Spider I've never seen before. Any idea?

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I just killed the second spider that I’ve never seen before (I’ve seen two of them this past week, killing both, one inside the other outside). I’m in the midwest (Chicagoland) and the spider, with legs outstretched was between 1/2 inch to and inch in diameter. I have never seen such a huge spider in the open before and was wondering if anyone had an idea of what type of spider this may be. It was brown but that’s all I can remember from the time of freaking out until I quickly grabbed my shoe and killed it.
 
Did it look like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/MelJill/spidey.jpg?

Mine is in a web (that’s a centimeter ruler on the side, btw) on the front porch–pic quality is poor due to not being able to disturb the screen w/o disturbing the web. She’s getting ready to make the egg sac any day now, I think, as the abdomen is getting huge.

Anyway–if it is, then it’s a very benign ordinary garden spider. (PS. don’t kill spiders–they’re very useful in killing other bugs that you really don’t want … unless you know that you’re dealing with a dangerous-to-humans variety like the brown recluse.)
 
We have much bigger spiders than that in the Chicago area, but they’re all harmless. You may see them more at this time of year because they’re looking for sheltered places to winter over, or for their eggs to winter over.
 
ooh…shivers I hate spiders, as useful as they can be. My dad killed like 15 like that over summer. They were huge, maybe 1 1/2 inches, and made huge webs. Dunno if they were dangerous or not, but it’s better IMO to err on the side of caution. Several applications of spider killers seemed to be effective.

I just hope I don’ t see one of those in my room…I live in the basement, and in 4 days I killed 3 spiders. The cold weather and all…call me Ron Weasley. 😉
 
I understand your freaking out. Lots of folks are afraid of spiders. It is normal. All are poisinous. Not all can break human skin & simetimes the poison has no effect on humans. Last year my wife & I had a very large yellow & black spider at our diningroom window. we checked on her each day. After a bad storm she was gone. We just discovered we have another of the same species on the side of the house. We call her Charlene.
 
Probably a barn spider. They spin orb webs and catch hundreds of insects. We currently have one that has spun a huge web right outside our kitchen window.

I hate spiders, too, but I think they are quite fascinating. Even though they literally send shivers up my spine and make the hair on my head stand up, I cannot bring myself to kill them, because I know how beneficial they are.

The ones that really freak me out are the wolf spiders that make tunnel homes. They move so DARN fast. One night I was reading in bed late at night, DH was already asleep, and a darn wolf spider zipped across the covers. I screamed, DH woke up, thought I was strange for screaming about a spider at midnight, and rolled over and went back to sleep. Never did find that spider.
 
Then quickly get educated on what type of spider they are!! It’s not very difficult, use google and search for spider types by state, it’s not nice to just kill harmless spiders, most spiders have venom, but only a few are actually harmful to humans.

E.g. Tarantulas, as big and scary looking as they maybe, if they bite, it’s going to hurt, but it’s not going to kill you, you will be fine.
 
Two of the most dangerous spiders are the Black Widow and the Brown Recluse. The Widow makes a rather ratty looking web. She is black with a red hour glass on her belly [don’t turn her over looking for it 😃 ] The Recluse tends to make webs in dark secluded places - under benches, in dark corners, behind objects, etc. Don’t stick your fingers in where you can’t see.
 
Catholic90 said:
The ones that really freak me out are the wolf spiders that make tunnel homes. They move so DARN fast. One night I was reading in bed late at night, DH was already asleep, and a darn wolf spider zipped across the covers. I screamed, DH woke up, thought I was strange for screaming about a spider at midnight, and rolled over and went back to sleep. Never did find that spider.
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:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :bigyikes: :bigyikes: :bigyikes:

That would have been IT for my night’s sleep… I would have dumped DH out of bed until that thing was found and safely disposed.

shiver
 
Hah funny this thread is here… I noticed SO MANY spiders in my house lately!!! Yikes!! The lil guys creep me out and sometimes they aren’t so little!

Turns out they are house spiders and have never lived outside! It is mating season in Sept/October so that is why we are seeing so many in our houses!
 
If the spider’s name was Shelob or Aragog, then running away from it would be the best course. 😉
 
Consecrated said:
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :bigyikes: :bigyikes: :bigyikes:

That would have been IT for my night’s sleep… I would have dumped DH out of bed until that thing was found and safely disposed.

shiver
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I recall a story in Eisenhower’s autobiography. They were stationed in Panama at the time. A bat got into their bedroom. Ike protested that bats were protected there, but Mamie insisted that he get rid of it. So he spent much of the night chasing it with his cavalry sword. Don’t remember how it came out. 😉
 
Spiders…ewwwwww. It takes nearly all my self control and compassion to keep from squishing spiders on site.

I’ve decided in regard to spiders and other icky critters it was best for me to adopt a buddhist philosophy in my dealings with them…I always felt soooo guilty afterwards if I killed them, so now I either step as far as I can from them or in the event one is in my bathtub and I need to bathe I find something to get it out with without having to touch it. Last time a daddy longlegs found its way into my bathtub I about freaked because I didn’t see it until my tub was part full with hot water…I thought I might have accidently killed it, fishing it out was hard to because all I had at hand were tissues and when wet they’re useless. I had to fish it out by hand and I did the “icky icky icky” dance as I shook it off my hand. The spider was okay, but I was on the verge of freaked out for a while :eek:

Another semi-funny story: One of my best guy buddies who trys so hard to be a gentleman was with me one day when a spider was crawling on the wall near where I was leaning. He pointed it out to me and I jumped about three miles in the air and quickly jumped behind him as if he’d protect me from the horrible icky spider. Trying to be sweet and manly he proceeded to try to squish the spider in order to save me from its horribleness…of course I couldn’t bear for him to crush it so I grabbed his hands to stop him. I couldn’t tell what he was more shocked about, me touching him or me stopping him from squishing the creature I was so afraid of :hmmm: The look on his face was priceless 😛
 
People are ignorant, and acting like sheep when it comes to dealing with spiders. And the ignorant shall inherit the earth.
 
Another mid-westerner here (albeit 600 miles north)… It’s getting cooler out, and the “critters” are finding winter shelter. I’ve also noticed more insect activity in the house.

As said, there are really no dangerous spiders in the upper midwest - except the Brown Recluse - and we’re in the far northern part of it’s range - so they are rare.

The generic greenish/grey house spiders, sizable & FAST “wolf” spiders, “daddy long-legs”, are all indigenous - but harmless to humans - physically that is…

The Brown Recluse is another story. This little bugger can do some serious damage… but it is rare en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

My step-dad did get nailed by one of these little buggers on the leg. All said & done it was 6-months of treatment, and a golfball sized divot of his calf/leg gone before the lesion healed.
 
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