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Comments & ID Thoughts
I believe my little friend here is a herpyllus ecclesiasticus or "Eastern Parson Spider." (Which if I'm right, that means I'm the first one from Alabama to put them on here! Yay)
*I don't know the sex but I'm going to call it a "him" for now.*
I noticed him on the ceiling in the crease where it meets the wall around shortly after 8 p.m.
He *appeared at first glance from a distance* to be black with yellow stripe, but once I captured him in a jar, I was able to see that he had black and brown legs and and Ivory type marking on his abdomen identical to other spiders listed as the Eastern Parson Spider.
Now, I don't know if he has encountered some accidents or just had unfortunate molting experiences but it would appear he only has 7 legs.
I took multiple photos trying to identify my tiny visitor.
and now...as much as I appreciate his efforts to rid my home of pests, I really don't feel like sharing my bedroom with him so I'm going to go ahead and put him outside.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Apr 12, 2019
- Photographed: Apr 12, 2019
- Spider: Herpyllus ecclesiasticus (Eastern Parson Spider)
- Location: Birmingham (Mountain Brook/Cahaba Heights), Alabama, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes: Dorsal
May 16, 2025
May 16, 2025
Coopersville , 
Hi, you got the right ID. If the spider is mature this would be a female, immature spiders can be indistinguishable though and I can’t tell from this if it’s mature.
How would I go about posting more photos of the spider? Post each of them individually or is there a way to attach them to this same post?
Individually unfortunately, there is no way to link or post multiple images in one post at this time.
If you post more than one photo, note that in your post. Members can find all your posting in your profile with the pictures button.
IE: looks like you have only uploaded this photo.
How were you so quickly able to determine that she was a female? what gave it away from the singular photo?
I can’t be sure from this that she’s a female because I don’t know if it’s mature. The pedipalps (appendages near the spider’s mouth) are slender on immature and female spiders, on mature and penultimate males the ends of the palps are enlarged.
OH YES! that’s right. I was reading something about that. I have video of where this spider is contracted and then when I slightly move the jar the legs went out and the palps were extended and they moved in different positions. Let me see if I can grab a screenshot from that video that might be more helpful.
If you want to know if this is a mature spider you would need to look at the underside and see if there is an epigynum (female reproductive organ). That can be acheived without harming the spider by capturing it in a clear plastic bag, gently smoothing the plastic over the spider, turning it over and looking at it under magnification.
Sometimes you can make an educated guess whether or not a spider is mature if you know the size of the spider falls within the range of what is typical for an adult a particular species, or if the abdomen is swollen enough that you suspect it’s gravid, or if there’s an egg sac in the shot, etc.
well I was exhausted after supervising a 12 hour field trip yesterday when we left to go to Chattanooga and return on the same day so before I saw your response period. I was feeling myself falling asleep and so I released him or her outside because I would have felt guilty if it had parachute overnight in the jar or broken free and decided to seek its revenge LOL anyway I was unable to identify that yesterday but I will keep this in mind for the future. Thank you
Actually is it possible for me to send you the video so you could see the various ways this spider moves the palps about and how they appear different positions and then we could conclude where to best take a video capture to illustrate something that perhaps would be indicative of the gender?
I do have other photos but since this is my first submission I wasn’t quite sure how to go about adding the others so then it would be listed as the same spider.
Once verified I’d be happy to add more if it helps to show definition from other angles; however unfortunately due to lighting and the fact that he is in a plastic jar, the perfect picture was not obtained as far as I’m concerned. I did get some with and without the flash.
Love your enthusiasm for Inververtebrate Anatomy! You can post multiple photos in a sngle post on most sites, including this one, by collaging them into one. No detail is lost and each image in the group can be expanded to be seen regular size. I use the collage feature of Google Photos. It is simple and clean. If you put together an odd number of pics in that one the first that you put a check mark next-to will be larger than the others. Please consider a career in entomology or arachnology. I’m a woman with a degree in Environmental… Read more »
That should work well,,also sounds we share a little in common.