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Photo#274691
Tropical Wandering spider - Ctenus hibernalis

Tropical Wandering spider - Ctenus hibernalis
North Shelby, Birmingham 35244, Shelby County, Alabama, USA
May 11, 2009
Size: ~22mm
The only confirmed records for Ctenus hibernalis are from Alabama.
See: Peck, W.B. 1981. The Ctenidae of temperate zone North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 170(1): 157-169.
Specimens in Bugguide at the Ctenus genus all seem to be the same and from Alabama.
Samford University Department of Biology indicates this species is Ctenus hibernalis.
Very close match to the Brazilian species: Ctenus crulsi Mello-Leitao here.
After reviewing the images for this genus (Ctenus) and the species Herpyllus ecclesiasticus (Eastern Parson Spider), the North American designation for this genus should probably be Herpyllus.

Images of this individual: tag all
Tropical Wandering spider - Ctenus hibernalis Tropical Wandering spider - Dorsal Body - Ctenus hibernalis Tropical Wandering spider - Ventral Body - Ctenus hibernalis Tropical Wandering spider - Eyes - Ctenus hibernalis

Found one too.
I live in south Georgia and found one dead in my kitchen. I'll submit it.

 
Ct. Hibernalis
Found one in my home in Shelby Co. (Birmingham) Alabama last night. I posted the picture early today for ID and received a prompt reply as to what type of spider it is. If anyone is interested in a pic or (soon) the spider, let me know here.

Moved

Ctenus hibernalis
is the correct spelling, and I agree with your ID for this spider. Good find!

Herpyllus ecclesiasticus, is a different spider altogether, though, in the family Gnaphosidae. No relation to this one.

 
Thanks
Corrected spelling. Visually the Herpyllus ecclesiasticus and the Ctenus hibernalis species only differ by the small break in the light "christmas tree" design on the posterior abdoman. This slight difference makes them "look" like cousins.

 
The abdominal markings
are not a slight difference, but only a slight, coincidental similarity between two very different spiders. In many other, taxonomically important ways Herpyllus ecclesiasticus (Gnaphosidae) and Ctenus hibernalis (Ctenidae) differ greatly: eye arrangements and spinnerets, for example. I wouldn't rely too heavily on the abdominal markings.

 
Yes, you won't mistake one fo
Yes, you won't mistake one for the other once you've seen them.

-K