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Comments & ID Thoughts
I have no idea what spider it is, but i looked on the site for spiders in Alaska (that is where I am located, Fairbanks, AK.,) and my wild guess would be the fifth spider on the list, the Zygiella dispar. Also I am wondering are there only five spider species in Alaska? Because the site only shows five species on the list. Anyways the spider was in my house and that matches the description for the Zygiella dispar. I caught it in a tupperware and I want to keep it but have no food to feed it, so I moved the cup outside. It is dropping below freezing at night so should I let it go back in my house? Any help would be truly appreciated. Thank you.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: May 3, 2021
- Photographed: May 2, 2021
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
Also note* the spider is tiny, measured it and its legspan is a little less than a centimetre
This site goes off of submissions so there have only been 5 species categorized for Alaska based off of submissions from people such as yourself. This is a Running Crab Spider in the Philodromus genus.
Wow, amazing, thank you so much for your help! I have an update also, I caught a mosquito and put it in with the spider and actually saw the take down! I was so pumped! I want to now adopt it and feed it but I don’t know what I can do come wintertime, except maybe get some flightless fruitflies to feed it. I have no experience with keeping insects, just like learning and have been a long time fan of spider and tarantula keepers and Arachnoboards. Your identification of this spider is brilliant, I am truly grateful.
Yes, fruit flies would work great for this guy. Eventually it would get big enough for pinhead roaches or crickets if you do decide to keep it and any others. Philodromus spp. are fairly arboreal spiders as well so a taller than longer enclosure would be best. Something with a slab of bark to act as a hide would be more than sufficient for these spiders.
Great information, I will take your suggestions and put them to practice. After that I will have to find a photographer in my area who does macro photos so I can determine if it is a male or female, and then hopefully find it a mate! I am way more excited than anyone should be at midnight, who also has to wake up for work early in the morning. Lol thank you again so much and I hope you are having a pleasant day.
Also, the post says I found it in the web and that is not correct, i found it hanging from its string, which was attached to the ceiling, at eye level above my stove.