I'm trying to find out what kind of spider this is.?

Question

I live in the central valley and I never have seen this spider in my life! it was so scary! it was a little smaller than a tennis ball and fast. All black with like yellow or white stripes on its legs. I really want to know what it was so I googled it but the only thing that came up even close to it was a picture of some toy spiders. It resembles them very much so I'm posting the link to help you help me. Thanks!!! http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/3331.jpg

Answer 1

Tartantulas are usually not that fast, but they are the only one as big as a tennis ball.  Here are some pictures.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the.tarantu...

Answer 2

My answer could be wrong but not these useful sites -

http://www.spideridentification.org/

http://www.usq.edu.au/spider/index.htm

http://www.arachnology.be/pages/Identifi...

Answer 3

i'm thinking some kind if tarantula or maybe a nephila spider

Answer 4

That spider may as well be a mexican red kneed tarantula. Few spiders are so large. here is a pic of one.

http://www.cirrusimage.com/Spider/tarant...

These are endangered because of overcollecting. Another possiblility, but less liable is the Ornamental spider/tarantula. THese are very valuable and some species go up over $100 Based on your area, if it is a ornamental, it may be a runaway pet. Here are some pics:

http://www.rowanpix.com/inverts/images/t...

http://www.rfadventures.com/images/Anima...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles...