Stow-away

[Botar]

Stopped by a local petstore today to talk to a few of the guys that work there that are also T enthusiasts. One of the guys brought out a deli dish and told me they found "this" in a box of crickets that got shipped to them. It was a large, beautiful, black widow. It had already started webbing in the deli dish. Just something to keep in mind before you stick your hand into that cricket box that just got shipped to you!!

Botar

[galeogirl]

That must have been one very fat and happy widow, all that food boxed in with it! I always wish for finds like that in my deliveries. I did get an unidentified true spider from the local grocery store a few years back that came in with a shipment of bananas, but it only lived about 4 months after I got it. :(

[Arachniphile]

If your interested, I have spiderlings from another "stowaway". They are Vietnamese Huntsman spiders. They are tiny, but seem quite hardy. I posted more info in the Classifieds forum or you can Email me at arachniphile@arachniphile.com. I am most interested in trading... :D

What did your spider look like from the bananas?

[GQ.]

I've talked to a couple people that have found a recluse in their crickets as well. Be double careful!

[galeogirl]

It was large (about 4" legspan), yellowish-green, slender build, and very fast. It reminded me of an elongated trapdoor spider because it had that glossy, hairless look to it. It spent most of its time hanging out in a tangle of sterilized grapevine that I put in its cage, but was very active at night.

I've never seen a picture that looked anything like it and, since I was trying to save the poor thing from a really upset produce manager when I caught it, I couldn't get any information about where the bananas had been imported from.

[Arachniphile]

The way you describe that spider sounds ALOT like the one I got from Vietnam. Hmmm...

Here is a pic (credit Swift Inverts) that looks EXACTLY like my spider except the coloring is more like your description. Is this close to your spider?

http://www.swiftinverts.com/pix/Flhunt2.JPG

If it is... and your interested... I have spiderlings and would be happy to share a few with a fellow Oregonian.... :)

[galeogirl]

The spider I had wasn't quite so rounded through the abdomen and was close to a banana in coloring, kind of yellowish-green. The legs are similar.

[Alex S.]

Hey Galeogirl, the spider could have possibly been a species of wanderer (family: Ctenidae). They are the largest of the true spiders and are sometimes abundant hiding in bananas, many are reffered to as banana spiders, including the dangerous Phoneutria fera (Brazilian wanderer).

Alex S.

[galeogirl]

Yeah, it would be my odd luck to have unknowingly kept a highly venomous species for several months. I had the feeling that the spider was something I shouldn't mess with. I just misted it and fed it crickets until it died, it was a really neat specimen, though, and I can't say that I'd turn down the chance to own one again.

[JacenBeers]

We found a black widow in a box of grapes a few weeks ago and I sold it.