This Spider was found by me and a friend vacationing at a family member's cabin in Epworth, GA. (about 10 miles from the Tennessee state line) I do not know what type of spider it is but its is very large about the size of the palm of my hand, it lives an a unique style of web and while I claim to be no expert is more aggressive then I would typically think a spider of being. Will include photo of the spider and its web to aid in identification.
This appears to be a funnel-web spider (family Agelenidae) in the genus Agelenopsis - see http://tinyurl.com/qj7xon for some examples. The webs of these spiders are not sticky, so that when they detect a vibration on their sheet web, they rush out from their tubular retreat to see if it came from something eatable. This quick response easily could be mistaken for aggression; these spiders are not dangerous to humans.
suunto - once again you answered my question before I even asked it. We have spotted 2 different "funnel" webs near our house recently and wondered about them. She /he is large and yes, rushes out (and back) of the funnel. Nice to know. You are on top of your ID game! Glad I peeked in at this thread.
Thank you for helping me out sir! I will tell you this that little guy scared the blue jesus outa me. I was smoking near where his web was, couldn't see a spider so I thought it was abandoned when i bumped it it flew out at me! lol. I am not scared of spiders but the shock of something that big catching me unawares almost caused me to trip over my own feet. Thank you very much for the ID.
