ID on this spider?

[BamaZ71]

I am not very knowledgeable on true spiders, but this guy has been outside my apartment door for awhile, even through low 20 degree F nights. I go out and feed him(her?) a small cricket almost every morning on the way to work. I thought about collecting it, but I don't know much about it.

75146

[BamaZ71]

I know it's not a good pic, but that was as close as I could getwithout messing up its web. Oh, and I'm in NC by the way if that might help :?

[calum]

wait 'till Crpy gets here, he will be able to ID it.

[jsloan]

I know it's not a good pic, but that was as close as I could getwithout messing up its web. Oh, and I'm in NC by the way if that might help :?

This looks like it might be a funnel web spider such as Agelenopsis sp. or Tegenaria sp. (Family: Agelenidae). If so, it is virtually impossible to get an exact ID from just a picture, especially if the spider is a juvenile. It doesn't matter how good your picture is, you have to examine spiders of this family under a microscope, especially their genitalia, to determine what species you have. Many different species all look very much alike, and there can be variations in body coloring and size even among individuals of the same species. So, you cannot go by body coloring or patterns, or size, to ID one of these things; which means you cannot ID it to species level by just a picture.

However, it would be enough for you to know it is probably some kind of funnel web spider in the family Agelenidae. Most spin similar webs and have similar habits. Males tend to die in the fall, whereas females are known to overwinter, so this is probably a female (also, it looks like it from the palps).

Keep an eye on it during the winter. You may see it molt before or during the spring. Nice spider.

[crpy]

This looks like it might be a funnel web spider such as Agelenopsis sp. or Tegenaria sp. (Family: Agelenidae). If so, it is virtually impossible to get an exact ID from just a picture, especially if the spider is a juvenile. It doesn't matter how good your picture is, you have to examine spiders of this family under a microscope, especially their genitalia, to determine what species you have. Many different species all look very much alike, and there can be variations in body coloring and size even among individuals of the same species. So, you cannot go by body coloring or patterns, or size, to ID one of these things; which means you cannot ID it to species level by just a picture.

However, it would be enough for you to know it is probably some kind of funnel web spider in the family Agelenidae. Most spin similar webs and have similar habits. Males tend to die in the fall, whereas females are known to overwinter, so this is probably a female (also, it looks like it from the palps).

Keep an eye on it during the winter. You may see it molt before or during the spring. Nice spider.

Yeah, need another angle

[BamaZ71]

Thanks guys! I guess I'll just continue to drop in a little cricket every couple of days when I see it, I have plenty for my T's anyway.

So, I'm going to guess that I should not catch it? I wanted to just maybe for the winter then release it... I guess maybe it would be happier in the warmth of my apartment and eating crix. I don't know if it really would, I just think of things like that when I see spiders and bugs outside in the cold.

I would gladly kick out the wife's cats in the freezing weather if I could bring in some tiny "creepy" animals {D

[jsloan]

So, I'm going to guess that I should not catch it? I wanted to just maybe for the winter then release it... I guess maybe it would be happier in the warmth of my apartment and eating crix. I don't know if it really would, I just think of things like that when I see spiders and bugs outside in the cold.


It'll be fine if you leave it outside. That's its natural environment, and it has evolved to deal with the winter climate.

If you bring it inside put it in a large container, like a 10 gallon terrarium, where it will have enough room to build a full web. These spiders can be very interesting to keep. They tend to be most active at night, when they'll sit at the entrance to their web waiting for prey. During the day they spend more time hiding in their funnel retreat. It's neat to drop an insect into the web and see the spider rush out, grab it and disappear back into its retreat. It's often so fast you hardly have time to watch.

I'm going on the assumption this is an agelenid, of course. Looks like it from the picture.