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Subject: I Need Help Identifying A Spider... From: haydenjames posted Thu, Oct 28 2004, 11:49am  I live in Nashville, TN and I found this spider in my living room. Unfortunately my girlfriend killed it instead of putting it outside. I took these pictures of it and the pics are not that great but maybe they are good enough to identify it... Can someone tell me what kind of spider this is? Here is a link to the 2 pics... http://www.haydenjames.com/spider/ Subject: Re: I Need Help Identifying A Spider... From: DarthDoughnut posted Sat, Oct 30 2004, 4:31pm  Umm... if it's under 1/2 an inch long, that looks like a common house spider that you don't need to worry about. That's one of the spiders who's webs are a MAJOR detterent to hobo spiders. Subject: Another TN spider ID please? From: Coolgranny posted Thu, Nov 11 2004, 8:29am  After searching for 3 weeks I've decided to ask about a spider. I don't know if this qualifies for a cryptid or not? I found a black spider that is very similar to the Australian red back spider. Link http://www.rochedalss.eq.edu.au/spider/spider2.htm Problem is, it looks more like the brown recluse in size and shape, as it did not have the body shape of the Australian red back or the similar type black widow spider, i.e. more rounded lower body. I've seen many black widows in the south and a few of the recluse so I would know one of them if I saw one. The reason this one caught my eye is because it was on my throne seat! It had an elongated red rectangle on its back, and the rectangle was quite wide and not just a simple streak down it's back. The rectangle was a very bright red in color. I've never seen a spider with a bright red rectangle on its back. The underside of its back did not have any distinguishing markings and was black too. I have no idea what type of spider it was. It was less than an inch long and looked full grown. I did manage to kill it before it got away, but it was flushed, sorry. I posted this elsewhere but got no reply, therefore, I am hoping this is the proper place to post Forgive the double post, please, and thank you. Are there any spider experts here? Thanks for any input. Subject: Re: Another TN spider ID please? From: DarthDoughnut posted Fri, Nov 12 2004, 6:44pm  I'm no expert, but I do know a good amount on true spiders. My first guess would be a Latrodectus mactans variation, the southern black widow is one of it's variations. Other L. mactans variations have all sorts of variations besides the red hourgalss. Here's a few: look at the first picture. They found this one in Chile. this one's from mexico another variation There are a lot of variations on this spider's pattern, so I wouldn't be surprised if yours was one of them. Subject: Re: Another TN spider ID please? From: Coolgranny posted Fri, Nov 12 2004, 10:29pm  Thanks very much. I've viewed all of these and see what you mean about the variations on spiders. I didn't know they could vary and I suppose it is to be expected every now and then. I just had the gut feeling that this little guy/gal was nothing to mess with. It had such a bright red color. It's odd that nature seems to warn us by displays of bright red on poisonous insects and spiders; or other bright colors for that matter. It really had the neatest wide rectangle, not some simple lines, centered on its back. I will keep an eye out in here for more just in case some black widows decided to come in for winter. This has sparked an interest and now I am wondering if spider species ever cross breed or if they are even capable of it. Never thought I'd be asking those questions! I really do appreciate your response. Subject: Re: Another TN spider ID please? From: DarthDoughnut posted Fri, Jan 7 2005, 2:54pm  I just found an even better candidate for your spider, a juvenile western black widow. They have a stripe that looks almost exactly like the redback's, but the body has a slightly different shape, like the spider you described. On occasion they also have white stripes on their sides. link The last picture on the page is the sort of spider I'm talking about. It's about halfway down. Subject: Re: I Need Help Identifying A Spider... From: seantheprawn posted Tue, Jan 31 2006, 12:05pm  Looks to me like you've found a woodlouse-eating spider. One of my favourite spiders. I'll try and send an example pic Subject: Re: I Need Help Identifying A Spider... From: seantheprawn posted Tue, Jan 31 2006, 12:12pm  here's a twin-pic of one... I've found a dead one exactly like yours, (though not dismembered! lol) and I'm 99% sure i'm right.

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