kristinawood.com ~ View topic

Official Model Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Posts: 5031

Since moving into this house i have seen alot of spiders. I dont like spiders but the ones ive seen so far didnt worry me. Until tonight

I was just in the bathroom, and i noticed a brown spider with a big body, had made a web in the corner

I ran out of the bathroom as fast as i could and went and found my can of raid. I quietly went back into the bathroom with my raid ready to fire, and took a slightly closer look at the spider. It was really scary looking brown spider, with a pretty big long body and then really thin legs.

Anyways just as i was inspecting it, it started to move a little in its web, which made me jump and scared me to bits. In the same second i started spraying raid directly at it, and it went running. Now i am terrified, as it could be anywhere!

Just sitting here on my computer writing this, i keep getting a feeling like somethings on me. Its scared me to bits, its giving me the shivers, seriously and its still like 95F.

Anyways anyone know what this could be???

Its gonna be hard to sleep tonight now. I need to call in pest control

Rank: Super Veteran Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1915

The only spider I could find which fits your description is the alien Zoropsis which is currently invading SF :

http://www.physorg.com/preview10271.html

But according to that article Zoropsis doesn't spin a web ...

If you find it again can you post a pic ? And maybe hold a ruler next to it to give us an idea of the size ?

Edit: There are only 2 venomous brown spiders I can find in the USA - the Recluse spider and the Hobo spider. Neither of these lives near LA so I think you are safe.

Rank: Super Veteran Joined: 23 Dec 2004 Posts: 2043

I hope you feel a little bit better again, from what you write you were treally scared Crying or Very sad

I am no spider expert as there are no dangerous spiders living in Holland.
So I am not much of a help, but I found out that there are few, very few dangerous ones. I hope this helpes a little. together with Marcus reply !.

Did you sleep well well after all ? Cool

Rank: Mr. Fabulous Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Posts: 426

Here's a site that identifies brown spiders in Caifornia:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7468.html

It's from the University of California at Davis, so it should be fairly authoritative. The venomous brown recluse is exceedingly rare outside the Midwest and South.

"The most definitive physical feature of recluse spiders is their eyes: most spiders have eight eyes that typically are arranged in two rows of four but recluse spiders have six equal-sized eyes arranged in three pairs, called dyads. There is a dyad at the front of the cephalothorax (the first main body part to which the legs attach) and another dyad on each side further back."

"Ubiquitous Brown Spiders:
"Virtually every spider that is tan or brown has been turned in as a potential brown recluse. There are hundreds of species of these spiders in California. They include ground spiders (Gnaphosidae), sac spiders (Cheiracanthium spp., Trachelas spp., and many of the liocranoid spiders), wolf spiders (Lycosidae), grass spiders (Agelenidae), orb weavers (Araneidae), and male crevice spiders (Filistatidae). More specifically, males of both the western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) and the false black widow (Steatoda grossa) are frequently brought in for recluse verification. All of these brown spiders have eight eyes and can quickly be eliminated from consideration."

There are reports of the venomous Chilean recluse in California, though they are very few. It's bigger than the brown recluse. It's more common in Florida, and here's the advice from that state's Agriculture Commission:

"SUSPECTED RECLUSE? Homeowners should keep in mind that many common, harmless spiders look similar to the Chilean recluse, and that thus far it is only known from one home in Florida. Nevertheless, if presence of the Chilean recluse is strongly suspected, specimens should be submitted to the Department of Agriculture's Division of Plant Industry for confirmation. To send a specimen for identification, the spider should first be killed with a household pesticide labeled for use on spiders. DO NOT HANDLE THE SPIDER AND DO NOT SQUASH IT."

Here's a link with pictures of the Chilean recluse: http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/loxoscel.html

Chances are very good the spider is not poisonous, but a good dousing with Raid is definitely in order.

Hmmm...does this mean the next cam show will have a Little Miss Muffet theme? Wink