HI, Im from the UK and I found a very intresting spider corpse in my carpet today. It looks very much like a Mediterranean recluse spider. But I feel this is very unlikely. However, I have NEVER seen a spider like this in my house before, and I was wondering what species are similar to the recluse in appearence, just in case I have misidentified it (I know its not a wolf spider)
It is 14mm (1/2 inch) in length. leg length is about 18mm (it keeps curling up, difficult to measure) It has 2 feelers coming out from behind the fangs. On its belly, were the abdomen meets the forward part, there is a marking (hourglass shaped, ringed by a paler colour to the rest of the abdomen). The abdomen is slightly furry, otherwise very little hair on the spider. I cannot tell how many eyes it has, and there is no violin shape on it (at least i cant see it). However, it is slightly decomposed, the abdomen is beginning to collapse like a deflated balloon.
I began to fear it was a recluse spider when i saw http://www.uark.edu/depts/entomolo/museum/BR4_100.jpg
that pic, as It is very similar to my spider minus the violin marking.
Basicly I am wondering what other spiders fit that description, as i dont like the thought of having a venomous spider in my home in little old england. But it HAS been an extremely dry and hot summer...
