Trying to figure this out. 3-4" leg tips, unknowingly walked under it twice, wasn't getting up there for a measurement. Central IL. Last image is as it was dropping from a bath of Torro. So has a bit of foam Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
I'm no guru but after googling a bit my guess is a Dark Fishing Spider Dolomedes tenebrosus (Dark Fishing Spider) Pictures and Spider Identification (not sure how to post links, hope this works)
I'm not a spider expert but I just looked up spiders in Illinois and these two looked the closest Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I name them all "dead". Spiders are my only irrational fear. Freaking hate them. Better as I get older though. 10 years ago I would not have been able to even look at those pictures.
I'd carry a .410 derringer just for spiders and snakes if I lived out there Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think you may have it. The male version of the nursery web spider. Usually about this time of year, a big bodied, web weaver nightmare of the dark will create a tangled mass of death somewhere within a normal path I will walk. Somehow luck has always been with me and I have avoided a blind take down of this nest of death using my head or upper torso. I keep multiple cans of torro spider killer around just because of them. I don't care if they won't hurt me, I'll sure as heck hurt them. If I can't kill them with Torro I will kill them with fire. The way it groups it's front 4 legs is the only image i have seen with a spider under a similar stance and body type. Those back 4 legs are ready to pounce. Can't believe I walked past it twice at a distance of 4" taking height and width into account.
You and I would get along well. Same thing with me. Spiders are really the only thing I'm afraid of... And I don't even know why. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As others have said, it is a fishing spider. Genus Dolomedes. Dolomedes tenebrosus (Dark Fishing Spider) Pictures and Spider Identification Probably this one. They are typically found near water. Won't hurt ya unless you fool with them. considered non-venomous, but a bite would probably hurt if you molested it. I find them congregated in rock crevices along creeks in early summer to mate. It can be creepy...
Thanks, no water around so probably hitched a ride on my fishing gear. Glad I don't store the stuff in the cab of my truck I about went in a ditch when a tick was crawling on my neck. Couldn't imagine the mayhem of having that crawl across your body while driving.
Spiders are cool. I've got a couple of tarantulas at the moment. I'm in the process of building out a chameleon enclosure this weekend and after that is a 20-gal setup for dart frogs. I like exotics.
You wimps! Just kidding...we live in a semi-arid climate and we have some good sized spiders here as well. Today, we had a hatchling that we're all so freakin' excited about (sarcasm alert!). The whole yard is nothing but a carpet of spider webs with these little (1/4" long) spiders ballooning everywhere! It's sick! I'm not afraid of them, but I don't like them. I can kill them and handle them but I don't like their unpredictability. They look just like this one. https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Giant-Crab-Spider Can't figure out how to upload pics form my computer so this will have to do. I remember back when I was around 8 or so, my mom, dad and I were in the grocery store and we're about 20 feet away from a lady with a skirt on. I remember us watching this big hairy spider zoom up her leg. I don't remember anything else after that except my dad telling us that we needed to go before that woman ripped off her skirt in panic.
