# Spider ID -- Is this what I think it is?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282 "2003-06-12T05:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mean\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/1 "2003-06-12T05:25:03Z")
Check this out: [http://www.citlink.net/~hhous/spider001.jpg](http://www.citlink.net/~hhous/spider001.jpg) I live in Oregon and I caught it in my garage. Is it a Hobo Spider? I sure hope not… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/2 "2003-06-12T05:34:39Z")
Yep, I would say that is a [male hobo spider](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.uidaho.edu/so-id/entomology/wolf%2520spider.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.uidaho.edu/so-id/entomology/Spiders.htm&h=278&w=400&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522wolf%2Bspider%2522%26svnum%3D100%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN). Nasty critter, that. Bites like a brown recluse. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/3 "2003-06-12T05:34:54Z")
Sure [looks like one](http://hobospider.org/) to me. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/4 "2003-06-12T06:47:35Z")
Most likely not. The stripes on the cephalothorax are not a hobo spider charachteristic. This [page](http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/pls116_1.pdf) has a list of questions used to rule out your beastie as a hobo. It’s probably an Agelenopsis species. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/5 "2003-06-12T07:28:44Z")
Ooh…your spider friend intrigued me, so I looked at that picture some more. Those _aren’t_ stripes are they? And it has that pattern on the abdomen? Yes, you may have a hobo. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/6 "2003-06-12T15:01:47Z")
…totally non-helpful, but… Your spider’s butt looks like a nutmeg nut. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/7 "2003-06-12T18:03:05Z")
Looking at [this page](http://www.hobospider.net/info/identify.html), I’d have to agree with the others that it is a male hobo. However, I am not a spider expert. I’d never even heard of a hobo spider before now. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/8 "2003-06-12T19:47:42Z")
Holy Crap. That thing gives me the heebie-jeebies. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/9 "2003-06-12T22:26:21Z")
I see spiders like this in my garage all the time. Should I try to avoid them from now on? How bad is a hobo’s spider’s bite? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/10 "2003-06-12T22:40:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XWalrus2 \* > \*\*I see spiders like this in my garage all the time. Should I try to avoid them from now on? How bad is a hobo’s spider’s bite? \*\* Well, they aren’t fatal, but they are nasty. See [here.](http://www.hobospider.net/info/) Possible gross-out warning. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/11 "2003-06-12T22:49:16Z")
If it’s like a brown recluse it’s seriously f\*\*\*ed up. I was bitten by a Mexican brown spider which is often mistaken for the recluse in appearance and bite effect. The bite area necrotizes. Mine was in the crook of my left arm and it looked like my arm was rotting off at the elbow. it was actually but the dead flesh didn’t go to deep. Fortunately it healed with no scarring. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/12 "2003-06-12T23:04:09Z")
Yikes. I think I’ll keep a good distance. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/13 "2003-06-12T23:08:00Z")
There’s an animated GIF of a developing spider bite wound but the site is inappropriate to post here. I’ll see if I can get a copy. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mean\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/14 "2003-06-13T06:09:58Z")
Thanks for the answers, folks. I guess the consensus is that my little friend is probably a male hobo spider, and had he bitten me, I would have been in moderate to serious trouble. I’ll be more wary of dark corners in my garage from now on. I’d known about Hobo Spiders for awhile, but I never expected to actually meet one! In his defense, the little guy was surprisingly unaggressive. I used a pen to prod him into position for his photo shoot, and he never once attempted to bite the pen. All he wanted to do was run away and hide, and whenever he was trapped in a corner, he would fold his legs against his body and curl into a little ball to protect himself. In fact, I felt so sorry for him that I didn’t kill him. I drove him a few blocks away from my house and let him go in the bushes. I only hope he manages to live a peaceful existence without further contact with human beings – I’d feel guilty if he bit somebody someday because I failed to end his life when I had the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Retief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Retief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retief)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-id-is-this-what-i-think-it-is/181282/15 "2003-06-13T13:29:08Z")
Mean Guy, after reading your last post, I think you have to consider changing your username, just aint appropriate any more Retief