# Hobo Spider?



## TheTyro (Sep 17, 2009)

*Hobo Spider? Identification Confirmation *







I know theres no difinitive way for me to identify this spider, but i'm pretty confident i've eliminated the Giant House Spider and some of the other spiders listed as resembling the Hobo Spider. I could easily be wrong, but I looked through several guides and compared photos from differing views of potentually indentifying characteristics. So i'm going to post some not so fantastic pictures of the critter for you guys to judge.

I checked the eye arrangement, lack of leg banding, the sternum, the palps, the abdomen markings and the cephalothorax..the hairyness and what not...looks just like the spiders identified as Hobo Spiders on bug guide (though even those aren't difinitive) but compared to the other common spiders....doesn't hit the marks. 

I caught it yesterday, it ran by my little sisters foot and she pointed the spider out to me. It didn't look like a wolf spider or the common funnel web spiders i've seen around but it wasn't till today I realized it was a spider i had not seen before so up close. I kind of wondered if it could be a hobo spider, but didn't think it was likely and was surprised when it bore an exact resemblence to the pictures. I feel kind of dumb now, I wasn't very careful when I caught it. 

So here's the pictures. I'll be glad if i'm wrong. (even if it's not as dangerous as people think it is)

Bottom view http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/TheTyro/Messed/100_8017.jpg
Better bottom view, but with flash http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/TheTyro/Messed/100_8018.jpg

Top ish view http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/TheTyro/Messed/100_8013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/TheTyro/Messed/100_8007.jpg

Top view http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/TheTyro/Messed/100_8011.jpg

Front view, i hate my camera. You can't see the eyes too well. They are so bunched together, as compared to the normal funnel web's i've seen. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/TheTyro/Messed/100_8015.jpg

I'll likely take more pictures if people ask, but in a clear tube  

The sites i used to help: http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf
http://bugguide.net/node/view/31446


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 17, 2009)

I think you're a bit far from its range: 

http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/hobo.html 

& despite all the hoopla- there just aren't any documented cases of necrosis or anything medically significant.  I actually have a proliferation of both T. agrestis & T. gigantea in & around my house(practically everywhere up here) & have yet to meet anyone that has actually been bit(that they know of).  Locals still insist that these are "brown recluse" spiders...sigh.  Based on your location, you're more likely to get "capped" in the back of the local meat shop that you are to be bitten by T. agrestis.

Incidentally, I found a beast of a T. gigantea last week w/ a legspan longer than a bic lighter- I'll have to find the pic.


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## TheTyro (Sep 17, 2009)

I live in Washington State, I just moved. I need to update my location.


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## TheTyro (Sep 17, 2009)

zonbonzovi said:


> I think you're a bit far from its range:
> 
> http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/hobo.html
> 
> ...


Yeah, but I figure with something that has a potentual history of causing some serious harm, it's better to play it safe. I'm not gonna villainize this critter though, i've become a spider lover these past few months and am not afraid of it. I think this house used to have tons of T. gigantea, but this is one of the largest spiders i've seen recently and doesnt compare to gigantea. I wanna see more wolf spiders.

and yeah haha, I dont think there are any hobo spiders in New Jersey


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## jsloan (Sep 17, 2009)

TheTyro said:


> I know theres no difinitive way for me to identify this spider
> 
> [...]
> 
> The sites i used to help: http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf


There most certainly is a definitive way, and you've already visited the site that told you how to do it.  You will have to look at the palps under a microscope to make the ID, though.  The paper tells you what to look for.


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## zonbonzovi (Sep 17, 2009)

Welcome to WA- you're going to miss the deli food.  You will have many more opportunities to pluck these guys out of your bath tub in the next 2 months.  I can't think of any pint-sized fauna that you should be worried about up here.  Don't eat the rough-skinned newts, LOL.


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## TheTyro (Sep 17, 2009)

jsloan said:


> There most certainly is a definitive way, and you've already visited the site that told you how to do it.  You will have to look at the palps under a microscope to make the ID, though.  The paper tells you what to look for.


I meant, without a microscope there is no way for _me_ to indentify it.  But looking at the palps with a magnifying glass, I could cross off the other spiders easily. ( comparing the palps to the example spiders palps)  I don't want to kill the spider. I was hoping someone here knew more about them and could confirm what it was, but I realize my photos are pretty poopy and the details are hard to see. I'll probably take another set if anyone wants to help out.  

Best thing I have is a magnifying glass and a camera so I can look at the details.


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## TheTyro (Sep 17, 2009)

zonbonzovi said:


> Welcome to WA- you're going to miss the deli food.  You will have many more opportunities to pluck these guys out of your bath tub in the next 2 months.  I can't think of any pint-sized fauna that you should be worried about up here.  Don't eat the rough-skinned newts, LOL.


I'm actually moved back in with my family, i've only been in NJ 3 or so years. I don't think i'm gonna miss the food honestly....I think I got really fat being there. It's weird getting used to the different insects that live here as compared to the east coast, I totally forgot how different it was! It'll be fun.


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## jsloan (Sep 18, 2009)

I understand.  The tough thing about telling the difference between _T. domestica_ and _T. agrestis_ using general appearance and body markings is those things can vary from one spider to the next; and, the differences between the two species can be very subtle.  For example, _T. agrestis_ tends not to have bands on the legs, while _T. domestica_ does.  However, I have a live _T. domestica_ I've been keeping for almost a year now, and whatever banding is on its legs is so faint you have to look pretty hard to notice them (I have, however, confirmed the ID via the epigyne, which I was able to look at under magnification through the side of a glass vial).  Also, features can vary not only between species, but also among individuals of the same species.  That's why the palps are the only 100% sure way to ID your spider.  

I doubt very much if you'll get a reliable ID in here based on pictures alone.  Unfortunately, this isn't one of the easy-to-ID spiders.

However, if you want to contact a professional arachnologist who specializes in spiders from the state of Washington, try Rod Crawford:

http://staff.washington.edu/tiso/index.html


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## Venom (Sep 18, 2009)

This might be of use:

http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf


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## TheTyro (Sep 18, 2009)

jsloan said:


> I understand.  The tough thing about telling the difference between _T. domestica_ and _T. agrestis_ using general appearance and body markings is those things can vary from one spider to the next; and, the differences between the two species can be very subtle.  For example, _T. agrestis_ tends not to have bands on the legs, while _T. domestica_ does.  However, I have a live _T. domestica_ I've been keeping for almost a year now, and whatever banding is on its legs is so faint you have to look pretty hard to notice them (I have, however, confirmed the ID via the epigyne, which I was able to look at under magnification through the side of a glass vial).  Also, features can vary not only between species, but also among individuals of the same species.  That's why the palps are the only 100% sure way to ID your spider.
> 
> I doubt very much if you'll get a reliable ID in here based on pictures alone.  Unfortunately, this isn't one of the easy-to-ID spiders.
> 
> ...


Thats what I read, i'm hoping i'll stumble on some T. Domestica and T. gigantea and see the similarities myself. I'm sure it's as tricky as it looks. I may just contact this Rod guy and see what he thinks, would be cool to hear what a pro thinks! 

And Venom, I checked out that site earlier while trying to identify it myself, I linked to it in my first post, but thank you for suggesting it! If I hadn't foundit before it definitely would have been helpful.


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