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Photo#344014
Southern House Spider? - Kukulcania - female

Southern House Spider? - Kukulcania - Female
Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA
October 7, 2009
Found crawling on my shirt, thats a big spider up close heh heh!

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Kukulcania sp.
Looks like a female Kukulcania species. You definitely live in their range. It's strange that she was wandering around because females, in general, don't ever leave their web. I'm not sure, but yes I think this is commonly referred to as the Southern House Spider. It looks soft enough to pet. Neat. :)

 
I found the same spider...
It was found in my storage room. Southampton , Bermuda

 
Found a photo
I found a photo in the guide that looks incredibly close to yours. It's been listed in BugGuide as the hibernalus species, but keep in mind that I'm not saying yours is also K. hibernalus. I don't know anything about how to place Kukulcania into species. BTW, this genus was named after the Mayan god Kukulcan...neat, huh!

 
Thanks Mandy
Thanks Mandy for all the cool info! I would like to make a note that i found her on my shirt after coming from the backyard, i may have very well ran into her web. I guess for now i'll move this girl into the Kukulcania section.

 
No problem
You're welcome, Tracy. :) I love this kind of stuff so it's no problem at all! I think leaving it at the Kukulcania genus level would be safe.

 
Does anyone know ?
If this spider is poisonous or aggressive ?

 
Neither, actually
If you want to get technical, though...lol...I could tell you that something that is considered poisonous means it's harmful if you eat it. And venomous means its harmful if you get bitten. So if you're planning on eating the Kukulcania, I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the effects of that. lol. But their bite is not harmful. You might feel it, but it won't have any medically significant effects (at least I've never heard of anything significant happening). I read about a couple cases that involved some swelling and light pain, but nothing severe by any means. I like to mention sometimes, though, that just like with bees and wasps, there is a tiny margin of people that can be allergic. A severe allergy can result in anaphylactic shock. But there's really not any cases that I've ever heard of where that happened...which is do mostly in part to the fact that spiders are timid (the majority of them) and nobody really ever gets bit in the first place. I saw on another page that you asked what these beauties like to eat? They will eat whatever is available in their habitat, like most spiders. Whatever ends up trapped in their web is fair game. Ants and beetles are really 'iffy', though, in my opinion. A carpenter ant killed one of my spiders one time. If you are keeping one as a pet in a terrarium or something, its easier to go to the pet store and buy small or medium crickets (the attendant should ask you what size). They are very cheap, just pennies a piece. And then feed the spider a couple a week, by either throwing them in the web or just putting them in the terrarium and letting them hop into the web on their own. Make sure the spider has a water source, too. Not a dish, that's too big and the spider may drown. Use something like a cotton ball doused in clean water. The spider can drink off it safely. Some spiders have adapted to not need as much water as others, because of their habitat. A Kukulcania is one of those I believe. But still leave a water source for it. It will get a lot of nutrition and hydration from crickets, too. Stick your crickets in the refrigerator for about 5-8 minutes and when you take them out they will seem dead (but they're not) and then you can open the container and get a few out without the rest hopping away. They will come back to life within a minute or two, and will become ready spider meals. Hope this helps!

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