At home in the garden

It was Earth Day. And I spent most of it up to my elbows in the stuff. Earth.

First, I re-potted and trimmed all but one of my houseplants. Then I moved outside, and repotted most of the outside container plants, divided the hostas, transplanted some of the London Pride*, trimmed the evergreens, ripped out a mountain of moss, top-dressed the second half of the garden with manure, and repositioned a wire fence.

A pleasant, contemplative day; I love digging in the dirt!

For the smaller hostas, I decided to use a planter box that had spent the winter upside-down in a dry spot. When I flipped it over, I found it full of spider webs. I brushed some away, and a big Tegenaria rushed out.

Tegenaria domestica, probably.


Good view of the row of eyes.

Several clumps of frass hung in the box; I fished this one out to examine it.

Frass

I thought I could identify what she's been eating, but other than that ridged thing, which I think is the remains of a woodbug, nothing there is identifiable. Yet it all came from her food, since nothing could fall into her cozy upside-down house; it all walked or slithered or crawled in through the cracks between the boards. She's quite a tidy housekeeper, and ties up her garbage and hangs it out to dry well away from her nest area.

There's always the worry, with these; is she a hobo spider, T. agrestis? Does she bite, is she aggressive, is she venomous? I went back to check my list of identifying marks from last year.

Let's see: I didn't get a look at the underside, nor the top of the cephalothorax. But she has dark rings around her legs, and pointy pedipalps. She's not a hobo; no need to evict her.

I put the box back where I found it, and found another planter for my hostas.

*This (the London Pride link) was from my previous blog. Reading it over, I found a few posts that I think are worth reposting on this blog, starting with my "Shade garden" series, since we're in planting season again.

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Identifying Tegenaria

We rearranged the potted plants in the back patio yesterday, and I took the opportunity to clean out the corners. In one of them, against the house wall and behind a stored board, where it would be warm and dry, I found a pair of spiders.

The large one, probably more experienced, disappeared down a hole within seconds. The tiny one tried to pretend she* wasn't there. Even though I brought the camera to within an inch of her, she didn't twitch. She stayed put while I swept down the wall, detouring around her, and didn't leave until I had gone to put away the broom.

So I got a few photos.

With flash.


With a desk lamp; softer light, and allowing for a closer approach.

It's a Tegenaria. Which may or not mean trouble. Tegenaria agrestis, the "hobo spider", has been long accused of aggressive behaviour and dangerous bites, which can turn tissue necrotic or cause allergic reactions. But T. domestica or T. duellica (gigantea) may be harmless.

Which is she? It is impossible to be sure without a microscope. BugGuide says,

The actual spider (not a photo) needs to be examined by an expert for a definite identification.

From a link on that page, though, I found a useful article; "How to identify (or misidentify) the hobo spider". How to tell if your spider is NOT a hobo. Just what I needed!

If the spider has any of the following, it is NOT T. agrestis. And probably not dangerous:

1. Spots on the sternum.
   
   I couldn't check this, since I didn't capture the spider.
   
   
2. Distinct stripes on the cephalothorax.
   
   Let me see... The cephalothorax (head-chest) is the front section. Very definite stripes down the back. (photo 1.) Not a hobo.
   
   
3. Dark rings around the legs.
   
   Black and brown striped legs. Not a hobo.
   
   
4. Shiny dark orange legs with no hair.
   
   Photo 2. Dull legs, with some hair. Not a hobo.
   
   
5. Long, pointy palps (Two "grabbers" in front of the eyes).
   
   I didn't get a look at the palps.

So that's a relief. By the size (not enormous), I would guess these are probably T. domestica.

Now this one, on the other hand:


Broken marks on cephalothorax, not definite stripes. (See photo below) No spots on legs. Hairy, though. Blunt palps, I think.


Compare her with this one, positively identified as a hobo, on BugGuide:


I found her in about the same spot, last June. And it seems possible that she was a hobo. Next time, I'll capture any I find, carefully, flip it over, and examine the sternum, too.

For now, I shake out my back door shoes every time I put them on, and keep gardening gloves handy. I don't want hobo bites on my toes or fingers.

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* She, because the palps, what I could see of them, seem to be of uniform thickness. Male spiders carry heavy, bulbous palps.
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Soft and Cuddly

Would you pet this guy? He's almost cat-like, smooth and furry.
Except: here's the other end:
Ouch!
As I found him, in an old stained-glass lamp. A Dolomedes Tegenaria, or fishing funnel web spider.*

But I promised you a sasquatch, didn't I? I'll get at it right away. Next post.

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Update: That was quick! Eric Eaton, on Bug Guide, identifies it as a Tegenaria. He writes,

"There are at least three species in your area, two of which are introduced, including the infamous "hobo" spider. There is relatively general agreement that the hobo is NOT venomous, but also little doubt that something is going on whereby its bites are sometimes causing necrotic wounds. This may be due to a bacterium the spider harbors on its fangs, but the mystery is still unsolved....Be careful not to put your hands where you can't see."

So I'm glad I kept it under glass while I photographed it.