Reader Jessica had a close encounter of the creepy kind this weekend, and she’s hoping for help in identifying the 8-legged critter that invaded her home.
Jessica writes:
We found this spider hanging out in our kitchen on the doorframe. This is the clearest picture of it. It’s hard to tell, but this is actually after we caught him and he is captive in a clear drinking glass. I’ll send one more picture too. Anyone know what it is? Some are saying it might be a brown recluse, which apparently are very poisonous. Unfortunately, we let him go outside before we knew better! He was about two inches long if you count his legs. Definitely not a usual spider I’ve ever seen!
So, what do you guys think? Anyone know what kind of spider this is? Have you seen one like it around your home? Let us know in the comments.
That’s the type of spider that would get me to leave my house until someone removed it, by any means possible. *closes browser and hopes she never sees one of these again!*
I think it is a wood spider, we had one last year under our deck?
I think that’s a Fishing Spider.
http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/fishing-spider
Harmless unless it scrares you into hurting yourself.
That is really too big to be a brown recluse – they are smaller. I agree with wood spider. Eeekkk!
…hmm…hard to identify unless you’re an expert. I’d stay away from it, or capture and release it (sounds like what you did–cool!), or kill it (my personal reaction). Nice pix.
We’ve had them around our house as well. Not a recluse… These guys have really long front legs that make them seem huge. Easier to catch than the little black/white jumping spiders we have.
My guess (and it is only a guess) would be a Huntsman Spider. Fairly harmless, non-aggressive, and far more common than most people seem to realize. Shoo them back outside towards the woods and you should be all set.
It’s definitely not a Brown Recluse, however. You can tell by the lack of distinct markings on the back of the abdomen.