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Photo#726460
Black, Odd Spider - Amaurobius ferox

Black, Odd Spider - Amaurobius ferox
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA
November 25, 2012
Size: appx 3/4 - 1 in, incl leg
Found when pulling the cover out for the pool ... it was stored in garage all summer. There were a few stray bugs in cover, this spider stuck out as interesting, but have never seen before. After picture, it was put into the garden to find a new home.

Images of this individual: tag all
Black, Odd Spider - Amaurobius ferox Black, Odd Spider- front view - Amaurobius ferox

Moved
Moved from ID Request. ID based on range and habitus (see comments below).

Amaurobiid
The pattern makes me think of genus Amaurobius:

Let's see what others think.

 
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I think you're right. Do you know if there are more than the two species listed known to occur in the US or is it likely to be one of the two? I didn't see any other possible species mentioned on the info page.

 
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There are a lot (for example, Steve Lew has 22 species of Amaurobius for CA), but in this case we may be lucky. I found a checklist for IL, and only A. ferox shows up! I'd say it's definitely not one of the other Amaurobiids (some of which are now in Agelenidae) on the list.
http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/spiders/checklist.html

 
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Thank you. :) 22, wow I wonder what they all look like. Probably frustratingly very similar. A. ferox does still sound like a good possibility then.

 
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Thank you ... I wanted to know because I have never seen one before in this area. Was cool to see, and I let it free to the wild in the yard.

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