi Glen I thought that the Spitting Spiders were all disappearing around here, but I guess I just didn't know where to look. There are a lot of them on a brick pile in the yard at night when it's warm enough. Feel free to use the pictures if you can --Damy

4 February, 2008:
Hi, I have attached some Australian common spider pictures which you may be of interest. These are mostly taken around Perth as the opportunity arose using a simple Canon powerShot A410. The last one is recent and is a jumping spider seconds after wrestling a large fly into submission. Hope you enjoy them. Regards Richard

Click for a larger view.

29 January, 2008:
Hi! I really love your website, and spend a lot of time reading and viewing each time I visit. I have enclosed some photos of a type of spider that started showing up suddenly at my home here in Four Oaks, North Carolina, USA last summer. They have since all disappeared except for this one example with four legs missing. I don't know if perhaps these spiders are just finding places to hide now that it's been really cold, or if they are dying off for some reason. They seem to be very slow-moving, and I've only seen one with any prey. I've never seen any of them catch anything, which is a shame, given what type of spider they might be. The photos I've attached have been resized. I have the full-resolution photos available, but I don't know If I could send them in a single e-mail. I tried to e-mail several pictures totalling about 8 MB to you the other day, but I received a message saying I had exceeded some size limit. If you would like the full-size pics, as well as some other cool pics I've taken, and can let me know the size limit for e-mails being sent to you, I'll send them. Again, really cool site. Let me know what kind of spider I have here, and if you would like the other pictures. --Damy

Click for a larger view.

24 November, 2007:
Hi Glen, I found this very weird looking spider in my bathroom. I've never seen
one like this. Please stick it on your webpage. Hopefully you or someone
else will be able to identify it. Regards! Hannes
Click for a larger view.

20 July, 2007:
ok, This female gave birth to many many small baby spiders in my bedroon two weeks or so ago. Sunday I grabbed small cloth bag in my closet and she bit me. Cant seem to identify it. My finger swelled so fast and turned blue by the ring area. Im ok

7 May, 2007:
Hello,I found 2 of these spiders in my house tonight. I live in Phoenix, AZ. It is very small. Leg span of between a dime and a penny. Is it dangerous? Thanks