The ability to recognize a teeny-tiny werewolf when you see one is more useful than you'd think.
I could probably devote an entire post to Things About Spiders That Are Widely Believed Despite Being Manifestly Untrue, like "spiders have oily feet so they don't stick to their webs". And "large hairy spiders live in shower/sink/bathtub drains". I can see why people might want to believe in sewer spiders instead of roaming-freely-through-the-house spiders, but the fact is that large spiders looking for water sources (and dumb male spiders, thinking with their palps) climb or fall down into sinks and bathtubs all the time, and are unable to climb out. Which, unfortunately, puts the spider in danger of hands-free execution via turning on the tap*, but it's also a great place to set a spider up to be photographed from various angles.
This spider did not fall into the tub by accident, but it's a relative of some of the species that frequently do: this probably is an Agelenopsis or Barronopsis funnel-web spider, a member of the family Agelenidae, which also contains the hobo spiders and giant house spiders in the genus Tegenaria.
(...yes, I rattled that off from the top of my head, because I am a spider nerd.)
Anyway, I found this lovely lady at summer_jackel's place, and "Can I borrow your spider?" is a question I don't ask just anyone.
Agelenids (funnel-web spiders) are differentiated from the really-similar-in-body-shape-and-color-pattern lycosids (wolf spiders) by a couple of fairly subtle factors. One is the spinnerets, which are large and prominently visible (in most wolf spiders, you have to flip the spider over to see them clearly).
However, the big screaming neon sign that a large hairy spider is a wolf spider and not anything else is the eyes. Wolf spiders have two large eyes that look forward, two large eyes that look to the side, and a row of four small eyes that look forward, just beneath the large pair.
If you can see the glints of those side-looking eyes, you can tell a wolf spider from the side, from behind, and from above. This funnel-web weaver has eight eyes also, in two arches across the front of her face. You can see all of them in this pic:
And all but the lowest pair (the anterior lateral eyes, or ALEs) in this one.
Not that it's a particularly useful skill to be able to recognize a wolf spider when you see one: mythology to the contrary (tarantella, anyone?), no wolf spider has a bite considered harmful to humans, and with the notable exception of a few species groups, most wolfies are quite, quite tiny.
If you get close enough to them to see their eyes, however, they are really really cute. I believe more people should know this. Spiders, in general, are more amazing, the closer to them you get.
* Please don't do that, it's very unkind. It's not the spider's fault your house us full of delicious spider food.**
** On the plus side, "you swallow eight spiders in your sleep per year" is also total bollocks.
This spider did not fall into the tub by accident, but it's a relative of some of the species that frequently do: this probably is an Agelenopsis or Barronopsis funnel-web spider, a member of the family Agelenidae, which also contains the hobo spiders and giant house spiders in the genus Tegenaria.
(...yes, I rattled that off from the top of my head, because I am a spider nerd.)
Anyway, I found this lovely lady at summer_jackel's place, and "Can I borrow your spider?" is a question I don't ask just anyone.
Agelenids (funnel-web spiders) are differentiated from the really-similar-in-body-shape-and-color-pattern lycosids (wolf spiders) by a couple of fairly subtle factors. One is the spinnerets, which are large and prominently visible (in most wolf spiders, you have to flip the spider over to see them clearly).
However, the big screaming neon sign that a large hairy spider is a wolf spider and not anything else is the eyes. Wolf spiders have two large eyes that look forward, two large eyes that look to the side, and a row of four small eyes that look forward, just beneath the large pair.
If you can see the glints of those side-looking eyes, you can tell a wolf spider from the side, from behind, and from above. This funnel-web weaver has eight eyes also, in two arches across the front of her face. You can see all of them in this pic:
And all but the lowest pair (the anterior lateral eyes, or ALEs) in this one.
Not that it's a particularly useful skill to be able to recognize a wolf spider when you see one: mythology to the contrary (tarantella, anyone?), no wolf spider has a bite considered harmful to humans, and with the notable exception of a few species groups, most wolfies are quite, quite tiny.
If you get close enough to them to see their eyes, however, they are really really cute. I believe more people should know this. Spiders, in general, are more amazing, the closer to them you get.
* Please don't do that, it's very unkind. It's not the spider's fault your house us full of delicious spider food.**
** On the plus side, "you swallow eight spiders in your sleep per year" is also total bollocks.