ID poss Steatoda sp

[spiders4life]

Cheers to all.

I just got this spider from a friend, who are working in a pet shop. It came along with a shipment of dogfood from U.S.A.
After a few days in m care it made a cocoon, it seems like there is only a few eggs in there (compared to the amount of eggs, i have seen in cocons, made by my other true spriders), could be that she has made cocoons before on the same mating.

Does anybody have a positive ID on this girl?? My guess is some Steotoda species.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p11/Spidaz4life/DSC01653.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p11/Spidaz4life/DSC01655.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p11/Spidaz4life/DSC01658.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p11/Spidaz4life/DSC01665.jpg

Regards Mikael

[Pulk]

yup, steatoda

[spiders4life]

But witch Steotoda??

The ones i have found on Google that looks like this one is just labeled as steotoda sp:? The one i found that looks similar who has got a label is S grossa, but the discription of that species says that it has a broad band on the abdomen, followed by 3 dots, my specimen have got three dots, but are missing the band :rolleyes:

Regards Mikael

[What]

It could be any number of species. Look into S. grossa... That is most likely what it is with those markings.

[buthus]

Looks like grossa.
Steatoda, latros and the like do have distinct markings for each specie (generally speaking) but how apparent the markings against the body color (to the human eye) and how fragmented the pattern is can vary greatly. Grossa tend to loose their markings as they molt to maturity. Juvs generally have tighter, higher contrast markings then do mature adults. Some loose their markings completely to sight via fading.
Rarer exceptions like this one retain their juv patterns...
http://moflash.net/misc/img/spiders/Sg_G1-wc11-5-06_01.jpg

Here's one like yours...
http://moflash.net/misc/img/spiders/huge_grossa_11-01-06.jpg

[Jer]

To me it looks like Steatoda borealis. A better picture of the back of the abdomen would be helpful for confirmation.

[buthus]

To me it looks like Steatoda borealis. A better picture of the back of the abdomen would be helpful for confirmation.

Belly pattern just doesnt say Borealis to me nor does its dorsal markings ...though you are spot on for wanting better pics.
Also, if he found what looks like Borealis in Denmark, it would most likely be S.bipunctata. Though I have a hard time believing borealis havnt spread out across the big pond, there is little reference to them being found over there.

S.bipunctata dorsal markings can look like a cross between grossa and borealis.