Anyone know their spiders well enough to identify this one?

[sugarplumkitty]

We're weird. We know it. Ever since we had the tarantula wander into our house two years ago, we've allowed the occasional spider to live in our bathroom window.

We haven't had one for a while until this one showed up last week. It's about 1.5 inches long including the legs. The body is about 3/4 of an inch. I can't find it on any arachnid websites but would like to know what our guest is.

He/she's really polite, just staying in the window and building a modest sloping tangled web in one corner. We only see it in the evenings. It's less afraid of us than it was the first night. It seems to know we mean it no harm. It even let me take a couple of pictures. Here's the best one.

Any clue what it is? The only site I found that would let me join was a pet site. Tentative identification is that of a wolf spider or a water spider. I'd like to find an expert to know for sure. The spider guy on the pet site claimed I wouldn't need a spider cup to transport it outside because it's harmless. HA! RIiiiight. I'm going to grab a spider with jaws that big? I think not.

Comments

[iheartoothecae.livejournal.com]

The most similar-looking I could find was this guy, an unidentified Huntsman spider (family Sparassidae):



This was found in San Francisco, and someone else in SF posted two years earlier a picture of a spider identical to the one above. Your userinfo says you live in Silicon Valley -- maybe it's a species or subspecies local to that area.

I really don't think it's a wolf spider; they usually have fat racing stripes on their bodies. It looks nothing like a water spider.

That's as close as I can get. Have you posted to spider communities on LJ?

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Yes I have. Thanks! This guy is stockier than the huntsman you have there. I suppose there are differences within a type.