Spider ID

[Noobcakes]

Hey! I'm new to the site but have been reading material on here for a while. I live in Gainesville, Florida, and every time I go running down a certain road I see black spiders with a dark-red head on the sidewalk. they are probably about 1/2-3/4 inches long. I tried to take a picture of them last time but it ran into the grass, so it came out blurry. Does anyone know which spider they are? Thanks!

[Aurelia]

Sorry, but we really can't do any sort of ID without a picture. That's a really general description and could be one of hundreds of different species. Try to catch one and take a picture of it.

[John Apple]

is it just me or does it sound like a velvet ant description

[garryb]

is it just me or does it sound like a velvet ant description

kinda what i was thinking....those can kinda look like a jumping spider ....imop.

[Noobcakes]

Thanks for the replies! I searched velvet ants online and went through various pictures none seemed to look like the animal I saw. Will go running again tomorrow and will hopefully find these guys again

[Malhavoc's]

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/spi_phidippus_johnsoni.html

[The Snark]

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/spi_phidippus_johnsoni.html

Just what I was thinking. I like how that web page warns people of a potential 'painful bite.' Sort of like having a caution label on a hammer: Hitting any part of your anatomy can result in pain. I used to take kids out into my yard that was about knee deep in Johnsoni and play the game see how still you can sit and how many of the ravening monsters you can get to crawl on you at the same time.

[cacoseraph]

maybe Castaneira sp. too. i might have spelled that wrong.


also, OP, you can use magnifying glasses to take better pics of small things with a relatively cheap camera

[Malhavoc's]

Just what I was thinking. I like how that web page warns people of a potential 'painful bite.' Sort of like having a caution label on a hammer: Hitting any part of your anatomy can result in pain. I used to take kids out into my yard that was about knee deep in Johnsoni and play the game see how still you can sit and how many of the ravening monsters you can get to crawl on you at the same time.

I shamefuly admit I didnt read the site, used it for the pictures :/ Though I guess to those of child like features/children it could be unpleasent. I do remember wolf spiders bit alot harder when I was little

[Noobcakes]

Thank you for the link and comments! The Ones I saw were basically the opposite of the johnsoni as it has a black abdomen and dark-red cephalothorax. Cacoseraph, thanks for the tip! Last time I saw them I had one close up to my camera but it ran as soon as I tried to take a picture :/

[Noobcakes]

Hey! went out today and found 3 specimens in a 2-mile stretch. Before I continue, just want to say that I have been fascinated by arachnids, I am extremely new at studying them. I apologize if this is some extremely common species :\ The specimens were found near ant piles where there was minimal webbing around, even though they were walking on the ground not on their webs. The first link below is the specimen I first saw a couple days ago, and the second link it's the one from today. Thanks!
http://i47.tinypic.com/29kut01.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/25i0uhj.jpg

[Ciphor]

Hey! went out today and found 3 specimens in a 2-mile stretch. Before I continue, just want to say that I have been fascinated by arachnids, I am extremely new at studying them. I apologize if this is some extremely common species :\ The specimens were found near ant piles where there was minimal webbing around, even though they were walking on the ground not on their webs. The first link below is the specimen I first saw a couple days ago, and the second link it's the one from today. Thanks!
http://i47.tinypic.com/29kut01.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/25i0uhj.jpg

Even though those photos are very blurry, and by themselves would make an ID guess impossible, we can through your descriptions, with the photos, draw a decent guess that its most likely a cribellate Amaurobid in the genus Callobius

They do have a velvet like appearance, with a black colored abdomen, and deep red on the legs & cephalothorax. This genus is actually very common. Determining species for most, requires expert examination under a microscope.

Take a look here and see what you think. http://bugguide.net/node/view/18812/bgimage

[Noobcakes]

Ciphor, thank you very much! As I looked at some of the pics it looked very similar to it. Sorry for the blurry pictures, iPhone doesn't like to focus on little things thanks everyone for the help!