What am I?

[gdansey]

Found this guy hanging out in my dishwasher. I'm curious as to what it is. Any one what to guess?

 

[lhystrix]

You are an adult female Steatoda triangulosa.

 

[Widowman10]

yep! pretty girl! :clap:

 

[gdansey]

Thanks, I'll look it up.

 

[gdansey]

You are an adult female Steatoda triangulosa.

One more question if you will. Are they interesting to keep? Any recommendations on a container, moisture, food? Should I just put her back under my dishwasher?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[Widowman10]

One more question if you will. Are they interesting to keep? Any recommendations on a container, moisture, food? Should I just put her back under my dishwasher?

Thanks,
Glenn

i've always thought they were kinda fun to keep... they are an interesting steatoda species, better colors and patterns than some of the other american varieties. well, if she can live under the dishwasher, she can prob live in lots of different types of containers . just give her a container with some stuff to build web on, and feed however often you want, i fed mine about every week or two.

 

[gdansey]

i've always thought they were kinda fun to keep... they are an interesting steatoda species, better colors and patterns than some of the other american varieties. well, if she can live under the dishwasher, she can prob live in lots of different types of containers . just give her a container with some stuff to build web on, and feed however often you want, i fed mine about every week or two.

I have her in a small deli cup 16oz. what should I put in it for her to web on? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Widowman10]

I have her in a small deli cup 16oz. what should I put in it for her to web on? Thanks for any advice.

sticks work great. basically anything really. with my widows, sometimes i'll position sticks or other objects in certain ways so that webs and everything will look cool. heck, you could put a skull in there and have webbing all around the eyes and mouth if you really wanted to... but it's up to you. they live everywhere, on anything, so just something to attach the web to! oh- and i wouldn't suggest anything too complicated, such as a bunch of leaves or something like that, cause if it's too thick, you will never see your pretty spider!! hope this helps! let us know if you have any other questions!

 

[gdansey]

sticks work great. basically anything really. with my widows, sometimes i'll position sticks or other objects in certain ways so that webs and everything will look cool. heck, you could put a skull in there and have webbing all around the eyes and mouth if you really wanted to... but it's up to you. they live everywhere, on anything, so just something to attach the web to! oh- and i wouldn't suggest anything too complicated, such as a bunch of leaves or something like that, cause if it's too thick, you will never see your pretty spider!! hope this helps! let us know if you have any other questions!

Thanks for the help. This should be interesting.

 

[tikichick]

Very nice photos!!

Is this the same type of spider?

Thank you in advance!

 

[spydrhunter1]

Congratulations gdansey...these guys are great little spiders to keep. Like was mentioned earlier use a simple container with twigs and a few leaves. The will web the dried leaves into a tube and hide away.
Here's a similar set-up I use for my widows using 16 oz. deli cups.

 

[cacoseraph]

Very nice photos!!

Is this the same type of spider?



Thank you in advance!

i don't know why, but that spider sort of makes me think of a pirate spider
not really enough detail for me to tell though


it does look similar to the steatodas, though

 

[buthus]

Yep both yours and the one tikichick posted look like Steatoda triangulosa.
a 1" x 2 or 3" plastic box like you get at the art/craft store is good for these. Ventilation is a good thing. Baby food jar or whatever will work just peachy too. More space will allow for natural web structure/use and more dazzling hunting performances. Even more space like a big jar with lots of structure/hide can allow for slings to grow up so you end up with a couple/few living quasi-communally. (toleration via enough space and ample food) They do fairly well in very dry conditions, but seem to prefer some humidity ...even deal with a lot of humidity quite well.

 

[gdansey]

I didn't think of sticks in time and just popped a coffee filter in to get her off of the plastic. She seemed frantic about not having something to web on. She webbed it up and seems content. Perhaps I'll get her some substrate and sticks after her first meal. What can I feed her? Pinhead crickets? Flies?

 

[gdansey]

Congratulations gdansey...these guys are great little spiders to keep. Like was mentioned earlier use a simple container with twigs and a few leaves. The will web the dried leaves into a tube and hide away.
Here's a similar set-up I use for my widows using 16 oz. deli cups.

Nice setup! Is that a Black Widow?

 

[buthus]

I didn't think of sticks in time and just popped a coffee filter in to get her off of the plastic. She seemed frantic about not having something to web on. She webbed it up and seems content. Perhaps I'll get her some substrate and sticks after her first meal. What can I feed her? Pinhead crickets? Flies?

They can do prey their body mass or even larger (probably 3 or 4 times their size) yet are dainty enough to snare fruit flies and other small stuff. Like widows they specialize in larger prey using the tried and tested "connect to and hoist" method of snaring larger terrestrial prey.

 

[spydrhunter1]

gdansey, Yep...black widow, one of many

 

[Widowman10]

Nice setup! Is that a Black Widow?

looks like it to me!! looks like a male in there as well...

 

[tikichick]

Thanks for the i.d. yall