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Old 07-26-2012, 05:57 PM
 
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Not sure where this was supposed to be posted.

Just want to know what kind of spider has been in my basement for awhile.

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Old 07-26-2012, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Old Mother Idaho
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It looks like a Hobo to me.
They are a plague out here in Idaho, and their bite is a flesh killer. Nasty buggers, but easy to kill.
They're called Hobos because they're good at hitching rides on freight, and are non-native to the US.

They originally came from Germany, where they are strictly a garden spider, and hitched a ride on a boat to Seattle about 50 years ago. They have been spreading slowly eastward and southward ever since. We have had them here for about 20 years now, and they live outside while the weather is warm, but move into houses around October when it begins to get cold. They supposedly can't climb well, so the usually end up in basements, but I killed one in my upstairs bathtub a couple of years ago.

The antenna (? I'm not sure if that's the right part) on either side of their face look sort of like boxing gloves, and they typically rear up and wave them when cornered. They are rather fuzzy, and are usually a medium brown color, about as big as a 50¢ piece or larger, and can move very fast. They don't spin big webs, and tend to congregate.

If this description fits, and you have a lot of them, there is a very effective spider trap that was designed specifically for them. The trap uses Hobo hormone scent as a lure, and don't affect any other spiders. Hobos crawl in and can't get back out.

A tiny Hobo predator spider was introduced in this area that works the best to thin them out outside the house. This little guy is shiny black with a very large, globular abdomen, and the Hobo is it's natural prey. They are only about as big as the head of a round headed paper tack, and their fangs are so small they don't do much more damage to a human than a mosquito bite, but they're hell on Hobos.
I discovered some in my back yard a few years ago, when I was having a bad Hobo infestation, and my problem spiders in the house have almost disappeared since. When I first moved in, 8 years ago, they were all over, but I've only seen one or two come in for a long time now. The little spiders never come in the house.
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Old 07-26-2012, 07:11 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
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It also looks like the wolf spiders that we get here in South TX. They move very fast and blend in well with tan carpet. When they bite, it leaves two holes. I have been bitten twice...both times, the bite swelled and turned red a few inches around it, then got better within a week.
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Old 07-29-2012, 08:05 PM
 
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Difficult to tell from the photo but it may be a brown recluse. For brown recluses look for a "fiddle" shape on the upper back (thorax).

Brown Recluse Spider Identification

Spiderzrule
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Old 07-30-2012, 04:21 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal View Post
Difficult to tell from the photo but it may be a brown recluse. For brown recluses look for a "fiddle" shape on the upper back (thorax).

Brown Recluse Spider Identification

Spiderzrule
It is NOT a brown recluse. The cephathorax is too broad, it has too many sensory bristles on the legs. I suspect it is also not a hobo due to the lack of very obvious chevrons on the abdomen.

I suspect it is a wolf spider though it would be much easier to identify if the size of the spider were given.
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Old 07-31-2012, 12:43 AM
 
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Well, according to other sources it is a Funnel weaver in genus Tegenaria
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Old 07-31-2012, 12:53 AM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JetsNHL View Post
Well, according to other sources it is a Funnel weaver in genus Tegenaria
^^Not that, not even close.

Looks to be a common black widow.
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Old 07-31-2012, 09:31 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JetsNHL View Post
Well, according to other sources it is a Funnel weaver in genus Tegenaria
Could be, to be sure we need the OP to tell us the size of the spider and we need a more direct picture so I can count the number of eyes.
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Old 07-31-2012, 09:32 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nitram View Post
^^Not that, not even close.

Looks to be a common black widow.
Black widows are shiny, tiny and black with a clear differentiation between cephalothorax and abdomen. The original picture is clearly not a black widow.
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Old 07-31-2012, 11:14 AM
 
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I don't have a major hatred of spiders, although if they are crawling on me it freaks me out( the bite). I have a few little tiny websters in the bathroom in a corner and under the radiator. Theres never any bugs in there so they'll probably move on or die. Theres some down in the garage and basement by the windows. They catch flies and stink bugs and earwigs. They don't other me.
But I have a thing about the darker the spider, the less I like it. I saw a black spider in the bathroom crawling, not a wolf spider but just a black one. I'd have smashed I had I caught it but it got away. And brown or grey wolf spiders get smashed or taken outside. I caught one the size of a quarter in the basement bathroom and he got taken across the street. I found another smaller one on a handtowel down there and he got tossed into the toilet along with some earwigs. I'll generally try to let them live unless they're on me, then its get them off by any means possible.
I woke up from a nap with a grey brown spider, a web builder crawling on me and I was spooked. Then another one did the same thing but I saw it was a light green and I was instantly less afraid of it.
So is that a general rule, the lighter the spider, the less dangerous the bite? I hope?
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