Login
Register
Comments & ID Thoughts
Have no idea what it is, it's lived in a back room for about two years...I thought it died but it's back....I'm from Vegas never seen a spider like it here...it's really buff but compared to all the rest around but it's on the roof so I don't think it's a tarantula...that's all I know
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: May 14, 2018
- Photographed: May 14, 2018
- Spider: Kukulcania
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes: Dorsal
Help identify this spider
Feb 21, 2020
Feb 21, 2020
Río Cuarto, 
It lives on the roof by my water heater, been there about 2 years that I know of, all ways in the same spot if it’s not hiding
Hi, welcome to Spider ID. 🙂 I’m struggling with the amount of detail here. Best guess is a Crevice Weaver (Kukulcania sp.), there are several similar species out west. She looks dehydrated.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/730494
I was going to say that…it’s ass was alot bigger I’m thinking about catching it to feed it
If you do catch it your can give her water by offering her a moistend cottonball or scrap of papertowel.
I think that’s the nice thing to do….I had a black widow for about 5-6 years….( When it was a baby it had like zebra stripes, never saw that so I caught it) she ended up being the biggest I ever seen
Your sure it’s a girl then?
Mature males in the genus are quite different looking and are often mistaken for Recluse spiders.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1411377/bgimage
Idk if it’s that one this one is jet black
I can’t reliably ID western ones to species from an image but if that’s the case it may be Kukulkania arizonica (Arizona Black Hole Spider) which can be all black.
It does have a hole it hides in, it’s on the roof inside
https://bugguide.net/node/view/273696/bgimage
That’s about how it looked a year ago
You might have found it
If I can get to the store for some crickets I’ll catch her and try to fatten her back up, any other suggestions for her?
I haven’t personally kept any spiders from this family before but one of the other moderators has kept them as a pet. She hasn’t been active though, hopefully she’ll chime in.
I think I just read her say it likes eating other spiders more…makes sense why it’s skinny now….there were alot of daddy long leg type spiders around in the winter they are gone and she’s back out now
I can get it some water at least
I sent the other mod a link to this thread so that she will see it the next time she logs in.
Thank you, do you know how poisonous it is?
Just that they’re not considered to be of medical significance.
The only cage I have the widow was in her we’d is still there….
Hi.one of those 1 gallon size critter keepers will work. No substrate needed but something like a TP roll for a hide, maybe so fake plants for web fixing. When she makes a web you can drop prey in it and lightly mist the web a time or two a week for water. Until she makes a web, you may have to hand feed her with tweezers, a bit shy with fingers. Nice thing is no top needed, she can’t climb out and once made a home won’t leave anyway. Ungoliant kept these in the large 1 gallon plastic jars,… Read more »
If she has a web, you can very lightly mist it with bottled water and clean sprayer.
Once or twice a week is what I do. don’t spray the spider directly.
A web, even feeding is easy,bug(they love crickets and earwigs),tweezers, and present:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0QeNkrY0ZY
Hi. Been in southern Nevada 30 years and the only spider like this is the Kukulcania. Any tarantulas you may find are terrestrials and floor bound. She would be easy to catch in the open, just cup your hands gently around her. They do well in captivity, could live another couple or few years. 5 that I had lived 5 to 6 years. She would not be in one place so long if not getting food, but could do with a little water. In he pet trade these are usually called black hole spider-Barbados black hole spider. A thread on… Read more »
It’s on the roof..I can just pick her up with my hands? ..if it goes bad how bad is the bite?
She might dart into her hole, block the path to it then just sort of pick her up. For all the people I know that have kept or handled these, not one incident of a bite Ihave ever heard of. Their fangs are very small and venom rather mild, so if these can even bite, likely just a mild sting. Their chelicerae are fused and the fangs may be too uncate for them to bite skin. If they can bite, just never heard of it, nothing credible anyway. Males I handle often putting out of harms way,Just no hint of… Read more »
She doesn’t look so good I want to help her out
Well I caught then lost her under there porch trying to take a pic….bettspot than where she was at least
I’m boorn and raised in Vegas 32 years now never seen one of those here
These were not known in So. Nevada until 1981. A migrant from central and south America.
I have been tracking their range for 20 years, now they are north into south central Utah, In California, north as far s Stocton. Over a few years, yet possibly a 3rd species working north is Kukulcania utahana. I see ranges overlapping so any one or all 3 can be found west of central Texas. East of there is just the K.hibernalis.
Pretty spider when I had her out in the sun the abdomen was kinda gray
BugmanDan – Thank you for providing this information. Moving forward, given the authoritative nature of your advice and perspective, it would be helpful if you cite sources for nuanced information like this. Do you have any sources for these points?
Hi Kyle, Yes,I have reference to the sources of information I provided, you have access to dated archive on bugguide, Their experts had no record of crevice weaver in Nevada. Desert research institute had no known crevice weaver in Clark county before 1981 added to the fauna list after that. First specimen I found in Las Vegas was identified to family by Steve Kutcher (bugs are my business)that was 1982. I misidentified them as hacklemesh weavers just prior to that. Since then, this genus has been a subject of heavy study over 20 years, studying their behavior and tracking their… Read more »
Thanks BMD – Just to be clear, not trying to single you out. I just want to make sure you cite sources (with links to papers or websites) given the authoritative nature of your communication style. Because many of your comments are with certainty and go beyond simple perspective on identification, it would be helpful if you could include the occasional link. Thank you for contributing to the community and answers questions 🙂