Bonni needs your help. She encountered this spider (see the lower picture for scale) above her toilet in Australia. Do you know what kind of spider it is? She says the abdomen is the size of a large grape, which is enough to make me swear off grapes until they get below $1.99 a pound again.
The grape growers of the world don't thank you for that reference, Bonni. But I hope someone can figure this one out for you. For myself, I'll retreat to my own bathroom where spiders never get big enough to leave too much of a smear on the wall.
Jan 25, 2009
Aussie Spider ID Needed
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21 comments:
This is the stuff of nightmares.
My first thought was Badumna insignis the black house spider or something like it, although it seems rather large for that species.
For all I know, it could be something new. Heck, they're always discovering something new in the insect spider, so why not discover something in your own house?
On another note, the mosquito in the photo also make a good reference for size.
Looks like some species of Huntsman spider, due to the position of the legs.
Yeah, I thought it was a Huntsman at first, too, but the bulbous abdomen threw me. Perhaps it's a female full of eggs? Do spiders get visibly pregnant?
Ho-ly (edited)! Whatever it is it's too big to be INSIDE a HOUSE! I like spiders, I really do, but encountering one that big in my home would be shriek-worthy.
I would vote for pregnant huntsman, too.
i dunno, but i bet if you thwacked it with a shoe, it would sound like dropping an egg on the floor.
better shoot it with an arrow, from a distance, just to be safe, as i doubt any human is strong enough to actually crush that its so huge. :/
All I know is that seems a lot bigger than "the size of a large grape" to me. Egg perhaps? Maybe kiwi fruit size?
Maybe it hase eaten an egg or a kiwi!
I found a link: http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Spidaus.html
It looks a bit like the water spider in the 3rd row. Could it be puffed up in a defensive mechanism? (Do spiders do that?)
hell0 from Louisiana
I think this is a Huntsman spider its just a darker color phase and if you read the whole page they are known to infest houses and bathrooms. Take a look at thte first pic , it shows one on a toliet paper roll oddly enough.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/huntsman/Huntsman.html
Robert L
I dunno what kind of spider it is... and I'm not even that scared of spiders, but if I had seen this in my own bathroom...
I would've totally have done the girly scream with my hands flailing by my cheeks move.
That is one scary spider.. and I don't think I'll ever look at another grape the same way... THANKS! :\
Hi Bonni, you could hang a mirror or a picture on your bathroom wall for her to sidle behind, as they like to hide out behind them.
I have two in my house and consider them a bonus. Mine are larger overall but not as bulky in the butt.
A friend once told me that my house attracted so many Huntsman spiders because it either:
(A) Resembled a hollow log [fav H'sman hangout] or
(B) I was giving out spider sex pheromones.
Hmmm. I think it's to do with the light we leave on all night. Smart spiders have worked out that insects will come. Anyaway, I'm just glad they drop in.
Crikey. She's a beauty! That's a baby Aussie Toilet Spider. The mother shouldn't be too far away. Semi-aquatic, she's probably waiting just around the S-bend.
I think you need to release lizards so that you can do minature "Kaiju Wars" in your bathroom.
At least I thought this would be true, until I stayed a month in a condo in Bangkok. Now I think the creepy crawlers are all in league with each other, because they know they have a good thing going mooching off us humans.
John, I laughed at first. Then you freaked me out. That hit WAY too close to home.
I think that's an Aaaaauuugghhh!!! ssp. getmeadefibrillator.
Ok, bad news is its definitely not a huntsman...
Good news is I'm pretty sure it's an orb weaving spider - which makes them about as dangerous as a huntsman.
Great photo - either you have a camera with good zoom or you're a s***load braver than I am!!!
Definitely not an orb weaver. The striped legs lead me to believe this is indeed a Huntsman. Just an obese one (full of eggs, as someone suggested?)
I've seen this spider in my own bathroom here in Australia. It looks almost identical to the ones I used to see in South Africa; there they are known as "lizard-eating spiders" or rain spiders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_funnel-web_spider
I would say it's an Australian Funnel Web Spider, VERY POISONOUS.
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