CLOSED: Hobo or Giant House Spider

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GULFPALMS Pass Christian, MS Jul 20, 2013

Found this bad boy in my bathtub this morning, set him free after his photo shoot.
Looked like a Hobo Spider to me? Can anyone confirm?

Thumbnail by GULFPALMS
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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jul 20, 2013

Looks more like a male hacklemesh spider (family Amaurobiidae). Hobo spiders are limited to the Pacific Northwest...

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GULFPALMS Pass Christian, MS Jul 20, 2013

Thanks, I am glad we don't have Hobo's down here - we seem to have all the other dangerous ones! Some interesting facts.....
Amaurobius ferox is one of the “hacklemesh weavers” in the family Amaurobiidae. Native to Europe, it has become established in southeastern Canada and the eastern U.S. This robust spider is common in and around homes, but also lives under rocks, logs, in leaf litter, and other dark, humid places. The tangled, net-like web issues from a crack or crevice that serves as the spider’s retreat. The silk is not sticky. The spider has a special spinning organ called a cribellum, and leg comb (calamistrum), that allow it to create threads composed of thousands of tiny loops. Prey is easily snagged in those loops. Mature male spiders wander in search of mates mostly in spring, in contrast to most spiders that mate in the fall. The female deposits eggs into a lens-shaped silken sac, and guards it. This species is “matriphagous,” meaning the mother sacrifices herself as food for her spiderlings once they emerge from the egg sac. Amaurobius ferox is also considered “subsocial” because the spiderlings feed communally for about a month before dispersing from the mother's web.

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DreamOfSpring Charleston, SC(Zone 9a) Jul 20, 2013

Very interesting. Thanks for posting the info. I think I have also seen this spider 'visiting' my house.

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