Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this a Brown Recluse? It looks like it to me, but I' like confirmation...a friend found several in his laundry room.

Here's a better pic

Nope, not a recluse spider. What you have is a Tegenaria sp. "funnel weaver," from the family Agelenidae. But, what state / province are you in? There is a *chance* that it still may be a toxic species. There is ONE species in the Tegenaria genus that is fairly toxic to humans. They only inhabit a limited range, however, so I'd need to know if you are in that area. But it is definitely not any kind of recluse spider. The legs are too hairy, the abdomen should be unpatterned, and the carapace marking is not correct for a recluse. Also, check your spider's eyes. The recluse spiders only have 6 eyes, arranged in three pairs. Tegenaria, like nearly every other spider on earth, have 8 eyes.

-Venom.

Thanks, Venom...after doing some more looking around, I saw quite a few recluse pics, so I realized that it wasn't one. I'm in Coastal South Jersey if that helps to determine whether what we have is toxic. Thanks!

Yes, it does help. The only member of Tegenaria that is toxic to humans is present only in the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, British Columbia. You have one of the several harmless varieties, such as T. duellica, T. atrica, T. saeva. They are very challenging to tell apart, but you could always give it at shot, at www.bugguide.net Have a great day!

Hi guys, i just wanted to say that i think the one he found is exactly the same species as the one i found in my house a few weeks ago and mine is a Tegenaria domestica.

I also wanted to say the the one that represents a danger in this family is Tegenaria agrestis , also comonly called Hobo spiders.

Here are some pics of my T. domestica so you can compare with yours

i keep mine in a container with a fake aquarium plant and some coconut fiber substrate

n/p