Funnel web

I caught a spider in my house that has been identified as a funnel web (agelenopsis spp) and I son't know what to feed it.... do you all think pinheads are small enough? ( posted pic but it will probably get removed because of copyright infringement, so I will post my own pic tomorrow. Good pic at the link I provided.)

Agelenopsis spp.

Funnel Web Weavers, Family Agelenidae

The sheet web up to three feet wide with a funnel is characteristic of these species and is more often noticed than the spider itself. The funnel portion of the web may be over one foot long and leads to shelter-a rock crevice or dense vegetation. These spiders typically build webs several inches above the ground in short grasses and in the window wells of outbuildings.

Funnel weavers hide in the concealed area of the funnel and then dash out onto the sheet portion of the web to capture an insect caught in or walking across the silk platform. Beetles, harvestmen, moths and small butterflies are frequent food items.

A pair of broad, dark, brownish bands runs lengthwise adjacent to a lighter mid-band on the lightly haired and roundish carapace. The legs are cream and dark yellowish-brown. The oblong abdomen is brown with a broad, reddish-brown, zig-zag stripe with a cream-colored border on both sides. The spinnerets are noticeably long. The funnel web spider is a relatively large one, females averaging 10-20mm and males slightly smaller. Two species of funnel weavers are found in Missouri, a naevia and a. pennsylvanica. Although the former is usually larger and darker, their similar color patterns make them difficult to distinguish.

Missouri distribution: presumably statewide.

It will eat pinheads, they also love flies. Let it build its web, you will be surprised at the size of prey it will take down.

Andy

Cool! Thanks Vulpina. It's just started making this layered sheet thing. It's a pretty thick looking web for such a tiny spider.

Well, crap... I just looked at the whats this thread and went to the hobospider link.... I think it's a really small recluse instead of a funnel web. It has the 2 dark stripes like the funnelweb, but the little pedipalps like a recluse. YIKES!

if it is making a sheet web it isn't a recluse
Bobby

ok, I am totally confused, guess I should post a pic, eh? We are about overrun with recluses in the early spring and the husband sprays in the basement. I have never seen a recluse as small as this spider, so your probably right ( hoping you are )

I tried to get a pic of my recluse but my camera sucks. Here's a description though. A brown recluse should have a tan color prosoma with a darker brown violin shape, a tan opisthosoma, and long, dark brown legs. The web they usually lay down is pretty disorganized. Could be see as a sheet but nothing like a funnel-web will make. Mine has a web that looks like lace doily (is that how you spell that?) all over a piece of cork bark. Most of the funnel-web spiders I find look like a small version of a Poecilotheria sp. They tend to be a bit bulkier than recluses. Hope this helps a bit. Whichever one it is it should make an interesting pet.