Giant House Spider? - Tegenaria gigantea

A way to find out.

Put the spider in something so you can view it's underside. Then look at the small shield shaped spot in the center of where the legs attack to the body. If there are small spots on it then this is not a hobo spider.

… Urjak, 21 June, 2008 - 1:58pm

Definitely Tegenaria gigantea!

Looks very much like the second spider on this page. They're also about the same size.

… catiekat, 12 May, 2007 - 6:48pm

Not certain

You cannot and should not identify a spider jsut because it looks the same. You especially do not want to do that in this case.

… Urjak, 21 June, 2008 - 2:01pm

Great spider!!!

Looks a lot like a Draculean blood-sucker hovering over its victim. I would love to see one of these brutes up close! Can anyone tell me more about them? Do they do well in culture?

… Robert Plummer, 19 September, 2006 - 6:44am

Definately a Tegie

That is one BIG Tegenaria duellica boy you got there! I'm still looking for a female of this species, but I've only found two dead specimens(one of which rivaled your buddy there in size, but with a lot more bulk, as is typical of the girls)and a recent moulted exoskeleton. How big is that square object in the photos, by the way?

S. McKenzie

… pitbulllady, 6 September, 2006 - 7:16pm

Re...Definately a Tegie

S. McKenzie - The square object is exactly 2 inches on all sides, making the spider about 3 inches long, I'd say. I caught another, slightly smaller T. duellica in our warehouse over the weekend and put him in a jar. They're everywhere this time of year, wandering around looking for mates, and they're all males. I don't think I've ever come across a female. In addition to these two I found another big one in my kitchen sink and one on the wall just outside my bedroom (He went off to that big cobweb in the sky). I've found two others in our warehouse too. I feel like we're being invaded. Ahhh!!! :p I've since released both of the two I caught in a field surrounding our warehouse.

… Pete Zink, 7 September, 2006 - 7:52pm

Looks like a male Tegenaria duellica, giant house spider.

… John Davis, 5 September, 2006 - 3:52pm

Yikes! That's big!

He looks kind of like a fishing spider to me, but I looked through that section and couldn't find a match. I'm not at all a spider expert, but I have to say it doesn't look very similar to this hobo spider or even this one. The legs on yours are too long and its body is more patterned. Hopefully someone who really knows will respond, though!

… Ashley Bradford, 5 September, 2006 - 1:35pm