Hey folks, nice site and forum here. I found this place looking to identify a spider I found just sitting out in the open in my workshop. I have a feeling it may be a Brown Recluse but I thought they tended to stay out of open space. I have it securely kept in a glass jar for now but will release it if it proves to be harmless/beneficial. Thanks for the help.
Doing some more research it seems that it's not likely a Brown Recluse. The body from mouth to tail is about 7/8" which is nearly twice the normal size of the recluse. Additionally the bottom side is dark brown and the legs are spotted, neither are common to a recluse. Finally, I cannot really make out the eye configuration but without a magnifying glass it appears to have eight eyes, two large pair on the top sides and four really small across the front. And the most common marking is missing. It doesn't have the dark violin shape going down the middle of the head to connect to the dark stripe going down the posterior abdomen. It also has some really strange markings on the sides of the top of the middle section, kind of like dark and light brown lace.
Anyway I'd like to see if I can verify that this is not a Brown Recluse and possibly get it identified as to what it actually is before I release it in the back yard.
Thanks.
This message was edited Apr 17, 2011 2:19 PM
