Spider filter: should I be glad, worried, or neutral about this spider?

June 3, 2018 7:43 PM

This spider built a web inside a ceramic mug in my garage. I'm not arachnophobic in general, but I'm converting the garage into a pottery studio and would love to know if anything living out here is bad news. Thoughts on what kind of spider this is?
posted by centrifugal to Science & Nature (7 answers total)

I am arachnophobic, so with those long legs the type of spider he would be at my house is "lives outside"

He looks like a Wolf Spider. If you don't care let him stay, relocating him outdoors would take seconds, tho. It's really up to you.
posted by jbenben at 7:50 PM on June 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Seconding wolf spider and relocating outside of you don't want it inside for insect control.
posted by Candleman at 7:53 PM on June 3, 2018

Wolf spider. Will stay out of your way, but big enough to give you a real fright if you don't like 'em. They're also big enough that you'll sometimes catch a glint off their eyes as they lurk in a corner waiting for bugs.
posted by scruss at 8:15 PM on June 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: worried, or neutral about this spider?
Spiders are almost never a cause for worry. This wolf spider is fine; it defends you from bugs that would bug you, and bugs that could make you sick.

I am eponysterically biased of course. Spiders are generally friends, and this wolf spider in particular poses no harm and has a clear benefit.*

*at a casual glance it may well be a grass spider, but that doesn’t change its no harm/potential ally status
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:32 PM on June 3, 2018 [8 favorites]

If it's not hairy, it's an orb weaver or grass spider. If it's hairy, it's a wolf spider. In any case, it's not a venomous spider. If you can shake him out into the yard, he will eat bugs. The only danger it poses to you is the chance you might hurt yourself if it startles you.

I have orb weavers that get as big as my hand, with a similar pattern on their back, and even when I'm having to move their webs,and shoo them out of my way, I've never seen them get aggressive.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 4:22 AM on June 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

Edit, I don't have spiders as pets, I just have a lot of fauna out here, including an astonishing amount of aracnids.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 4:24 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Looking more carefully, this is definitely a grass spider, since wolf spiders don't build webs. Anything that might eat mosquitoes is a friend of mine, so I moved it outside to find juicier bugs. I won't worry about them being in the garage, except that I'll have to be sure not to accidentally mail one to someone who purchases pottery from me!
posted by centrifugal at 8:11 AM on June 4, 2018 [4 favorites]