What was this Spider attached to my ceiling

Hello All,

Got home this evening and found this spider attached to my ceiling on the second floor of my house.

It must have been about 3 inches wide. All spread out it was a little smaller than a CD.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I love the eyes! OMG.
I used to know all the spiders, but my college days are wayyyyy behind me.
You took a great photo!

Thanks :)

Pic was taken with a Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 using super macro. I positioned it with a piece of paper. He is a scary looking creature. Would love to know if it coulda hurt me, my family or dog.

This spider is in the family Sparassidae (huntsmen/giant crab spiders)l likely in the genus Olios - see http://tinyurl.com/yhl67zs for a full facial view. Although they are capable of inflicting a painful bite if handled carelessly, they are not aggressive and otherwise are harmless to humans. Like wolf spiders, they are active hunters rather than web spinners, and some species often are found indoors.

Thanks for your reply. It would seem to fit the characteristics although the photos I found all had 6 or 8 eyes this one has only 4 ?

I can assure you that your spider has eight eyes, but only the upper anterior row is visible in your image.

Another Picture

Last one. Cool well thanks for letting me know what type of spider this was. Sounds like it could be fatal to my dog. Definitely something I need to be careful about.

I really don't think that you need to worry about this one - see http://tinyurl.com/yaslg2k
What gave you the idea that it might have a dangerous bite?

It looks like the anterior eyes are all arrange in a relatively straight line with the a set of eyes on the lateral edges, bringing the total to eight. I think this is a spider in the family Selenopidae family rather than the Sparassidae. See http://tinyurl.com/y9mke6q for a image, this is the Australian variety, but this family has distribution throughout the southern hemisphere and equatorial regions.

This message was edited Dec 5, 2009 5:58 PM

Spiders in these two families can be quite similar in appearance, but Selenopids only have six eyes in a single row, and their legs (usually) have more distinct banding.

It concerns me that it was in the house and granted it was on the ceiling but it could have been in a box or the like. When cleaning out the box there is a increased chance of being bitten by that guy.

I think the characteristics of the Crab or Hunstman fit the bill but I do think because of the eyes it's more likely to be the crab wall spider.

Both are dangerous correct?

Neither are dangerous; a bite may be painful, but that's about it.

Looks like the Australian huntsman ( Isopeda Isopedella), it is from my neck of the woods, looks big & nasty but not aggressive or venomous, tropical varieties can make you ill with their bites. Only issue with theses bad boys is they like to "hunt" no webs they just sit there until the prey gets close then they will pounce, so far so good, except if they happen to be above you when they drop, then it just makes you jump. Have had them catch me by surprise a couple of times & have yet to be bitten. Check www.australianfauna.com/huntsmanspider.php. Check the photos compare for yourself.