Just the place to hang your (miniature) hat!

I'm always on the lookout for spiders around the house and yard. This winter, the ones I find are usually tiny, sometimes mere specks. (See Dusty.) And as often as not, they're another species I haven't seen before.

This one showed up on my desk.

Another running speck, maybe 1 mm., fangs to spinnerets.

She has a shield-shaped thorax, skinny pedipalps (identifying her as juvenile or female), and very impressive fangs for her size.

And she had all eight legs when I first saw her, but trying to keep her from getting into my computer with a small piece of paper, I damaged two and broke one off completely. She was that tiny and fragile. I eventually managed to move her to a flowerpot without doing any more damage, I think.

Another one for BugGuide. And this one, I'm calling the valet spider, for now, because of the pattern on her back; a throwback to more formal times.

A "gentleman's valet" with the coat hanger on the far side. Image from Wikipedia.