handling widow & recluse

[Ungoliant]

That triple dyad is certainly a give away. How common is that among spiders in general?

From "Identifying and Misidentifying the Brown Recluse Spider" by Rick Vetter:

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.

 

[loxoscelesfear]

Vetter's publications are great reads. I know of a rock pile where Scytodes and L. reclusa live side-by -side. You can collect a couple dozen recluse in a matter of minutes. The name recluse is somewhat misleading because if there is one recluse present, many more are nearby.

 

[Ciphor]

i actually did free handle that Loxo for a couple seconds on accident. i don't currently have health insurance so i am trying to keep my play at least somewhat reasonable for the time being. but once i get it back, it's game on! as far as the triple dyad in that arrangement goes, i *think* it is characteristic of the Sicariidae family and there are only two genera there... Loxosceles and Sicarius
http://research.amnh.org/iz/spiders/catalog/SICARIIDAE.html

btw, platnick has 11 species of Lox findable in the USA... got to catch them all =P

Pokemon would be so much more enjoyable if it had fiddlebacks. "I Challange you with my spiders!" "And I call pikacho to..." "ARE THOSE BROWN RECLUSE? PIKACHO GET AWAY, OMG NO!" "DERMAL NECROSIS ATTACK!?! IS THAT LEGAL????"

 

[cacoseraph]

ah, i forgot about spitters. generally they are hard to mistake for Lox for decently experienced hobbiests as i believe they have goofy shaped cephalothorax to hold their spitting gear... but if they have the triple dyad arrangement then that is very good to get reminded of. danka

*ahem* your quote totally says the thorax thing. i might have skimmed it a bit =P

 

[zonbonzovi]

A Californian off of Hwy. 14...virtually the only living thing that I could find in this area. My apologies for the quality.

 

[cacoseraph]

Prof. Vetter told me there are gazillions (paraphrase) of L. laeta in Lost Angeles and surrounding environs and that they have probably been there since 1936, as there is a sample collected in that year that keyed out to it! dunno what you go there or where you were, but i thought it was very interesting into