I did not want to hijack the other thread here about why spiders bite humans here:
But this morning as I was reading that very thread I noticed a rather large spider on the wall right above my computer desk. Here is a crappy cell phone picture. I could try to get a couple more, he’s not going anywhere today, but is not invited to Thanksgiving dinner:
I was doing some deep cleaning yesterday in anticipation of Thanksgiving company, so maybe I disturbed it or maybe it came in from outside. The picture shows it in a jar and the jar is atop a quarter for size reference. Body is about 3/4 inch long. The rear body is covered in fine velvety black fur. The legs are a reddish amber color and are not hairy. The thorax is the same reddish amber color on the rear half and changes to black towards the head. He has 2 large palps or whatever the sex organs are called. And he seems quite pissed in the little jar. There do not seem to be any chevrons, fiddles, etc kind of markings.
My location is the very NW corner of Oregon. And I have noticed these spiders occationally for many years.
I have looked at pictures of spiders and don’t find a good match. Most of the Hobo spider pictures show hairy legs with sort of stripes around them.
Is it still in the jar? If so, can you get a good photo of its face? The eye configuration helps to distinguish different kinds of spideys.
If you’ve already smashed it with a rock and permanently altered its eye configuration I would totally understand.
Well, the translucent orange coloring of the legs and thorax and the fuzzy gray abdomen remind me of this house spider I found sneaking around under my desk earlier this fall. I did some poking around on bugguide.net, and I think mine might have been a Callobius severus, which is a pretty common species in the Pacific Northwest. This Callobius looks a lot like yours, including the dark fade at the front of the thorax.
Thank you both, that was fast. My guy looks most like Sealth Potato’s “This Callobius” link.
Inigo, I still have the spider but he kind of creeps my out and I think he’s heading for the “farm” in a few minutes. I am not inclined to try to get a face shot of the eyes. I don’t think my camera is up to it anyway.
Doing a little more searching for the Callobius, the one I’ve got looks just like figure #6 here, about halfway down the page, except that mine and the other ones I have seen before have no patterns on the grey/black rear body. It looks like smooth black velvet.
Callobius is unusual among spiders in that it adheres to a strict clan social structure. Although Callobius severus is technically a distinct arachnid species, the “severus” refers to the peculiar behavior of cooperation between related individuals–the species is divided into clans, each characterized by its congenital abdominal pattern, or “tartan.” Although highly territorial, different clans will sometimes coexist for brief periods during which they will prey almost exclusively on other Callobius severus with a tartan which differs from those in the temporary alliance. As the subjected clan is eradicated, the cooperating clans move in to the new territory and maintain separate areas of influence. Creepy, eh?
Ghardester: The legs look a bit thin for your spider to be a Callobius, but that could be an artifact of the “crappy cell phone picture.” No photo you can get with your phone is likely to be diagnostic. Callobius (both C. severus and about a dozen related species, all looking identical except for microscopic structure) do live in your area. The only way to get a positive ID is to preserve it in alcohol and send it to me. I don’t make this offer to everyone but you are in my “territory” (the small part of the planet that I actively study spiders from).
To contact me privately, click on my username (while logged in) and access my homepage. It has my email address (presented as an image to foil spambots).
Callobius spiders are not dangerous. They rarely bite and the bite, though painful, has no other ill effects. Of course Ingio Montoya’s post was meant as humor, but there are so many literal-minded folks out there that I have to say these are not actually social spiders. Their natural habitat is coniferous-tree bark and logs.
Thank you for your offer, but I put the thing outside, where it will find plenty of coniferous tree bark, the house is fairly surrounded by forest. Or it will get eaten, I’m not that concerned about it, I spared it’s life on behalf of those on here who might care about such things.
I am satified that it must be some species of Callobius. I have looked around on the internet before and this spider does not seem to appear on the spider charts I have seen, or I just missed it. Maybe it is not thought of as a ‘house’ spider. When I have described them to people in the past they have tried to tell me I have Hobo spiders and the pictures of Hobos don’t look anything like these.
We see about 1 of these a year in the house and no one has been bitten. But the little buggers are aggressive, they will stand their ground and rear up at you rather than running away. Just makes them easier to catch.
Thank you again. I do realize that Inigo Montoya is sometimes not serious, I’ve been whooshed a few times.
