ID this spider please

[padkison]

Perched on the bark of a tree like a type of fishing spider. Two inch leg span.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/padkison/PMiraGreen.jpg

[gunslinger]

My guess is Dolomedes albineus.

This species is characterized by 5 prominent "W" as opposed to tenebrosus has 3 "W" and also Dolomedes albineus is the sole Dolomedes considered to be arboreal. Also it usually has the "extra hairy" lichen like leg segments, as seen in your photo.

My 2 cents.............................do I get the spider if im correct? :D

BTW that is a freaking sweet spider.

[padkison]

I just looked at Bugguide. I think you got it. :worship:

Thanks. First time I've seen one of these. Looks fat enough to be gravid. Methinks I'll wait for a sac on this one. :)

[gunslinger]

Well if you get offspring or find some more, keep me in mind. I love unusual true spiders of large sizes, especially when in odd colorations. ;)

[Stefan2209]

Hi there,

quite interesting:

This spider doesn´t look like all the other D. albineus that got posted here from time to time.

However, i checked Bugguide, too, and found the very same: yeah, they show a spider that´s resembling yours exactly.
Next to that they still show another spider as D. albineus that´s looking exactly like i know this species. Why is that?

Maybe a young specimen?
(Doesn´t sound too likely to my own ears as i think, too, the lady looks pretty geravid...)

Maybe a geographical colour variation? Pretty interesting.

Anyone know if these are indeed adult with just two inch leg span or can they get bigger?

Greetings,

Stefan

[gunslinger]

THere is much color variation across different habitats, especially in Dolomedes. I guess for now all variations are lumped to species groups, but maybe with molecular phylogenetics over the next ten years we will have a better knowledge of whats actually going on with species, sub species etc.

I think D. albineus may not get much larger than around 3 inch leg span.

[padkison]

The guide book I have indicates albineus should get larger. Around tenenbrosus size. I do have a tenenbrosus with about a 2" legspan that just laid a sac.

BTW - have you seen the male D. tenenbrosus. They are miniscule compared to the females. I captured a mating pair last night.

[beetleman]

wow these fishing spiders are awesome:clap: i may have to start keeping them,along with my other true spiders!

[gunslinger]

From what I understood, I thought that tenebrosus and okefinokensis were the largest species, due to the fact that females displayed "giganticism", and that other species still got large, but the females not to the same extent as with the previously mentioned two.

I myself have never seen an albineus in real life, but the largest I have read about was around 3 inches I believe. The tenebrosus I see are often full grown at 3 inches though, and I have never seen a HUGE one myself.

BTW Perry what guide book do you have? I am always on the look out for different books with species level ID guides.

ALSO, any chance you got mating pics? Can you list the environment they were mating in, time of day etc, for me if you could? Whatcha gonna do with the Dolomedes sac you have?

[Stefan2209]

Hi,

before i pipe in here i have to announce one thing first:

I have NO personal experience with any Dolomedes species at all.

However, through background recherché i found the following:

D. tenebrosus ist most often listed as the biggest species from this genus inside the US and Canada.

D. okefinokensis is pretty large, too, however oipinions differ if this species is bigger than D. tenebrosus.

The other species are rather medium sized in comparison to the both.

All specimen of Dolomedes i have seen pictures of so far had max. leg spans around 4", mostly smaller.

Quite interesting.

Greetings,

Stefan

[padkison]

Unfortunately, I did not get pics of the mating.

I like using "Spiders of the Eastern United States" by Howell and Jenkins. Good for the most common spiders and others to the genus level. I also use Bugguide.net.

Albineus was in this book, but it was of a coloration mentioned by Stefan. Bugguide shows alternate colorings that are like the one I found.

Two of the tenenbrosus I found last night were the largest I've ever seen. I just measured the one at exactly 4" diagonal leg span. Both look gravid. Here's a picture of one.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/padkison/Mother3.jpg

I plan on hatching a tenenbrosus sac, probably from the larger female. I'll likely put the other one up for sale.

Not sure what happens with the sac after it hatches. Do the spiderlings disperse right away or stay with the mother? Do the they ride on the mother like wolf spiders?

The Dolomedes I find are on tree trunks after dark. Usually a hardwood with a hollow that the spider hides in during the day. They will also reside on large pine trees that have deep crevasses (sp) in the bark. Males will cohabitate with the females. The place I look is near a lake, but most the spiders I find are off in the woods 100s of meters from the lake.

The ones I found mating had the male on top of the female sideways. It appeared that he was trying for an insert. I wish I had stopped and watched and photographed rather than capturing right away.

The tenebrosus I see are often full grown at 3 inches though, and I have never seen a HUGE one myself.

BTW Perry what guide book do you have? I am always on the look out for different books with species level ID guides.

ALSO, any chance you got mating pics? Can you list the environment they were mating in, time of day etc, for me if you could? Whatcha gonna do with the Dolomedes sac you have?

[syndicate]

spiders of the eastern us is a great book.i hope u get a eggsac of this species.they seem really interesting.ive been keeping my eyes out for dolemedes lately.the one pictured in the book as albineus is pretty impressive aswell.dunno if they reach up north

[padkison]

There are photos submitted on Bugguide from New Jersey for albineus.

spiders of the eastern us is a great book.i hope u get a eggsac of this species.they seem really interesting.ive been keeping my eyes out for dolemedes lately.the one pictured in the book as albineus is pretty impressive aswell.dunno if they reach up north

[widowkeeper]

Two of the tenenbrosus I found last night were the largest I've ever seen. I just measured the one at exactly 4" diagonal leg span. Both look gravid. Here's a picture of one.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/padkison/Mother3.jpg

got a overhead pic of this spider? im trying to id a pair of the large spiders and i think that might be them