Spider ID

Noobcakes

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
33
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

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
1,255
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

Just a guy
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 26, 2003
Messages
1,148
is it just me or does it sound like a velvet ant description
 

Noobcakes

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
33
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
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,031
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.
 
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cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
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

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
2,837
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

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
33
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

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
33
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

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
1,640
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
 
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Noobcakes

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
33
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!
 
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