Login
Register
Comments & ID Thoughts
So, I left these traps behind the sofa near the front door while we were mostly away this summer (to catch the earwigs that always try creeping in). The traps were dated 7/13/24, so this poor guy showed up and expired sometime between then and now.
Have had a number of black-lace weavers, grass spiders, yellow sac, zebra jumpers, bold jumpers, and woodlouse hunters found inside over the years, but never anything that looked quite like this guy... sad to meet him in a trap, as he looks kind of interesting!
For reference, the "A" that he is standing on measures about 1/2" at the top and 3/4" at the bottom. The photo of his other side came out blurred - so it was not very useful for posting - but his back end was a darker shade of brown (without any obvious markings), narrow, and somewhat tapered. In hindsight, I'd have removed him from the glue board and to get some better pictures, but I was in the midst of a cleaning frenzy and stupidly threw it out :(
Any ideas as to what kind of spider he may have been?
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Oct 7, 2024
- Photographed: Oct 7, 2024
- Spider: Eratigena atrica (Giant House Spider)
- Location: Michigan, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
May 4, 2019
May 3, 2019
Pictou, 
I believe this is a male giant house spider, Eratigena atrica.
Very harmless, good to have around.
Toss the traps, these guys love earwigs and other bugs considered pests.
Species Eratigena atrica – BugGuide.Net
My guess would be a male long legged sac spider in the genus Cheiracanthium…there are 2 species in Michigan….they are hard to tell apart…this is a picture of one of the species for reference
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/229640603
I don’t see that here.
I really don’t think it is E. atrica though..I went with a dried out male yellow sac spider because the chelicerae shape color and shine are very sac spider ish….and it has black booties……the carapace is too flat to be E. atrica too I think and the top row of eyes are quite large.
I am still going with a male Cheiracanthium with particularly long legs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheiracanthium_mildei
https://www.dreamstime.com/northern-yellow-sac-spider-isolated-white-background-cheiracanthium-mildei-male-cheiracanthium-mildei-species-spider-image304976096
Hi Nod, I have seen Chericanthium with rather long legs myself, not the greatest key. What I see is dark mouth parts, Lighting and exposure covers that, I think the second and third pair ‘black booties’ same effect. Eye arrangement and leg hairs here match Eratigena, the chelicera length also. OP is in Michigan, and that is in the range of E. atrica. E. duellica dominates Northwest from Montana to the coast including Canada. So I am rather confident this is E. atrica. Sadly, Mandy Howe is no longer with us, she is an expert with giant house spiders, She… Read more »
Thank you both for sharing your insight! I was certainly having a hard time narrowing it down! Would love to get rid of the traps, however, we are on a slab and – every other year or so – we get a horrible influx of earwigs for a few weeks (I’m talking sometimes “50 in a day” kind of invasions!)… I have literally caulked and or sealed every crevice I’ve found, so I’ve no clue how they’re getting in. Spiders don’t give me nightmares, but those things sure do! We were only home for about 4 days every two weeks… Read more »
Hi.
One thing you might do is some reading about earwigs. They are not bad bugs, they feed/scavenge mainly on decaying vegetation/matter, like natures little janitors.
When you are being overrun with them, best control is changing your environment such that they dont do well. They need a certain amount of water and humidity, so perhaps a de-humidifier where there are numbers. (bathrooms/kitchens)
Also, many exterminator sites can offer non toxic solutions. Pesticides are not the answer, those will kill everything, good or bad, some should never have been invented.
We do have a dehumidifier and generally keep the yard free from too much water or debris. I’ve noticed that it tends to get especially bad when it hits 90 degrees and doesn’t rain for a few days… a/c and the dog water bowl seem to be a big draw… and the fact that my porch lights are on all night probably just guides them right in toward the house (it’s not a bad area, but we’re in a city and people do try to take advantage if there’s a lack of deterrents like lighting or cameras). And, of course,… Read more »
Yes, if deprived of humidity and water, they will come out searching for water.
85 to 90 degrees is a good temperature for them to breed.
Well, for me, it is a bit different. I used to play with them as a kid. When I got into bugs, I bread quite a colony of them and had a good hundred crawl on me.
Pincer bugs we called them, totally harmless. those pincers lack the strength to pierce human skin, and they don’t bite at all.
Got jumping spiders, they won’t pass up an earwig. They make great food for pet dragon lizards too