Miscellaneous Spider Photography by Kozmic Dreams

My Digital Photography of

Miscellaneous Spiders

The following spiders were photographed in the Metro-Detroit area, unless otherwise noted. I have identified them by their scientific names, if known. If you know the name of any unidentified spiders, please e-mail me at kozmic3@yahoo.com. Photographs are sorted so that most recent photos are at the top of the page. Different types of spiders can be seen on my Jumping Spiders 1, Jumping Spiders 2, Orb-Weavers, and Crab Spiders Pages.

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Wolf Spider

This female wolf spider is carrying around a huge egg sac. She was photographed on July 5, 2008. Click here to see a different wolf spider with baby spiderlings on her back.

Cobweb spider, Achaearanea tepidariorum

This female cobweb spider has lived at the corner molding around my kitchen window for about two years now. I let her live there and catch all the insects that would otherwise be crawling and flying around the house. It's funny to see a certain insect in the house and then later see it in her web. Sometimes I will drop a surprise in her web for her to eat. On June 24, 2008, I gave her this beetle. After looking at these pictures, I realized that I should really clean up her corner once in a while (I hate to make her redo her web though). Luckily one doesn't see all that dirt so much from farther away.

Unknown Spider

This silly spider made its web overnight in the door latch area of my side door. If it were to crawl just a 1/2 inch or so the wrong direction, it would be smashed by the door latch as it closes. Luckily, after I photographed it on June 21, 2008, and the door slammed a few times from use, the spider decided it wasn't too safe of a place and left.

Woodlouse Spider, Dysdera crocata

I found this crazy-looking spider while sweeping up the cracks next to the house on June 16, 2008. At first I thought it was one of those red centipedes from the color, but then I realized it was a spider. I have never seen a spider like this in my whole life. I didn't know what it was and had to google it. Once I found out, I remembered that genus name from somewhere---turns out it is related to the sowbug killer spider, Dysdera crocota, which I thought it kind of resembled because of the different colored abdomen and the shape in general. Click here to see my photos of a sowbug killer to compare features. This spider was very difficult to photograph. It ran amazingly fast---by the time I could get it in focus, it was gone. Some photos are a bit blurry, but they still show the anatomy, so I decided to post them. I let it go after the photo session.

Spiderlings attached to mother Wolf Spider

This mama has a whole bunch of babies on her back hanging on for dear life! I found her in some soil I was using to transplant some flowers on June 24, 2007. She was very fast, but once in a while, she would pause long enough for me to get some good shots. One thing that I found interesting is that the baby spiders' eyes are very large and dark in proportion to the rest of their bodies.

Unknown tiny spider

This tiny spider was on the side door on May 26, 2007. It was only about 1/8" long, so the photographs I obtained are lacking detail for this reason. It was also pretty fast and would never look directly at the camera, so I couldn't get any full face shots.

Unknown Spider

This spider was photographed on 4-21-07. I'm not sure of the species. It was fast-moving and difficult to photograph. It was about 1/4" long from head to spinnerettes.

Cobweb spider, Achaearanea tepidariorum

This spider was found in my house on June 1, 2006. It is from the family Theridiidae. I enjoyed seeing the patterns on its abdomen magnified by the camera lens. It has almost no facial features though. Not the most attractive of backgrounds, but this spider was very fast.

Spitting Spider, Scytodes thoracica

I photographed this interesting little spider on April 30, 2006.

Sowbug Killer, Dysdera crocota

This sowbug killer looks scary, but it is harmless to humans. They are one of the few spiders that eat sowbugs. This one was hanging out in my basement on September 24, 2005. This spider can cling to vertical surfaces, as seen in the last picture.

Grass Spider (male), Agelensopsis aperta

I found what I thought to be a wolf spider on September 10, 2005 in my basement. Upon further inspection, I now think that it is a male grass spider, a type of funnel-weaving spider of the order Araneae. This one was not found in a web though, so I am identifying it by its large pedipalps that look like boxing gloves, as it was described on whatsthatbug.com. I decided to photograph it before releasing it outside. I discovered that if provoked, they tend to play dead rather than bite or run away. The second picture is the crumpled "playing dead" look. With its legs extended, it was probably close to two inches in diameter. This was one big spider.

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