Can facepunch help me identify a spider? - General

I was cleaning my basement today, when I encountered one of these fuckers. [T]http://i.imgur.com/E6wjYKv.jpg[/T] [T]http://i.imgur.com/huA9ZoV.jpg[/T] I think it might be a brown recluse, but it seems to be missing the "violin" shape on its back. I live in central Illinois, by the way. What do you think it is?

yeahhh that's a brown recluse

Looks pretty big for a recluse, they're usually small.

Check the eyes, if it has a single row 6 eyes in three pairs of two then it's a recluse. Most other spiders have two rows of four eyes (8 total). It's hard to tell from your picture, but it looks to me like it has two rows of eyes which would make it something else. I'm not sure what though.

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;45223138]Looks pretty big for a recluse, they're usually small.[/QUOTE] It is small. That was just a way zoomed in picture of it. Also, the picture is all I have to go by now. I disposed of the corpse already.

If it's gone why still care about it? I know being curious is a thing but when I see a spider I see a spider and nothing else.

Looks a lot like the wolf spiders we get down here in Tennessee. Recluses have always looked more spindly to me, that looks like a very meaty spider. How big was it? The scale's way off in these photos.

[QUOTE=woolio1;45223301]Looks a lot like the wolf spiders we get down here in Tennessee. Recluses have always looked more spindly to me, that looks like a very meaty spider. How big was it? The scale's way off in these photos.[/QUOTE] If I had to guess it would have been about the size of a quarter, maybe a little bigger. [editline]26th June 2014[/editline] I was looking through a list of species of spiders in Illinois, and Brown recluse is the closest I could come up with. [url]http://www.spiders.us/species/filter/illinois/[/url] I don't really think it's a wolf spider either. I've seen them around, and they tend to be hairier and have distinctive stripes going down their back. [editline]26th June 2014[/editline] Have another picture. Slightly less blurry than the first one I posted. [T]http://i.imgur.com/dBG4io0.jpg?1?5135[/T]

The pattern on its ass end looks kind of like that of a barn spider. [IMG]http://bugguide.net/images/cache/HR9HYHWHVH5L4ZKL8ZKLPZHL2ZGHAH7HVHHLVHKL1ZEHLR6HAZNHNZ8LWZ7LAZ6HBHQL1Z2H1ZXLGZZLNZ9HRR5L3H.jpg[/IMG] Description from the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders: "3/8''-3/4'' Male 1/2''-7/8'' Female Male's body and legs and female's cephalothorax and legs dark brown with dense whitish hair appearing ash-gray. Legs have some paler yellowish-brown bands. Female's abdomen pale or yellow along midline and on each side of a dark brown mark with toothlike projections at center; a similar dark brown mark low on each side of abdomen. Abdomen below has brown median band bordered on each side by somewhat broken yellowish stripe." Typically found in barns, caves, mine openings and overhanging cliffs, and found in the eastern US. An Orb Weaver. [editline]26th June 2014[/editline] That picture is of a juvenille spider, so it's going to appear lighter than that of an adult.

[QUOTE=The_J_Hat;45223605]The pattern on its ass end looks kind of like that of a barn spider. [IMG]http://bugguide.net/images/cache/HR9HYHWHVH5L4ZKL8ZKLPZHL2ZGHAH7HVHHLVHKL1ZEHLR6HAZNHNZ8LWZ7LAZ6HBHQL1Z2H1ZXLGZZLNZ9HRR5L3H.jpg[/IMG] Description from the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders: "3/8''-3/4'' Male 1/2''-7/8'' Female Male's body and legs and female's cephalothorax and legs dark brown with dense whitish hair appearing ash-gray. Legs have some paler yellowish-brown bands. Female's abdomen pale or yellow along midline and on each side of a dark brown mark with toothlike projections at center; a similar dark brown mark low on each side of abdomen. Abdomen below has brown median band bordered on each side by somewhat broken yellowish stripe." Typically found in barns, caves, mine openings and overhanging cliffs, and found in the eastern US. An Orb Weaver. [editline]26th June 2014[/editline] That picture is of a juvenille spider, so it's going to appear lighter than that of an adult.[/QUOTE] Barn spiders are orb weavers, though, and the spider in the OP doesn't bear any resemblance to the typical orb weaver.

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;45223340]If I had to guess it would have been about the size of a quarter, maybe a little bigger. [/QUOTE] It's my understanding that Recluses don't usually get much larger than a dime. That looks very much like a barn spider, but I'm having trouble with those front legs. On the juvenile, it doesn't have as long front legs, and the pattern is different. Everything else looks about identical, though.

[QUOTE=Furioso;45223632]Barn spiders are orb weavers, though, and the spider in the OP doesn't bear any resemblance to the typical orb weaver.[/QUOTE] I understand it's atypical, but that pattern on the end isn't found on any other spiders as far as I could find, and I went through my National Audubon Society book, which is pretty thorough.

I've had multiple local people tell me that this is indeed a wolf spider. Judging from the last picture posted, it looks like its front section could have been damaged somehow during my assault. The last picture seems to have the dark hairs with stripes which would indicate it being a wolf spider, unlike the close up where it's a lighter brown color.

And in all likelihood it is a common wolf spider. The thing is, they come in so many fucking varieties it's not even funny.

Legs are too thick to be a [I]Tegenaria domestica[/I] I would say. Same for a brown recluse. It could be an adult male [I]Hogna carolinensis[/I] with a slightly deferred back pattern. That can happen sometimes. Carolina wolf spiders are harmless in terms of venom. They can get quite large too, but it looks like you found a smaller one. It makes sense because adult males wander indoors during mating season, which is around this time of year.

[QUOTE=Plaster;45223298]If it's gone why still care about it? I know being curious is a thing but when I see a spider I see a spider and nothing else.[/QUOTE] It's good to know what type it is because there is obviously more than just one of them.