Day Ten - Arachnophobia

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Agelendae
Genus: Tegenaria
Species: Tegenaria Agrestis

Common Name: The Hobo Spider

This is a glass 'beecatcher' which I keep on my back porch as a control against hornets. For those who don't know, the beecatcher is an old method of controlling hornets and other stinging insects. The top is corked and the bottom opening is raised to allow a resevoir of sweet liquid (I use applejuice) to reside, acting as bait for the yellowjackets that infest my yard. This one was empty and uncorked, but all the same it seems to have captured a spider.

It is a common misconception - especially among physicians apparently - that this big fella is a 'Brown Recluse', despite the fact that the things simply cannot survive our wet winters and therefore avoid the Northwest like a plague. The Hobo Spider is sometimes also referred to as the 'agressive house spider' which is a misnomer. Apparently this happened because the 'Agrestis' in the name made some ignoramus back in the day confuse Latin for English and mis-translated that as 'aggressive' when it really only connotes 'Rural'. Along with the Hololena, these spiders are also commonly referred to as 'funnelwebs' because of the shapes of their webs.

They do bite, and it's painful and tends to cause a sore to develop, but it's not fatal to a healthy adult. If you're good I'll tell you the spider story for Halloween... it's a good'un.