Spider I.D. pleasie

[LeilaNami]

Okay so for years I've seen these guys around my area. City, woods, doesn't matter. They're everywhere. Basically they have the body structure of Lactrodectus. Their coloring is what confuses me. They are tan and black with a black hour glass underneath the opsithoma. Does anyone have any idea what they are? They make webs like the orb weavers as well. Those webs get pretty huge too compared to the resident spider.

Forgot to say that I live in East Texas.

 

[diadematus]

Okay so for years I've seen these guys around my area. City, woods, doesn't matter. They're everywhere. Basically they have the body structure of Lactrodectus. Their coloring is what confuses me. They are tan and black with a black hour glass underneath the opsithoma. Does anyone have any idea what they are? They make webs like the orb weavers as well. Those webs get pretty huge too compared to the resident spider.

Forgot to say that I live in East Texas.

Orb weaver... That says family Araneidae, though that wouldn't make me think of the body structure of Latrodectus. It's useful to know what kind of web (complete, or with a pie-gap, vertical or horizontal) and where the spider sits.

But best of all, since they are so common, how about a snapshot?

 

[LeilaNami]

I think it's complete and it is vertical. The body type confuses me too as well as the black hourglass. One thing is: They move their webs daily. I've seen them in their webs as much as I've seen them walking about. They only reside in their webs for a couple days at the most before wandering off somewhere.

I never see them during the winter unless they get indoors so it'll be awhile before I can get a snapshot

 

[LeilaNami]

Update

I recently found that they were juvis of some Lactrodectus species. Probably mactans

 

[Ganoderma]

L. mactans lives in dark areas usuall yunder rocks, logs or other such debris. it wll never make an orb like web, but does make a fair bit of web which it will sit in. There are many spiders that appear to have an hourglass design, and latrodectus hour glasses are usually yellow to red, not black. There are also many orb web spiders that have at least somewhat similar body shape to L.

 

[LeilaNami]

I took a specimen to an arachnologist and IDed it for me

I guessed at the mactans but I probably meant hesperus...I can never keep the two straight

 

[diadematus]

I took a specimen to an arachnologist and IDed it for me

I guessed at the mactans but I probably meant hesperus...I can never keep the two straight

And they were making orb webs?? I guess I always thought that they made cob-like webs.

 

[LeilaNami]

He said that the juviniles can make the orb webs...That's what confused me so I went and asked him It's also fun that I keep finding them in my yard

 

[Taceas]

Pictures always help immensely.

The habits don't sound like any Latrodectus I've ever heard of or encountered, regardless of juvenile status or not.

 

[LeilaNami]

I'll have to wait until summer to find them out and about again.

 

[Elizabeth]

Black and tan... orb webs... black hourglass.... move webs.... all over the place (could this mean obvious placement of webs?)

I think you are seeing barn spiders, as the description completely fits those and doesn't fit the widow spiders at all. Not the orb webs, not even as juvies. Not the color of the hourglass. Not the moving of the webs. Being seen in obvious settings just about everywhere. Aye, yi, yi...just about everything you describe? Exact opposite for widows!

http://www.insectimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1310054


Name that arachnologist and embarrass someone!

 

[LeilaNami]

that's it! I asked him because I sure it wasn't a widow. Good job!

 

[diadematus]

that's it! I asked him because I sure it wasn't a widow. Good job!

Well, you've managed to confuse me, at the very least. I hope that there won't be a test on this thread.

-Kevin