# Is there anybody you can send a spider to for identification? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865 "2006-10-25T17:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/1 "2006-10-25T17:46:55Z")
This morning I captured a spider in my bed, and it’s a type of spider that I see fairly frequently around here (the Las Vegas area) that for some reason looks vaguely menacing to me. It’s not a black widow, but it looks like it could be a desert recluse or some other variant of the brown recluse theme. I’m really bad at identifying spiders from web photos, though, and my @#$% digital cameras won’t focus close enough to allow me to get a clear picture of it so that I can ask for identification. But I’ve got the spider in a zipper bag, so I wonder: does anybody know of a person or place where you can send a spider for identification? Maybe an entomologist (er, arachnologist?) I could overnight the spider to? Ordinarily I’d just throw it away, but like I said, we see these spiders a lot, and my wife is somewhat freaked out and is anxious to find out what kind of spider it is. Hmmm … it just occurred to me that since we both attend UNLV, there might be somebody there who could help. Anybody know anybody there who might be able to do this kind of thing? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/2 "2006-10-25T18:41:41Z")
A person that studies spiders is called an _arachnologist_. I couldn’t find any at UNLV. Search for an arachnologist, or post a pic here or a site like this: [http://www.whatsthatbug.com/spiders.html](http://www.whatsthatbug.com/spiders.html) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/3 "2006-10-25T18:42:36Z")
Peter Parker. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/4 "2006-10-25T19:30:10Z")
I’ll ask **Doug** , the bug-ologist on the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, for his input. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/5 "2006-10-25T19:34:04Z")
Just ask the critter for his eensy beensy photo ID. It’s next to that fat little packet of pix of his children. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/6 "2006-10-25T19:34:50Z")
Is it radioactive? Or perhaps genetically engineered? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/7 "2006-10-26T03:28:07Z")
**Doug** , our bug boy, says: > [@](#): > > The general rule is that it is very easy to tell what a spider is NOT, and very hard to tell what it IS. Desert recluses do not occur in homes, and certainly not in any numbers. If it’s not a widow, and not a recluse, then it’s nothing to worry about. Those are the only dangerous spiders in the US (hobo spiders do not live in the desert, nor are they dangerous - that turns out to be another hoax). So, it is NOT a dangerous spider. Saying what it IS would require a decent photograph to tell. Also, the comment about being “bad at identifying spiders from web photos” is not quite true. Arthropods are not like people - generally speaking, there is little or no variation in appearance from one to another individual of the same species. If a spider does not EXACTLY match a web photo, then it is not the same spider. If one looks at lots of photos and can’t find a perfect match, that doesn’t mean you’re bad at identifying, it means you have a spider that isn’t in any of the photos, which is well over 90% of the possible spiders. It would be a surprise to pick a random spider and actually find a photo of it somewhere online. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/8 "2006-10-26T04:05:54Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] **Doug** , our bug boy, says: [/QUOTE] Tell **Doug** thanks, **Dex**. I guess I should clarify what I meant about it being dangerous. I know that if it’s not a recluse or a widow, it’s not dangerous in the sense of being potentially lethal or causing a necrotic wound or whatever. But there are numerous other spiders with bites that would feel like a bee sting, aren’t there? I don’t want to get a painful bite from a spider almost as much as I don’t want to get a dangerous bite. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/9 "2006-10-26T04:22:25Z")
You could try contacting your county [Extension](http://www.unce.unr.edu/offices.htm) office. They should be able to link you up with an entomologist who can help. (Ow! Stop hitting me! I know spiders aren’t insects, but Extension entomologists often know about them anyway, since they get many of these kind of inquiries.) The good thing about Extension is that they know what you’re likely to encounter in your locale. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/10 "2006-10-26T04:25:46Z")
> [@](#): > > It would be a surprise to pick a random spider Not sure what to say about this phrase other than that in and of itself it is both very true and very beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/11 "2006-10-26T04:37:19Z")
I don’t know if he does spiders, but Richard Fagerlund (who does a weekly column in the _Albuquerque Journal_ called “Ask the Bugman”) has a [website](http://www.askthebugman.com/). He says he’ll identify any bug for a $10 fee (which will apparently be donated to an animal welfare organization.) Seems a little steep for a spider, but if you really want to know, there’s a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anybody-you-can-send-a-spider-to-for-identification/377865/12 "2006-10-26T04:45:23Z")
We’ve got an Insectarium in Montreal, and I once brought a bug there just in case someone would want to help me identify it. They were wonderful and someone spent almost a half hour explaining bug stuff to me. Really, I hate bugs and just wanted to leave after learning what the bug was, but I felt I had to stay and listen to be polite. 🙂 Do you have a nature museum or nature center, or something like that nearby? I’m sure someone there could help you. Or an entomologist at the university, for that matter.