What is this?

[tehhusky]

I am trying to identify what type of spider this is, found it on my basement wall

 

[lucanidae]

Characteristic looking Clubionidae genus Clubiona. The dark chelicerae and triangular spinnerets are really diagnostic of the family. A lot of people will look at this and jump right to 'Yellow Sac Spider' which used to be in the Clubionidae but is now placed in Miturgidae. Truth be told, there are many many species of Clubionidae that look like this and from the picture you wouldn't be able to easily distinguish between them and a Miturgid anyways. But like I said, it's hard to tell from this picture....so it could be a Miturgid and it does seem to have the right leg allometry to fall into that family.

 

[Venom]

It's a yellow sac spider.;P ;P ;P

 

[Erigo]

I think this spider is Cheiracanthium sp. miturgidae. For distinguishing Clubiona to Cheiracanthium we must see first and fourth pair of legs. If first pair is longer than fourth pair we have Cheiracanthium;

 

[lucanidae]

I've never, ever seen that character in a key to spider families. Characteristics that separate Miturgidae from Clubionidae in the most recently published keys include: PLS Segmentation (2 segmented with the second conical in Miturgidae, small and rounded in Clubionidae), Anterior tibia (less than four pairs of ventral spines in Clubionidae), and Endites (concave in Clubionidae).

Nothing about leg length in any key, and nothing you would be able to see in those images.

 

[tehhusky]

New Pic

I'll try and get a better pic when I see one again. Its doubtful, i've not seen one since I took the picture. Maybe it does not like camera flash?
Ah who knows. My camera won't upload anything at the moment anyways, communications error. So I have to sort that out, and watch my T. I just changed her substrate over, so she is acting a little... out of it. Added a fake plant too till I can get something real. Won't eat or anything. Seems like common behavior

 

[Venom]

I've never, ever seen that character in a key to spider families. Characteristics that separate Miturgidae from Clubionidae in the most recently published keys include: PLS Segmentation (2 segmented with the second conical in Miturgidae, small and rounded in Clubionidae), Anterior tibia (less than four pairs of ventral spines in Clubionidae), and Endites (concave in Clubionidae).

Nothing about leg length in any key, and nothing you would be able to see in those images.

I know you are training to do this professionally, and it is good to follow the clinical steps to ID'ing any species, but honestly, such detailed analysis is unnecessary with such an easily identified spider as Cheiracanthium inclusum, which this clearly is.

 

[lucanidae]

Like I said before, people will jump right to yellow sac spider. But in reality there are a lot of species that look pretty much exactly like that, and you can't differentiate from a picture like this. Of course because that is a well known spider in a fairly unknown group you find site ID's like this all the time. Not everything can be ID'd by pictures on google.

 

[Venom]

Well, yes, there are a number of similar species, but frankly, I can distinguish between Cheiracanthium and its related species. I have personally kept at least 12 C.inclusum, and have seen C.mildei in the flesh also. I have encountered "yellow" sac spiders that have been green and peach, but were still Cheiracanthium inclusum. Color is only one factor, but in this species, bright lemon yellow is a highly probable indicator of a C.inclusum identity. This really isn't a hard species to ID, even for a mildly informed amateur non-hobbyist.

Of course, not everything can be Id'd by internet photos. I have real difficulty distinguishing among the Tegenaria species, for instance. T.agrestis is painfully difficult to ID reliably, let alone from a single picture. Other species can be ID'd accurately to above 95% of the time. P.audax, A.aurantia, M.vatia for instance. To a skilled eye, even Callobius severus and Amaurobius fenestralis can be distinguished by online pictures. It all depends on who is making the ID, and the species in question. In this case, there is no question: C.inclusum it is!

But I understand your reservations. Just don't apply them unilaterally, that's all.

 

[tehhusky]

Hehe Good

Well at least its ID'd, but I tend to run into alot of interesting spiders. Especially in this basement ......
Wow, off topic but there are sure some odd commercials on TV these days XP

Anyways. I love taking pictures, so any new spiders I find i'll post here. Keep you guys entertained I would imagine.

 

[Erigo]

My source is "spiders of britain and northern europe" michael j. roberts.
he says:Cheiracanthium are easly distinguished from species of Clubiona sp. by having the first pair of legs the longest.