Spider ID
March 19, 2018 6:32 PM Subscribe
What is this spider? We've mostly convinced ourselves that it's not a northern black widow, but we might sleep better with a positive ID.
Here's a photo.
For reference, the darker band of wood in the photo that the spider is hanging from is 0.75" wide.
We're in upstate NY, and our house is new construction - finished about 3.5 months ago, so we figure it might have made its way in while the inside wasn't closed off. My wife saw it move cautiously across the floor, and seemed to be watching her carefully and intelligently, before hiding under the lip of the bathroom cabinet.
We like spiders, and don't want to kill it, unless it's a black widow. Is it perhaps a jumping spider? Any entomologists want to weigh in? Thanks!
Here's a photo.
For reference, the darker band of wood in the photo that the spider is hanging from is 0.75" wide.
We're in upstate NY, and our house is new construction - finished about 3.5 months ago, so we figure it might have made its way in while the inside wasn't closed off. My wife saw it move cautiously across the floor, and seemed to be watching her carefully and intelligently, before hiding under the lip of the bathroom cabinet.
We like spiders, and don't want to kill it, unless it's a black widow. Is it perhaps a jumping spider? Any entomologists want to weigh in? Thanks!
Best answer: Definitely not a widow, they aren't fuzzy.
posted by solotoro at 6:43 PM on March 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by solotoro at 6:43 PM on March 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
Best answer: Def some kind of jumper, not a widow and not a recluse. You're safe! :)
posted by The otter lady at 8:00 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The otter lady at 8:00 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: That’s a Bold Jumping Spider! Also known as a Daring Jumping Spider. Aren’t they cute? They’re just like the tiny ones, they just jump and aren’t poisonous. I found one in my house a year or so ago that was black, white and green, but they come in a variety of colors.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:01 PM on March 19, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 8:01 PM on March 19, 2018 [9 favorites]
Best answer: Here's a video of a handsome specimen.
posted by The otter lady at 8:11 PM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 8:11 PM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Yeah that’s one of my kind, great house pet :)
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:24 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:24 PM on March 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I'm not an entomologist but I am a spider lover and as others have said, that's a cute jumper.
Jumpers are fuzzy/hairy, seem inquisitive, and often move in quick bursts like staccato little robots. Widows have spindly black legs and a black bulb of a body, the famous red hourglass mark, and move slowly and fluidly.
> My wife saw it move cautiously across the floor
You will almost never encounter a black widow out in the open. Around human houses they hang out in dark, usually closed off spaces like a crawlspace or above a drop ceiling, or outside the house, down in the woodpile.
posted by glonous keming at 8:32 PM on March 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
Jumpers are fuzzy/hairy, seem inquisitive, and often move in quick bursts like staccato little robots. Widows have spindly black legs and a black bulb of a body, the famous red hourglass mark, and move slowly and fluidly.
> My wife saw it move cautiously across the floor
You will almost never encounter a black widow out in the open. Around human houses they hang out in dark, usually closed off spaces like a crawlspace or above a drop ceiling, or outside the house, down in the woodpile.
posted by glonous keming at 8:32 PM on March 19, 2018 [7 favorites]
Best answer: seemed to be watching her carefully and intelligently
It was. They have incredibly good eyesight. And while they very rarely bite, if they do, it's just some localized redness and maybe a bit of swelling, they're totally non-venomous. You'll likely see him again. I had one that hung around my yard for months and I named him Phiddy Cent. (Phidippus audax is my favorite spider.)
posted by elsietheeel at 8:41 PM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
It was. They have incredibly good eyesight. And while they very rarely bite, if they do, it's just some localized redness and maybe a bit of swelling, they're totally non-venomous. You'll likely see him again. I had one that hung around my yard for months and I named him Phiddy Cent. (Phidippus audax is my favorite spider.)
posted by elsietheeel at 8:41 PM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]
.. I kinda want one now.
posted by The otter lady at 8:44 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The otter lady at 8:44 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh I LOVE jumping spiders, and that there is most definitely a jumping spider. They really are the sweetest spiders. Lucas is a jumping spider. They're really quite interactive, fun to watch, and perfectly harmless.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 10:14 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by WalkerWestridge at 10:14 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: If you find it in your heart to keep the little guy around, and you happen to have a laser pointer (green works best), you're in for hours (or at least minutes) of fun. They're like cats with laser pointers.
posted by dws at 10:19 PM on March 19, 2018 [14 favorites]
posted by dws at 10:19 PM on March 19, 2018 [14 favorites]
Thanks! I’m the wife and it totally was a cute spider, rather personable as spiders go, too. I just personally have never heard of another spider (other than a northern widow) that is all black with red shapes/spots on the back. Good to know that they exist (and that widow spiders aren’t fuzzy).
posted by Cygnet at 3:07 AM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Cygnet at 3:07 AM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
If we find it again I am absolutely going to try the laser pointer on it. Somewhere in the middle of writing this question it disappeared. I think it might live in the toe-kick baseboard heater in our bathroom, which is always off.
posted by Cygnet at 3:08 AM on March 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Cygnet at 3:08 AM on March 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks everybody! Glad to hear it isn't a widow. It is pretty cute, now that I know it isn't going to kill me. We'll have to try the laser pointer thing if we see it again!
posted by Salvor Hardin at 3:18 AM on March 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Salvor Hardin at 3:18 AM on March 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Best answer: I have lots of black widow spiders where I live. LOTS. You will never ever see one out on a windowsill. They are always in some crevice deep down in something, or under a jumble of rocks. They build their webs in very out-of-the-way places and they don't ever leave them.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 5:23 AM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Patapsco Mike at 5:23 AM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
"they're totally non-venomous."
Not true. All spiders are venomous; it's just the most -- including P. audax -- don't have venom that's medically significant to humans.
But no, definitely not a widow. They're shiny, black, decidedly non-fuzzy, and have a bulbous abdomen that seems kinda out of scale with the rest of them.
posted by uberchet at 6:22 AM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Not true. All spiders are venomous; it's just the most -- including P. audax -- don't have venom that's medically significant to humans.
But no, definitely not a widow. They're shiny, black, decidedly non-fuzzy, and have a bulbous abdomen that seems kinda out of scale with the rest of them.
posted by uberchet at 6:22 AM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Just FYI, Black Widows are pretty shy. They like dark low spaces, like under sheds, in wood piles, etc. I went to a talk recently where apparently Black Widows needed to be pretty thoroughly provoked before they bite. It takes a lot of energy out of them.
posted by frecklefaerie at 10:43 AM on March 20, 2018
posted by frecklefaerie at 10:43 AM on March 20, 2018
Yes, Black Widows are not really the huge threat everyone makes them out to be. Unless you're really old or really young, and you're digging around in lots of "spidery" places with bare skin. I leave black widows alone unless they're in an area with lots of human traffic, and then I just move them. They VERY RARELY ever leave their web, so you know right where to find them once they've picked out a spot.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 7:47 PM on March 20, 2018
posted by WalkerWestridge at 7:47 PM on March 20, 2018
Sorry, the totally was me being Californian.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:31 AM on March 21, 2018
posted by elsietheeel at 8:31 AM on March 21, 2018
It's alive and well in our bathroom and it CHASED OUR LASER POINTER!!!! Thanks for the tip, that's the most fun I've ever had with a spider.
posted by Cygnet at 1:19 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Cygnet at 1:19 PM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Our jumping spider chasing a laser pointer!
Click here for video!
Thanks MeFites!
posted by Salvor Hardin at 1:27 PM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
Click here for video!
Thanks MeFites!
posted by Salvor Hardin at 1:27 PM on March 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
« Older Should I refuse to give the news about layoffs to... | What's in the cancer research pipeline? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dilaudid at 6:42 PM on March 19, 2018 [10 favorites]