Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this is the second one we've killed in a week and a half. the first one was even bigger, and both had a tendency to attack as we attempted to capture/kill it.

i'm not too sure, but to me the darned critter sure looks like every photo i've seen of the brown recluse. for reference, our house is surrounded by huge trees and has a creek nearby. i would REALLY appreciate your feedback on this. i have a dog who is alone in the house all day, and i'm afraid she may get bitten. =(

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/AbbyMcBeal/spider1.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/AbbyMcBeal/spider2.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/AbbyMcBeal/spider3.jpg

Nope, that's not a recluse spider of any kind. What you have is a type of "huntsman" spider, which is harmless. The bite will still be quite painful, but not dangerous. Here's a reference picture to another huntsman species: you can see the resemblance:

http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/spiders/Heteropoda1a.jpg

This genus / family has numerous members with colors varying spectacularly. Trust me though, it's still a huntsman, and probably a Heteropoda species.