That is funny! The term "house spider" is extremely ambiguous and can mean a dozen different spiders across many families depending on where you are. But with the "giant" it's quite specific.
It would be really funny if there was a spider that would only live in giant houses and mansions, but wouldn't bother with smaller ones.
Thanks! And that's a fair question as she was wild caught indoors, and we do have both E. duellica and E. atrica in our area. I have not identified her down to the species level, other than fellow enthusiasts weighing in based on general morphology. For accuracy's sake I should probably have posted her simply as Eratigena sp.
For accuracy’s sake I should probably have posted her simply as Eratigena sp.
Their taxonomy is an absolute mess. All of Eratigena used to be Tegenaria (they are actual anagrams, lazy arachnologists!). But a bunch of species got moved around, split and merged again.
I usually refer to them as "Eratigena in the atrica group". Inside that group you usually need microscopic examination of the genitalia to tell them apart with confidence.
7 Comments
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe · 6 pts · 39d
How big is this giant house?
remon@ani.social · 7 pts · 39d
That is funny! The term "house spider" is extremely ambiguous and can mean a dozen different spiders across many families depending on where you are. But with the "giant" it's quite specific.
It would be really funny if there was a spider that would only live in giant houses and mansions, but wouldn't bother with smaller ones.
remon@ani.social · 4 pts · 39d
Very nice picture!
How did you figure out the specific species?
kaklerbitmap@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 39d
Thanks! And that's a fair question as she was wild caught indoors, and we do have both E. duellica and E. atrica in our area. I have not identified her down to the species level, other than fellow enthusiasts weighing in based on general morphology. For accuracy's sake I should probably have posted her simply as Eratigena sp.
EDIT fixed!
remon@ani.social · 4 pts · 39d
Their taxonomy is an absolute mess. All of Eratigena used to be Tegenaria (they are actual anagrams, lazy arachnologists!). But a bunch of species got moved around, split and merged again.
I usually refer to them as "Eratigena in the atrica group". Inside that group you usually need microscopic examination of the genitalia to tell them apart with confidence.
theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 39d
Woah, sick
remon@ani.social · 2 pts · 39d
It looks quite healthy!