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Photo#4321
Unknown spider in Michigan - Steatoda grossa

Unknown spider in Michigan - Steatoda grossa
Wixom, Oakland County, Michigan, USA
June 20, 2004
I'm guessing it's a cobweb spider, but most pics I found online showed light-colored legs, not dark like this girl. She has a dark brown abdomen with a light tan stripe along the front and 3 or 4 light tan triangles down the center of her back. Web was irregular, with a semi-transparent egg-sac about the size of her abdomen. Found in the basement in a dark corner; several bug carcases surrounding the web. Initially thought it was a black widow based on body shape and size, but abdomen is definitely dark brown with the only other color markings being light tan.

Steatoda
Looks like grossa though there are others that are similar.

 
Could be a Brown Bidow
Brown Widows sometimes change color to make them look like a Black Widow, the best way to tell is if you touch it with a stick, if the spider pulls its legs in to make itself look like a ball and then drops to the ground it is most likely a brown Widow.

 
I agree
Definitely a species of Steatoda, does resemble the S. grossa I recall from childhood in Oregon, though they can get to be the size of black widows (Latrodectus).