Hello! I'm Jonathan Mase and I'm new to the forum. We just found a large spider in our new Northern New Jersey basement, which goes right outside to the backyard. It was killed with Raid. Can anyone please identify it for me, and let me know if there are safety concerns? That would be awesome.
Thank you,
Jonathan A. Mase
It's a fishing spider (family Pisauridae); likely Dolomedes tenebrosus. Although large specimens can inflict a painful bite if handled carelessly, they are not aggressive and pose no danger to humans - https://spiderid.com/spider/pisauridae/dolomedes/tenebrosus/
Thank you, Flapdoodle! Can we expect more? Do you think it was male or female?
Jonathan Mase
This message was edited Jun 15, 2018 12:16 PM
Your specimen appears to be a female. These spiders tend to be solitary hunters, so you shouldn't be in any danger of them swarming all over the place...
Thank you for all of your help! Spider mystery solved, blood pressure normalizing.
Jonathan A. Mase
