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Hi all,

Saw a spider on the wall of my hut at Orpen a few months ago.

No picture unfortunately.

It was a little bigger than a 2 rand coin (legs included obviously), had orange/black speckeled legs and had a lime green body.
The type of green like a creme soda milkshake Super M.

Had a perfectly circular abdomen, with a similar shape to a black widow (over all look).

Any help?

Asking because it really was one of the most interesting spiders ive ever seen.

thanks

Hi Dave
It's the Cream Soda milkshake wall spider :-) Actually I have no idea, however if you can answer the following questions we may be able to narrow it down.

Was the spider seen at night?
Was it facing head down, or head up?
Was it trailing a strand of silk?
Did it run away?
Is so, describe how it ran? (if possible)
Did it drop on a thread of silk?
Round like a small ball, or flat and round like a cookie?
Thatch roof or normal ceiling?
Cream Soda or Lime Milkshake coloured?


Kind regards

Jonathan

ScorpionKing;

It was seen during the day
Head down
No silk
It didint run
Round like a small ball
Thatch roof
Lime, with a slight hint of aquamarine (slightest blue/green).

Cream Soda milkshake wall spider... thats what i though!!

Hi there would like to know if this is a baboon spider and if it is dangerous. Found it in our bath on wednesday released it back into the bush it had a red mouth
Thanks Cindy Bothasig Cape Town

Thats a big spider and it must be big and strong as it ate up all the peanut butter
But honestly I have noi dea what it is
Glad you let it loose into the bush.

here is another pic of the spider in the bath need to know what it is and if dangerous??

thanks for the identification hugh he is atleast black try again haha cheers

Yes, it looks like a black Baboon Spider.

It has a painful, but not a dangerous bite.

The females tend to be sedentary, so it was possibly a male. They are active hunters, stalking about at night.

Good for you for releasing it!

Thanks Imberbe for the info now I can sleep at night knowing it is not deadly.

It's a mature male Harpactira sp. who was out looking for a female. Have a look at the front legs. From the photo you can see the tibial spurs which the male uses during courtship. The male hooks these spurs under the females fangs.

Our Theraphosids or "Baboon Spiders" are not particularly venomous. They do have large fangs which can cause a painful bite. Their venom causes bee sting like symptoms ie pain. There is one species called Harpactirella lightfooti which was reported to be highly venomous, however there is no physical evidence, research or doctors report to confirm this claim.

Hi Dave
Hmmm... Male spiders develope a totally new outlook on life when the moult for the last time and become sexually mature. It's during this last stage that they turn up in strange places, places that are not "normal" for that Genera\ Family\ species. There is a spider by the name of Olios sp. that is Lime green, would sit on a wall head down, no silk but it very, very, very rarely sits in the open on a wall. However, males being males I cannot discount it.

It's impossible to identify this spider for sure, but if you put a gun to my head I'd go with Olios sp.

Kind regards
Jonathan

Thanks SK! Is it possible for you to highlight (put a circle around) those spurs?

That is a beautiful spider! You are lucky to have it visit your bathroom!
Good on you for releasing it.

Hi Guys/Girls..

Was taking some creative photo's of sunflowers when this guy came looking what i am doing...

Any one tell me what spider this is ?

Thanks

Hi photowiz

Your excellent spider pic looks like one of the flat-bellied ground spiders or mouse spiders (gnaphosids).

Regards

Howard Jacobson