Today the weather was so gorgeous, pretty amazing for January. We're certainly enjoying Florida winter. BUT tonight we were greeted at the door by this enormous spider! Loni and I were fascinated, although I was pretty creeped out, too! But back in the fall I accompanied a class of fourth graders on a field trip to Trout Lake for an ecological trip. At the end, during lunch, we were entertained and informed by a great speaker who loves spiders and tried to convince us that they are our
friends. Ahem. So I'm reluctant to kill all spiders, especially if they are outdoors rather than in. And not knowing which of two spiders our friend is . . . one of them eats cockroaches, which I
think I dislike even more than spiders!
So, like Lisa (who requested helpl in identifying her many-legged house-dweller), I'm requesting that anyone who reads this blog and can help identify this spider, help!!! Is it a wolf spider (venomous but not terribly dangerous) or a huntsman (eater of cockroaches)? Here it is. I should add that it's body is about 1 1/4 inch. Leg span was probably 2 inches or more. Yuck!
6 comments:
Do you want me to step on it and save you?
There are some spiders that look a lot like that on my Harry Potter game. They're a bit bigger, though--about half Harry's size. Yech. I hate spiders ... and other bugs. Sorry I can't tell you what it is, though. Did you look it up online?
Maybe next time we're together you can take some close-ups of me that don't leave a glare on my glasses. I had a time finding a picture of me without a glare or a silly face.
Okay, now I have the heeby-jeebies because I did not heed your warning ("don't read this before bedtime!"). Try this site & see if you think it's the same spider:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wolf_spider_florida.jpg
I have to go somewhere & think happy thoughts now.
(by the way, I'll discuss your spring break trip with Dan & get back to you)
Love you!
I found several somewhat helpful sites. The following link emailed me back that this is a wolf spider and advised me not to kill it. Thankfully I haven't seen it again, although Loni and I look carefully before passing through the door. Is it lurking behind the wreath? Behind the decoratively painted snow shovel? (Yeah, I have it displayed in Florida.) In the bushes around the door? Has it snuck inside? Most spiders do not bite and most eat annoying insects, so friendly spider (shall I call it Charlotte?), please eat all the mosquitoes, cockroaches and other insects living in my neighborhood! And please, please stay outside. (I'm sort of grateful that it's not a huntsman spider, although they're even more beneficial. But they get quite large, like the size of my hand in legspan, I think!)
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