Caught this long-legged beastie. ID?

[Tim Benzedrine]

Obviously a male, but a male what? When I first saw him running across the floor, I thought it was some sort of harvestman, but after catching it and getting a closer look, I realized it is not.
I live in the eastern USA. I had nothing handy for scale, but the bottom of the jar he is in is about 2 and a half inches in diameter. Any ideas?

 

[cjm1991]

Reminds me of a huntsman species but thats just my 2 cents

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I can see where you'd get that impression, but I think that is just the way it was postured when I took the picture.
It was hard to get a picture of him, as soon as I'd get it in focus, he'd make a break for it and I'd have to knock him back to the bottom.
I managed to get another more natural-lookingl picture snapped. Maybe that will help. Still vaguely huntman-like, but not so much as the first picture.

 

[crpy]

male Pisaura mira, I believe= nursery web

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

male Pisaura mira, I believe= nursery web

I googled up some images of Nursery web spiders, and I do believe you nailed it. Pisaura mira, AKA nursery web spider, it is. I knew somebody would be able to help! It would probably have taken a great deal of time for me to locate a match, if I were able to do so at all. Thanks!

Now to go read up on the natural history of the little bugger. I do believe I have encountered it's female counterparts before, as their pictures look familiar.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd just bump this one up to post this gal. Am I correct in assuming she is the female counterpart to the spindly fellow I started the thread with? She's quite a beast, isn't she? I found her out chilling on the porch tonight.

 

[Taceas]

No, the female above is a Dolomedes tenebrosus, aka Fishing Spider. Same as this behemoth I found on our front porch, audibly crunching a large field cricket.

I had a female counterpart to your male I believe. Jumped on me from a houseplant I packed back in after a rain on the deck, scared the bejebus out of me. But I released it before snapping a picture. Same body shape, not as gangly, and a sandy beige color. Really very pretty spider.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Heh. Good thing I checked here before trying to set up an impromptu breeding project!
Those are some pretty bulky spiders, aren't they? I'm half tempted to set her up in a five gallon tank I have empty at the moment, but I really don't have the room and she'd probably be better off out on her own. On the other hand, there aren't too many natural predators of largish spiders in this house and nobody would be tossing her easy-to-catch domestic crickets in the great outdoors.

I still have that male, he's been eating crickets and doing quite well. I'll be cutting him loose soon, probably within the next day or two. I may try and see if the big female Dolomedes will eat and if so, keep her around a week or so and then set her free also.

Thanks for the I.D., I may have been able to figure her out using my field guides and the 'net, but it's great when somebody can just take a quick look and set me in the right direction.

 

[Taceas]

I kept a D. tenebrosus for almost a year or so. They make good captives. They're aggressive hunters and entertaining to care for. She produced 3 sacs before ultimately expiring, all infertile. I tried to find a male for her outside and even on here, but no luck.

Mine didn't do too much wandering, preferring to cling head-down on a piece of bark to snag a passing roach. I had mine set up in one of my acrylic arboreal cubes, so a 5-gallon tank might be overkill.

I think I got more attached to her than some of my tarantulas. RIP Melandru

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Hmm. Maybe I'll reconsider keeping her. She is a pretty cool spider, darned close to a tarantula if you ask me. You are probably right, a five gallon tank would be a bit of overkill. But I also have a couple critter keepers, so I could use one of them. No use giving her real estate she doesn't need. I'll think it over. She's almost too impressive not to keep! And maybe with a little luck, she's already hooked up with a male and would produce a viable sac. That would be really interesting. Thanks again!

PS: Melandru, huh? You wouldn't happen to be a Guild Wars player, would you?

 

[Taceas]

PS: Melandru, huh? You wouldn't happen to be a Guild Wars player, would you?

:8o You got me!

Do you play as well? I'm still what would be considered a newbie, 17 months and still not finished anything. But I enjoy playing through the story at my own pace, and not knowing anyone else to play with besides my husband, its slow-going by yourself.

 

[proper_tea]

Here's a semi-aquatic set up I tried. Didn't really work, but I'm considering trying it again with some modifications. Anyone actually found one of these fishing? I get the sense they only hunt at night. I usually find them in tree bark during the day, but they don't seem to be living there for more than an night (no prey carcasses or webbing).

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

:8o You got me!

Do you play as well? I'm still what would be considered a newbie, 17 months and still not finished anything. But I enjoy playing through the story at my own pace, and not knowing anyone else to play with besides my husband, its slow-going by yourself.

I've got 3 years under my belt. I suck, but I'm persistent! I don't think I'd label someone who has17 months experience a newbie, though. It IS tough when you are limited in live players.
Currently we (my two fellow Guild Members and I) are playing thru the Eye of the North expansion. You might see me running around as Sara Pleidea. My partners and I have pretty limited playing time, (not my fault, THEY are the ones with kids and demanding careers) so we only play somewhere between 10 PM and midnight, eastern time. We use Teamspeak to communicate, I can only speak for myself, but glaciers move faster than I type, so using the built-in text messaging is futile for me, especially while in the heat of combat.

I get the sense they only hunt at night.

That is a cool picture of your Dolomedes. I dunno if they only feed at night or not, but I do know that I tossed a cricket in her temporary container and she flat-out ignored it. But upon inspection today I noticed that the cricket had been replaced by a little round bolus, so she did chow down sometime after lights out.

 

[Taceas]

I'm still chugging along in Nightfall with my primary character, although I have piddled around in Eye of the North a bit. I'm currently working on my Asuran titles so I can get a prettier dress for my Mesmer.

So if you see a tall, ravishing blonde Mesmer named Rassayana Atrindh, 'tis me.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I'll keep an eye out for ya!

So much for the "feeding at night" theory. I popped a mealworm in and it was ignored, but i glanced at the container about 20 minutes later and the mealworm was in a world of trouble. I'm not entirely sure if the drops of liquid are from the mealworm or from the spider, though I suspect the latter. It looks like she needed to "make some room".