Spider - Callobius bennetti

i think this could be a spide

i think this could be a spider in the family Amaurobiidae

… Omar Fahmy, 16 November, 2005 - 4:40pm

I agree... Amaurobiid

This appears to be Callobius genus Amaurobiid. They are common in dark areas (storm cellars, under fallen bark, stones, etc.) in New England. I found one nearly identical to this specimen this summer (in MA), and was able to ID as a Callobius genus spider. (Quite possibly C. bennetti, but the species ID was based off a list of known species within New England, and not an ID key).

Compare to this image.

… Christopher Hunt, 8 December, 2005 - 2:12pm

We're still confused

by this group of spiders pictured below in an older comment. Don't know the correct vocabulary to describe what we're seeing, but Tom's spider seems to have a circular flattened cephalothorax, where the linked image of Callobius has a domed, almost cylindrical appearance. Would appreciate more info on how to separate these spiders. What visual clues are we missing?

… john and jane balaban, 9 December, 2005 - 11:26am

moved

to Callobius guide page. Thanks.

… tom murray, 8 December, 2005 - 3:39pm

We'll be curious

to see what comments you get on this one. We have a number of sort-of-similar images floating around. Your

seems probably the closest match. We can't quite make out the eyes on

to know. While Lynette's

seems to have a clearly different eye arrangement. Hers has an eye arrangement that is similar to one that's in the guide under the larger Amaurobiidae

, but it's the only Amaurobiid with that eye arrangement. As you can probably tell, we're thoroughly confused, and consequently waiting expectantly for the comments on this current image.

… john and jane balaban, 5 November, 2005 - 10:39am

Confusing spiders

They all look similar, but I think the thorax on this one is more flattened, rather than barrel shaped like the others.
Looks like you've been doing lots of work getting things identified. Thanks for the help.

… tom murray, 5 November, 2005 - 12:14pm