steatoda spider. what species?

buthus

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Cant tell whats going on ...have a bigger image?
How common are they in your area? How big is it?
 

Gigas

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Underside kind of resembles my bipunctata, as buthus said do you have an larger picture of the spiders other half?
 

Widowman10

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Cant tell whats going on ...have a bigger image?
How common are they in your area? How big is it?
sorry, no bigger image. they are very common around here (CO). they are about the same size as an average to smaller widow (maybe abdomen=1/4 inch, legs in all=1/2 to 3/4 inch max). abdomen similar shape, cept a little more squashed- thats how i know it's a steatoda. the top is a dark brown color. solid. abdomen as you can see is tan with a sort of dark brown "V" shape. they seem to live communily (sp?) as i've found them together in very small places (3-5 in the same tight place).
 

Widowman10

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Underside kind of resembles my bipunctata, as buthus said do you have an larger picture of the spiders other half?
hey gigas, sorry i don't have a pic of the top half:8o but the top half doesn't have any white around the top of the abdomen. doesn't seem to have the white "T" that the bipunctata has.
 

buthus

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Steatoda borealis. I have several.
Size doesnt match that ID though. ?? Plus, a bit out of range (though borealis have been heading south it seems)
Grossa is me bet. Seen younger Grossa living in close proximity and adults relatively close together..esp with younger siblings.

Take some more pics when you get a chance. If it aint Grossa, then whatever it is I'd love some. :D ;)

edit: though, I still cant tell what Im looking at when it comes to actual leg length vs body type. It does seem to have that bipunctata/borealis shape...at least from looking at this single image.
 

JLDomestics

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If you can't tell that it is borealis from the underside of the abdomen, then you musn't have a clue what borealis looks like. The underside is a dead give away, just like the underside of a black widow is a dead give away.
 

Venom

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My area is totally infested with S.borealis, and this underside matches what I see all the time, so I believe JLD is correct.
 

Gigas

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JLD can you post a lateral shot of one of your borealis please, also therids are some of the most variable coloured spiders ever.
 

buthus

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If you can't tell that it is borealis from the underside of the abdomen, then you musn't have a clue what borealis looks like.
Cocky. Remember, many of us dont live around/amongst every specie of spider...even insignificant house spiders such as these. No clue? Maybe. Considering that the internet and crappy pics are our best clues. And this one is a crappy pic (please keep taking crappy pics though! ...I mean no offense...its just a fact)
What throws me... the SIZE description. I thought bors were about the same size or smaller than S.bipunctata. ??(help me out here ;) ) Im looking at one right now and I would say that her diagonal leg span is a half inch at best.
Now...I did say that the body shape of the spider in the above pic does throws me off ...looks more like a borealis/bipunctata. I didnt get into markings, because i have seen only a few (at best) underside shots of the species. What I HAVE seen is an amazing diversity of markings on sub-adult grossas in my area ...even markings that are opposite then other grossa found under the same rock.

The underside is a dead give away, just like the underside of a black widow is a dead give away.
You need to come visit my spider room. The largest percentage of my Latros DONT have the "dead give away" hr glass. Go figure. :? ;) ;)

Ok...I need to get back to the job site and earn some cash. Frickin spiders. :rolleyes:
 
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