# Need this Spider ID ASAP



## Jash (Jun 5, 2011)

I was cutting my hair last weekend when i spotted this weird spider i had not seen before, intruiged i decided to take a picture and post it to facebook for some laughs but when my friend said it might be a brown recluse spider... i started freaking out, i live in ontario canada and i despretly need and id on this spider so i can know if its a deadly spider and i need to call pest control


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## harmroelf (Jun 5, 2011)

This thing can kill u with it's laserbeam eyes, furrealz!


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## Jash (Jun 5, 2011)

lol ya man laser beams of doom but seriously can u help with an i.d of this spider?


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## Cuddly Cobalt (Jun 5, 2011)

i am not an expert at all at this but i dont see the "fiddle" on its back so i dont think its a brown recluse. Or wait, is the fiddle thing with a different spider?


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## Jash (Jun 5, 2011)

ya the fiddle thing is typical of the brown recluse i heard


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## Tarantula_Hawk (Jun 5, 2011)

That's a male _Cheiracanthium_ sp.


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## Jash (Jun 5, 2011)

are you sure??? just wanna make sure i know exactly whut it is bc i live in canada and is it dangerous??


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## bobusboy (Jun 6, 2011)

Invade its space and let it bite you, report back in the morning.


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## kylestl (Jun 6, 2011)

brown recluse's live in a good number of peoples houses. I have them in my house from time to time. They don't just go around biting people you are fine. You don't need to call an exterminator to spray a bunch of chemicals that aren't necessary.


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## Stan Schultz (Jun 6, 2011)

Jash said:


> are you sure??? just wanna make sure i know exactly whut it is bc i live in canada and is it dangerous??


Where in Canada? (One Canadian to another!)


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## Tarantula_Hawk (Jun 6, 2011)

Why say "brown recluse" when it's clearly not one?
It's a male _Cheiracanthium_ sp. (Miturigdae). You got 2 species in the U.S (_C. mildei_ and _C. inclusum_). Now im not familiar with their distribution in your country so hopefully someone will have more local info.


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## jsloan (Jun 6, 2011)

Tarantula_Hawk said:


> You got 2 species in the U.S (_C. mildei_ and _C. inclusum_). Now im not familiar with their distribution in your country so hopefully someone will have more local info.


Both species are found in Ontario, according to last year's Spider Checklist for Canada and Alaska (May, 2010).


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## Jash (Jun 6, 2011)

From one canadian to another toronto ontario area (Brantford) and i heard many of these spiders radpidly infest homes if not dealt with immediately which is why im wondering isf this one is poisonus :S


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## John Apple (Jun 6, 2011)

inclusom is the darker of the two [in the males]...mildei has a more of a stripe on the abdomen...


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## Stan Schultz (Jun 6, 2011)

Jash said:


> From one canadian to another toronto ontario area (Brantford) ...


Neat! Our residence is officially Calgary, but we're there only a couple months out of the year. Currently we're staying in Westbank, BC. (Click the thumbnail to see a larger version.)



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Jash said:


> ... and i heard many of these spiders radpidly infest homes if not dealt with immediately which is why im wondering isf this one is poisonus :S


*ALMOST* all spiders possess a venom and are therefore technically poisonous/venomous. The fact is that the vast majority of spiders that may be venomous either can't bite us, won't bite us, or don't have a venom that has any effect on us.

There are a few spiders native to eastern Canada that are capable of biting humans, but with one exception these spider bites are almost as inconsequential as mosquito bites. There is slight swelling at the bite's  site, and sometimes slight pain. All symptoms disappear within a few hours to a very few days.

The vast majority of so-called spider bites reported by laymen and even hospital emergency rooms are really bee stings, mosquito bites, bites by any number of other insects (I was once "bitten" by an aphid!), infections in thorn pricks, hair follicles, sweat glands, etc.

And what was the exception I mentioned above? There is at least one species of widow (genus _Latrodectus_) native to most of Canada within 300 or 400 kilometres of the border with the USA that have the *POTENTIAL* for being dangerous. In fact, widows are rather uncommon over most of their range in Canada, bites are almost unheard of, and no one ever dies of a widow bite anymore in North America. In fact, most of us would say you were very lucky if you ever did find a widow in Brantford or anywhere else in Ontario.

Here's a question for you to answer: "How many of your relatives, neighbors, and friends have died of a spider bite?" I'm more than 2/3 of a century old, and I can't name one individual that I personally knew who died of a spider bite. In North America, and most other parts of the world as well, it just doesn't happen. You have nothing to worry about if you have a few spiders in your home.

Do these things take over your home? Not really. They may become abundant during some seasons of the year (usually autumn), but most of the time they stay in the basement or crawl space under your home, eating all the other bugs that would normally accumulate there.

If I didn't want them around during cold weather and I found them upstairs I'd merely escort them back downstairs. During warm weather they'd get the bum's rush outdoors.

Now relax. Pour yourself another glass, stein, etc. of your favorite beverage. Slip a CD or DVD in the player. Stretch out on the couch or your favorite furniture and enjoy a little quality time with your newfound, little 8-legged buddies!


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## schnautzr (Jun 8, 2011)

Judging by the gargantuan palps (and the location), I'm going to say it's not a _brown_ recluse, though I won't rule out the possibility of some other recluse species.

Just a note on brown recluses-- While brown recluses often stow away in minute numbers in cardboard boxes delivered by FedEx, UPS, and other carriers that hit the south and southern midwest, they're terrible at establishing new colonies. It's highly improbable that a brown recluse "invasion" will thrive solely from a couple stowaways.


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