Please Help. Must know if this species of spider is venomous for the saftey of myself and animals. - Kukulcania

Moved

… Jeff Hollenbeck, 11 July, 2017 - 4:28pm

Southern House Spider (Kukulcania hibernalis)

Good for you for looking at the eye arrangement. These spiders do look very similar to the recluse spiders except for the eyes and the pedipalps. See this image. The Southern House Spider is harmless.

… Lynette Elliott, 12 May, 2009 - 9:09am

Based on the location, wouldn

Based on the location, wouldnt K. arizonica be more likely?

… Kevin Lentz, 19 May, 2009 - 6:37am

You may be right

I wish I had a range map for these. I know Kukulcania hibernalis is found as far west as Texas, but I don't know if it is found farther west than that. K. arizonica is definitely found in Arizona, but the images we have don't look like this, so I'd like to see one that is comparable.

… Lynette Elliott, 19 May, 2009 - 9:13am

Thank You

It is definitely the Kukulcania hibernalis. The arizonica, although geographically more likely, does not seem to be what I found. Good work. Well Lynette, I'm in southern Nevada six miles from the California border, that would be a case significantly farther west than Texas. Thank you for your response. I feel much better knowing what it is. Sorry if this is inappropriate but the next one I find will meet the end of one of my chameleons long tongues. It would probably be a tasty treat for one of the big ones. Thanks again.
p.s. I have a few more pictures if you need or would like them. They are not much different than what I have posted but the angles show different parts of the body.

… C. Funk, 20 May, 2009 - 12:12am

Thanks for the offer

I don't think we need any more images. I did find a reference to the species found in NM. Both Kukulcania arizonica & Kukulcania hibernalis are found in AZ, NM, W TX (they don't mention NV). I'm not sure that they also both have the brown and the black forms. The female is the black one and the male is the brown one. This means it really could be either one of these. I'll move it to the genus page for now.

… Lynette Elliott, 20 May, 2009 - 9:00am

Don't Worry

Although almost all spiders are venomous to some degree, there are very few which could be described as dangerous: one would expect local pain and minor swelling like a bee sting, with no permanent effects.

In your area, the only serious threats are Black Widows and the local Recluse relative, and bites from those are exceedingly rare. With the Recluse and relatives, most bites that do occur are minor and quickly healed- only a few are at all threatening to life or health.

Except for those who are allergic or otherwise unusually sensitive, spider bites are way, way down the list of things to worry about.

… Chuck Entz, 12 May, 2009 - 8:17am