# Hobo spider?



## Arachnotized (May 27, 2008)

Found this guy in my kitchen sitting atop the dog kennel when I turned on the light.  This guy is huge..hes got to be close to two and half inches (including legs) and doesnt look like he's been hurting for a meal lol..my question is..is he a hobo spider? He doesnt appear to look like a wolf spider but I would like to know because now I am a bit nervous about the size of these guys and I have read they have a bite that is similar the brown recluse including the toxins. Any ideas? Ill try to get a better pic tomorrow. Thanks!


----------



## vvx (May 27, 2008)

Doesn't look like a tegenaria to me. Seems to me a tegenaria agrestis won't get that big either. So my vote would be not a hobo.


----------



## What (May 27, 2008)

That may be a philodromid... I am very tired and a bit out of it though. Wait for a second opinion.


----------



## Arachnotized (May 27, 2008)

Glad to know it's not a hobo..that is a relief!. I also looked at some spider pics and he almost looks like some sort of fishing spider..his two front legs were held close together in the fishing spider stance (what I observed from pics) when I first saw him..I do have fish tanks in my kitchen and maybe thats why he had come inside? Maybe he was going for my fish tanks lol..well tomorrow he will take a ride down to the lake and I will release him so he can find a new home. He is a beautiful spider no doubt.


----------



## crpy (May 27, 2008)

I would say Pisaurina by the pic, maybe...... cant see it that good


----------



## John Apple (May 27, 2008)

crpy said:


> I would say Pisaurina by the pic, maybe...... cant see it that good


agreed maybe a light mirabilis


----------



## Brianhogs (May 27, 2008)

This is a Hobo. You don't have a hobo there.


----------



## Venom (May 27, 2008)

I agree with the above posters--it is some kind of Pisaurid.


----------



## ErikWestblom (May 27, 2008)

Yeah same here, and from what I've heard, pisaurids are pretty much harmless.


----------



## Arachnotized (May 27, 2008)

heres a better pic of him this morning..this is how he holds his legs...






I am almost tempted to keep him lol..


----------



## ErikWestblom (May 28, 2008)

You could definitely keep it. Think they might be really easy to care for. Been looking for one of these for a few weeks now.

We have this one in Sweden: http://www.nicksspiders.com/nicksspiders/pisauramirabilis.htm


----------



## Arachnotized (May 30, 2008)

Thanks for sharing those pics. The spiders are awesome. I have indeed decided to keep this monster.  I am in the process now of fixing him up a nice home :clap:


----------



## buthus (May 31, 2008)

> and from what I've heard, pisaurids are pretty much harmless.


and so are Hobos.


----------



## Brianhogs (May 31, 2008)

buthus said:


> and so are Hobos.


I thought hobos have a nasty bite


----------



## Talkenlate04 (May 31, 2008)

Brianhogs said:


> I thought hobos have a nasty bite


I was under that impression as well. I heard something to the effects of a similar bite to a brown recluse, so similar it gets misdiagnosed in our hospitals up here in Oregon as a recluse bite all the time. But I am sure you know we don’t have recluses up here in Oregon. I heard they were close relatives as well. Any truth to all that?  :?


----------



## lhystrix (May 31, 2008)

The spider in original post is an adult male P. mira.

Talkenlate, according to Spiders of NA: 'the evidence that bites from the hobo spider can cause medical problems in humans is circumstanstial at best (Vetter & Isbister 2004).'
That may have changed since 2004, but I haven't looked into it as I don't really care.


----------



## JMoran1097 (May 31, 2008)

if that was a hobo, i sure wouldn't hold it.

both brothers got tagged by Hobos last winter.  they had the WORST looking infections on their ankles (bite area) and were in terrible pain for several weeks even on meds.


----------



## Talkenlate04 (May 31, 2008)

JMoran1097 said:


> if that was a hobo, i sure wouldn't hold it.
> 
> both brothers got tagged by Hobos last winter.  they had the WORST looking infections on their ankles (bite area) and were in terrible pain for several weeks even on meds.


Maybe the bites effects are strongly based on individual reaction of the person bitten?


----------



## JMoran1097 (May 31, 2008)

I have no clue, but it was nasty


----------



## Brianhogs (May 31, 2008)

"Causes the site of the bite to blister. The blister then breaks open and leaves a oozing, gaping wound."

Yeah, I'd say its pretty bad :\


----------



## What (Jun 2, 2008)

JMoran1097 said:


> if that was a hobo, i sure wouldn't hold it.
> 
> both brothers got tagged by Hobos last winter.  they had the WORST looking infections on their ankles (bite area) and were in terrible pain for several weeks even on meds.


Are you sure that they got tagged by 'hobo' spiders?

Things like this are exactly how species that are of no consequence get labeled as killers. Having personally been bitten by a few tegenaria specimens I have to agree with the 2004 paper cited. Had a little bump and a bit of necrotization(<1/8") but that is most likely just me not maintaining the area and a secondary infection moving in.


----------



## Talkenlate04 (Jun 2, 2008)

What said:


> Are you sure that they got tagged by 'hobo' spiders?
> 
> Things like this are exactly how species that are of no consequence get labeled as killers. Having personally been bitten by a few tegenaria specimens I have to agree with the 2004 paper cited. Had a little bump and a bit of necrotization(<1/8") but that is most likely just me not maintaining the area and a secondary infection moving in.


You and I could get bit by something like that and be just fine, but Joe down the block could have an adverse reaction. You never know how that stuff is going to work on someone else.


----------



## Johnnyster (Jun 2, 2008)

Hobo spiders in Riverside county?? ...hmm :?


----------



## Talkenlate04 (Jun 2, 2008)

Johnnyster said:


> Hobo spiders in Riverside county?? ...hmm :?


? Does that sound odd to you for some reason?


----------



## orcrist (Jun 6, 2008)

Just to clarify, no, hobo spiders and brown recluse are not closely related. Hobo spiders are in the tegenaria group, the same as the house-spiders and grass spiders that make the sheet webs with the funnels at the end, and have not been definitively linked to any life-threatening bites that I know of... mostly a case of urban-legend type hysteria. Recluse spiders belong to Loloxceles (could be spelling that wrong) and have been confirmed as the cause of much more serious bites.

Any spider bite, depending on the individual reaction, has the potential to form an open sore which is open to secondary infections. Bites from common house spiders, jumping spiders, sac spiders, and other species often result in such complications due to itching or not being kept clean, and these further effects are blamed on the spider's venom.


----------



## Venom (Jun 7, 2008)

orcrist said:


> Just to clarify, no, hobo spiders and brown recluse are not closely related. Hobo spiders are in the tegenaria group, the same as the house-spiders and grass spiders that make the sheet webs with the funnels at the end, and have not been definitively linked to any life-threatening bites that I know of... mostly a case of urban-legend type hysteria. Recluse spiders belong to Loloxceles (could be spelling that wrong) and have been confirmed as the cause of much more serious bites.
> 
> Any spider bite, depending on the individual reaction, has the potential to form an open sore which is open to secondary infections. Bites from common house spiders, jumping spiders, sac spiders, and other species often result in such complications due to itching or not being kept clean, and these further effects are blamed on the spider's venom.


Mostly right. There was one case in which a hobo bite was a "contributing factor" to a woman's death, but the spider bite was not the primary cause of death. However, T.agrestis are still known to be *capable* of causing aplastic anemia, in which the bone marrow is killed, and becomes unable to produce new red blood cells ( fatal without bone marrow transplant ). This has never been recorded, to my knowledge, but has been deduced by toxicologists to be possible, due to the properties of the venom. Their capacity for severe headaches and strong local necrosis are both fully established. Still, they aren't on the level of a brown recluse.


----------



## GOE_Rescue (Jun 21, 2008)

*hobo*

After reading this i'm definately intersted in what a hobo's bite can do my daughter caught one in the basement this morning at first i thought brown recluse but after checking pics it's definately a hobo one this bugger calms down ill try and post a good pic of it to have verified so any info regarding them would be apreciated(she wants to keep it for a pet)

We live in midland michigan (if that helps with location of spider)
Andrew


----------



## Venom (Jun 21, 2008)

GOE_Rescue said:


> After reading this i'm definately intersted in what a hobo's bite can do my daughter caught one in the basement this morning at first i thought brown recluse but after checking pics it's definately a hobo one this bugger calms down ill try and post a good pic of it to have verified so any info regarding them would be apreciated(she wants to keep it for a pet)
> 
> We live in midland michigan (if that helps with location of spider)
> Andrew


There are no hobo spiders in Michigan. The hobo spider, Tegenaria agrestis, is apparantly the only toxic member of its genus, which has a number of species in MI and across the country ( almost all are introduced ). They are all very similar in appearance, and it takes a high level of expertise to reliably distinguish T. agrestis from other Tegenaria species. However, I can assure you that you do not have the T. agrestis, because it has never been found in Michigan. It's range is limited to the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and parts of Idaho and Utah. They've never been spotted in the eastern US. 

Oh, I live about 45 minutes away from Midland, so whatever spiders you have, we have here too. I've seen loads of local Teganaria, and none have been T.agrestis.


----------

