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Comments & ID Thoughts
I have found many spider webs and new spiders around my house recently. This is from a web I found under our outdoor wicker couch that sits against on our back porch. I found the webs earlier in the afternoon and tried to clean them out. I went back to check again around 9pm and while looking with a flashlight saw this guy. I’ve found spiders that people have helpfully identified as potentially cat face and woodlouse...this spider still worries me as possibly a brown widow? I found a few smaller ones than this when I originally cleaned under the couch and if I touched them (with gloves on) they would immediately roll up like a roly-poly, except it was very obviously a spider. We have a 10 day old baby so I’m being extra careful. Any thoughts?
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Nov 1, 2019
- Photographed: Nov 1, 2019
- Spider: Unidentified
- Location: Gallup, NM, New Mexico, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Man-made structure (building wall, fences, etc.)
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
This is Steatoda triangulosa. It looks like a Brown Widow because they are in the same family, Theridiidae. It has very potent venom against insects and other spiders, but not significant to humans. They use sense of touch mostly because they don’t see well. They stay in dark enclosed places to avoid being seen by predators. They don’t want a confrontation with a larger animal. You’re the first person on our site to mention observing that they curl up in their defensive pose. I just discovered that yesterday when I was trying to photograph Steatoda borealis. I banged my camera… Read more »