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What kind of spider was this?
Here in my front yard in northern Virginia, I turned over a log to find an extremely strange-looking (to me) spider. It's legs and thorax were pure red, and it's abdomen was fat and pale beige. It was about a half inch long, toes to toes. Any idea what it was?
Of the pictures provided by the first three answers, I see that I didn't describe it very well. The closest is the Broad-Faced Sac Spider (Trachelas tranquillus), but I'm not completely happy with that one, either. The legs and thorax were very smooth, a clear, almost translucent red color, the legs medium length and not thin. The abdomen was very smooth also, fat and featureless, and an even, very light beige color all over. The abdomen looked soft, as if it would burst easily. No hair, and there was no webbing nearby.
4 Answers
- John RLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Good eye! You've got a couple possibilities - Trachelas or Dysdera. I usually forget about good old Trachelas, even though it's the more likely of the 2 in most places in North America. Check the links below. Dysdera is notable for its unusually large and forward-pointing chelicerae ('fang-holders'), so that's a point of difference.
It's quite definitely not a Loxoscelid (recluse), so don't worry about that. Funny how almost every spider question draws people out to confidently pronounce that something is either a widow or a recluse, even when the description is entirely unlike either of those possibilities. Must be something in us humans that if it's unknown, it must be the most dangerous thing we can think of.
And to add to the bit, Hobo Spiders are Tegenarids; only very distantly related to Loxoscelids. It's a moot point, anyway, because neither Hobo Spiders nor Recluses of any kind are likely to be found in northern Virginia.
Source(s): http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/spide... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse_spider - 5 years ago
I have simply determined a nest, in my lawn, of what looks to be one hundred's of little yellow and black spiders newly hatched...Never noticeable them earlier than in my existence.... Being a bit of concerned (Yellow and Black is as a rule natures caution signal) I have performed a quantity of searches... After trawling the web it looks it might be be a form of Argiope (black and yellow lawn spider) nevertheless that's a US spider and I am residing within the UK... Further browsing shows their is a 'Wasp Spider' that is determined in Contienial Europe and usually the South Coast of England... Which remains to be a thriller as I are living within the Midlands(England - UK) that is miles from the any coast allow simplest the South Coast.... Should I be charging individuals to come back and discuss with my Garden to peer this infrequent web page or is there a further form of spider out right here? They aren't detrimental to individuals are they I believe??? - my mum may be very anxiouis!!! Damon
- 1 decade ago
It could be a Loxoscelidae, theyre native to that area and it matches your description. Google image it and see if thats what it looked like.
