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Comments & ID Thoughts
I recently moved to Virginia and my bedroom is in the downstairs of a ranch style house. This is the fourth of this species I have found down here and would like to know if they pose a threat. I plan on treating my house perimeter to reduce the possibility of any further encounters. I have an irrational but extreme fear of spiders and am very disturbed by the amount I have found. Someone please tell me it’s harmless! Lol
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Mar 26, 2019
- Photographed: Mar 27, 2019
- Spider: Gladicosa gulosa
- Sex:
Male, - Maturity:Adult
- Location: Spotsylvania , Virginia, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Basement or Cellar
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes: Dorsal
Mar 30, 2019
Mar 30, 2019
County outside of Richmond , 
I’m thinking this may be one of the Tigrosa species?
Hi, I’m not sure which type of spider it is. Your fear of spiders is very common and it isn’t scientifically or statistically appropriate, BUT it isn’t irrational because you were raised in an era when spiders are used as a scary monster in media. Bats are maligned the same way. That’s why they are Halloween monsters. Characters in TV and movies are sometimes assassinated by a spy placing a single spider in their apartment or bed. That would not work in reality. It would be extremely difficult to kill someone with a spider even if you tied the person… Read more »
Male Gladicosa gulosa.
Hi, Just my 2 cents. I can’t peg your spider beyond one of the wolf spiders, they can be hard to ID even from good photos. Good news is none of the wolf spiders will pose risk to you.
As a kid, I often catch them by hand and of the very many I have handled, only one insignficant bite.(my bad)
They are a common classroom pet, some even in the pet trade.
As for arachnophobia, I can never understand how this fear ever began.
A video of a wolf spider, if you can watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYWzS8D8y0E
Thank you all for your help in identifying this spider. It is likely still alive and currently roaming my back yard. Although I do have a fear of spiders due to (yes, tangledweb) mind training and media exaggeration, I also have a deep respect for all life. Until now I thought the spray that you put around your house only repelled spiders or made them not want to advance. I’ll be searching for a safer alternative for the spiders AND my nephew who will likely be playing in the yard I would have potentially poisoned. Also, special thanks to BugmanDan.… Read more »
Thank you for your kind words. This,overall, is the primary mission of this website and I’m happy too hear we’ve done well.
Thank you. Please understand the motive of the video is not to promote the handling of spiders, but to show that they are not the satan spawn as many may think, they would just as soon be left alone. Wolf spiders are one of the outdoor sort and to catch and release in the yard, everybody is happy.