Large Grass Spider (Funnel Weaver)
I found this rather large spider on the outside wall of one of the campus buildings. It was in a protected corner, just hanging out. And by “rather large”, I mean getting into the “holy cow, look at that huge spider!” range – its body is almost an inch long. So I caught it in a small box that I happened to have, and brought it home. We put it into our small plastic aquarium with some rocks, where it quickly spun a sheet-style web with a funnel-shaped shelter in one corner.
I expect that this is a female, from the size, bulbousness of the abdomen, and the fact that there are no swellings at the ends of the pedipalps. She’s clearly one of the funnel weavers in the family Agelenidae, complete with the slightly projecting spinnerets and the characteristic web.
I think that she’s one of the “grass spiders”, genus Agelenopsis, these are extremely common spiders who typically build their funnel webs in the grass, or in rock walls with convenient crevices. These webs are easily visible on dewy mornings, and in some cases hundreds of webs will cover a large fraction of a yard.
The thing is, though, I caught her in early April. This is very odd for a grass spider, because according to Bug Guide, they normally die in the fall with the first frost, or after laying eggs. This one obviously didn’t die last fall. Which could account for her being rather larger than the grass spiders I normally see. Why didn’t she die? I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t lay eggs for some reason, and also managed to find a protected spot to get through the winter? For that matter, maybe she was inside the building all winter, and just came out (or was thrown out) this spring? It is also possible I’ve misidentified her. She could be one of the “European House Spiders” in the genus Tegenaria, although they generally have paler legs than this, and the ones I’ve seen haven’t been nearly this eager to spin webs. Or this large. Then again, the Giant House Spider Tegenaria gigantea would be about the right size and approximately the right coloration – aside from the niggling detail that they *aren’t supposed to be living anywhere near here yet!* But if she is one of the Tegenaria house spiders, she could easily have been living indoors until just shortly before I found her.
In any case, she’s not ready to lie down and die just yet. She has rather a ravenous appetite for the crickets that S_ is raising:
Incidentally, that’s a nearly full-sized feeder cricket she’s got by the neck. That should give you an idea just how big she is – crickets are pretty large insects themselves. I’m kind of wondering now whether she’s just going to keep on growing for some time, or whether she’s going to die of old age in the near future.
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These are really nice, Tim. I love close-up spider pics. That’s a cool looking lady.
Very nice pics.
Thanks, Andy and Margaret! The big issue I’m wrestling with at the moment is lighting – I really would have liked the eyes to be more distinct, but black eyes on a nearly-black background just doesn’t come out very clear. I think I have a solution, though, I’ve made a prototype “light cone” that is giving some pretty promising results. Pictures are forthcoming.