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We've talked about spiders before on the SSS, from Brown Recluses to Black Widows to Australian Funnelwebs and others.

 

A co-worker who lives about 10 miles from me brought in a recently deceased spider that apparently is common in his area. I've never seen one like this around my home.

 

Can anyone identify this before I hit a million images on Google?

 

cdspider3qk.jpg

 

quarterspider7tp.jpg

 

Anyone?

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OK Neil, now I'm paranoid!

 

I would categorize that as a "big old scary spider."

 

You may want to see if this guy can help out:

 

What's That Bug?

 

BTW - My daughter's science teacher has two or three good size spiders living "on the loose" in their classroom. There are a couple of very big webs along two walls. One of the spiders is BIG, but it doesn't look like the one in your photos.

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Hey Mudcat,

 

Thanks for the link. I haven't had much time to peruse the pictures, but I sent mine to the sight for identification.

 

Shouldn't be long before it's identified! :cool:

 

I had to drive Lilly back to my work last night for her to see it, up close and personal. She wanted to pick it up and take it home to, and I quote, "Freak mama out."

 

Needless to say we did not take it home with us!

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I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if that spider was dehydrated/starved. Doesn't the abdomen look small for the size of the rest of the body? Perhaps it received some sort of nonapparent injury and was no longer able to feed. But, geez, I ain't no entomologist, for sure.

 

 

The leg span of that guy is big enough, but for sheer mass, he's got nothing on the spiders that used to web up the trees in my old backyard. I had what the lawn guys call a "rain forest" thing going on. Since I was smack in the heart of the city, supposedly a few blocks from Snoop Dog's mom's house back before he blew up, having a wildly overgrown yard gave me a kind of outdoor refuge (and absorbed a surprising amount of noise, too, I gotta tell you. I visited the new owners after they dejunglized it and it was like the whole city was right there with you. Well, you know, they're always gonna pave paradise, aren't they?)

 

Anyhow, the spiders would get big on river midges (the LA River was less than a mile away)... a pregnant female's main body could be bigger than a golfball, easy. With legs as long as the spider in your picture when stretched.

 

I also had humming birds and so got a chance to compare. I certainly had spiders that were bigger than some of the hummingbirds I got. (Happily, I never saw a bird in any of these spider webs. But I certainly thought it was just about possible.)

 

Needless to say, spiders that size are not what you want to bump into in the middle of the night, which I did a few times. I got very good at stifling the urge to brush my clothes with my hand and shaking them, instead. More than a couple times I stopped an inch or two short of a huge spider right at eye level. At least once or twice I was close enough that the wind from my movement got the spider swinging to and fro in his web by a half inch or so... about 4" from my face. Nature close up.

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:eek: :eek:

 

F**k me sideways!! What the hells that!!!

Do you have to have such a BIG pic of it FS!!! Thats there only to freak me out right!!

 

:eek: :eek:

 

To right I'm freaked out and going to hide with Base for the rest of the

weekend!

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Originally posted by Branwyn

Jesus Christ on a bicycle! I'm going to cry!


That's definitely in the genus of ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING. Yep. That's it.

Hell yeah and imagine seeing that above your bed at night!! :eek: :eek: :eek: Hell or in your knicker drawer!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

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That looks like what I call a wolf spider. Very common here. I mean, like, I see one every week. In the house.

 

EDIT: Wait a minute. That spider is like FIVE INCHES ACROSS? That's a mighty big wolf spider. Wow! I don't know what that is. I've seen them, often, maybe 2 to 2 1/2 inches, but not twice that big.

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