- Joined
- Mar 7, 2012
- Messages
- 4,095
From "Identifying and Misidentifying the Brown Recluse Spider" by Rick Vetter:That triple dyad is certainly a give away. How common is that among spiders in general?
Six-eyed spiders
Spitting spiders (Scytodes spp., Family Scytodidae) are taxonomically related to recluses, are non-poisonous and probably often mistaken as recluses throughout the U.S. They share the same eye pattern (Fig. 5), however, the several known species have black stripes and/or maculae on the dorsal surface of both the cephalothorax and abdomen which should quickly eliminate them as recluse spiders (Fig. 6). In addition, in side view, the cephalothorax is definitively humped (Fig. 7), an anatomical modification necessary for housing the large spitting glands that are only found within this genus.
The woodlouse spider (Dysdera crocata, Family Dysderidae) (Fig. 8) has six eyes which are grouped closely together in triads near the anterior margin of the cephalothorax. Despite this and the lack of bodily pigmentary pattern, the woodlouse spider is commonly misidentified as a brown recluse. It is found throughout the U.S.