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Comments & ID Thoughts
Hi! I'd just like to know what this might be, was walking across the floor in a finished basement.
Some of the other photos that people post make this spider look like a house pet.
Thanks,
Joe
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Jun 12, 2019
- Photographed: Jun 10, 2019
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Basement or Cellar
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
This looks like a woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata.
You know what. After seeing a photo on Google and reading the description, you might be right. There is mention of their biting ability, after looking closer at the photo, I think I see the chelicerae.
Thanks!
Joe
While they certainly can and do bite, the venom has little effect on humans. Their bites are not even particularly painful.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16574180
There are completely false stories on social media about this spider being deadly. They have big obvious fangs, but the mechanical physics doesn’t work out for them to do much to our skin though they can totally impale their prey. Dysdera crocata is the only species of Dysdera in America.
Looks like a woodlouse hunter. I had one in my hair all day last summer and I didn’t know until it fell out when I took my hair down… definitely didn’t bite me even though it had every opportunity.
That’s an interesting way to learn more about a spider. I started wearing head wraps, like Buff, because I was usually carrying a forest in my hair. I got tired of people exploring the flora and fauna of my head like it was a nature hike. 🙂