This spider was in my house tonight, the 2nd one I’ve seen this week. I’ve lived in this house in Maryland about 30 miles east of Washington, DC for a year and a half, and I see these spiders regularly. I’ve previously lived in the District of Columbia and the Virginia DC suburbs, and before that Pittsburgh, PA and have never seen these things except here. What are these monsters?
Whatever it is, it’s far too big and oogy.
I am not an arachnid expert, but it does look vaguely like some kind of orb spinner. The Teeming Millions might not be able to produce a positive id with a silhouette, though. If you could maybe get a better photo so we can see markings/colour, it would help.
Although you wouldn’t catch me getting close enough to take such a photo. It might jump up and eat me.
[sub]And people wonder why I live in the Arctic![/sub]
Most likely a Wolf Spider. They are about that size, don’t make webs, and sometimes wander into houses.
http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/spiders/Lycosa%20sp.htm
http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/wolfspid.html
http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/arachnids/spiders/wolf_spider/
The kind that you should kill with fire, and lots of it.
(What? That’s not opinion. It’s fact.)
This person (also in Maryland) posted better pics of a similar spider. The only identification of the species is “Demon Spawn” which, while perhaps acurate, is not as scientific as I’d prefer. Sorry my pic isn’t better – I was getting ready to power up the bug vac at a moment’s notice (which, incidentally was fired up moments after the pic was taken – the spider was humanely deposited outside).
Looks like a wolf spider to me too. You will need them if any crickets get into your house.
Don’t worry they are friendly.
What’s neat is finding one carrying 50-100 babies on her back. A very interesting sight.
Definitely a wolf spider.
They’re not as neat as jumping spiders, but they’re still pretty cool. They chase down their prey rather than netting them in a web.
From the OPs picture, how can you guys tell it from the brown recluse?
We caught three similar spiders under our house last month when contractors were working there–they thought they were going to be carried away by spiders. Musta seen some movie. Anyway, the webpages say the wolf spider sometimes seeks shelter under houses when it’s cold, but last month was not cold.
The first one shed its skin. None of the webpages say anything about that. The other two were caught in the same jar, and the larger one ate the smaller one, completely.
Welcome to MD! In late summer and into Fall, I’ve found such large spiders (often in large webs) around and in the house. It could be the Brown Recluse. As I understand it, these large spiders can bite leaving the victim feeling fatigued and a general sense of malaise. I know some local TV reporters have sploken about this - often bites occur while tending to gardens and flowerbeds around the house.
Kill 'em when you see 'em, but play it safe. I’d WAG bites are more common when the victim is unaware the spider is there.
just my $0.02 worth from the home & garden.
- Jinx
Because the spider in the OP is about two inches long and a Brown Recluse checks in at about 1/2 inch.
Colibri, thank you for the sleepless nights that the picture of the wolf spider with the 100s of babies on her back will now inspire.
FWIW mangoldm it looks pretty much like we’d call a huntsman spider in Australia - big (often over 4inches across), scary looking but harmless. Picture here: http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/anaes/spiderimages/huntsman.gif
The one the OP posted is a wolf spider. Extremely common here in the South. Occasionally, you’ll find one in the tub (hows that sound!?) They manage to get in but can’t climb back up the slippery slopes. They are scary as hell but harmless. The brown recluse is a tennsy little spider compared to a wolf and has more spindly legs and a distinctive violin shaped marking on its abdomen much as a black widow has an hourglass. Recluses and widows are extremely secretive and will rarely be found inside a home.
Another vote for wolf spider… even though it is darker in color than any other wolf spider I’ve ever seen.
Brown recluse do like to live indoors, but they seek out places where they will not be disturbed. They do not weave webs and hang out in them. When they make a web, it is messy and near to the floor. Watch out if you are going through old papers or clothing that has been in boxes for a long time. You usually will not see ever brown recluse crawling around in your home, unless you are doing something to stir them up, such as rennovating or moving stored objects around. Their bite is initially painless, but later becomes quite painful, with tissue necrosis. Nasty critters. Your spider is definitely not one of these, its too big!
Wow, I miss Maryland!
It is times like this I give thanks to be living in England with our boring, small, harmless spiders. It’s good to know that any spider I find and scare my girlfriend with won’t spoil the joke and bite me!
Um, Racer1, we have spiders just like that wolf spider in the UK, they get up to about 2.5 inches in span.
(one time I was lying on the floor and I heard one run across the floor by my head <shudder>).
I have an online acquaintance who claims to have been bitten by a wolf spider, but all of my books say this never happens/is impossible
Oh and (hehehe) one more thing, Racer1: Windsor Castle isn’t a million miles away, is it?
Pleasant dreams. 
Stop shattering my nice, safe little world, Mangetout! 
Yeah, I knew we had the wolf spiders, but like you, I also thought they didn’t bite. Anyway, I tend to avoid using wolf spiders to frighten the gf. They’re just a little too scary looking and I have no wish to force celibacy on myself!
P.S. I’m hoping I’m safe this far from Windsor! :eek:
:o what a clown; I didn’t notice that you were the originator of that other thread.
Well, you still got me worrying about the distance between Windsor and London so I guess it was mission accomplished to some extent. 
“Neat” isn’t the word that springs to MY mind when I think of jumping spiders, tomndebb!