What kind of spider does this sound like?

Question

I was at my mother's home over the weekend. I noticed some spiders in the tub as she lives in the country. There were about three of them. They were brown and had long legs but the abdomen wasn't large like so many of the house spiders I see. I am curious could this be a brown recluse? or is it just a variant of a home species. The legs looks somewhat striped a dull brown with some ranging in size from over a quarter to possibly over a 50 cent piece. Very fast and not afraid to defend itself. There were no obvious webs that I saw either.

Any ideas? Just curious. Thankyou in advance for reading this.

Peace

Answer 1

It could be many kinds of spiders, although brown recluses don't get as big as a 50 cent piece and the brown recluse's legs are uniform in color, no stripes or spots.

Brown recluse info;

http://bugguide.net/node/view/33493

Picture gallery;

http://bugguide.net/node/view/33493/bgim...

Small abdomen size could mean it is starved or male.

If you can get a picture of one of them and link it in additional details, I can help identify it for you.

Answer 2

Unlikely to be brown recluses.  They don't live in groups and they are not attracted to water.  You've probably got water spiders or wolf spiders.  Both are harmless and get big.

Answer 3

Google the brown recluse spider. If you can scoop one into a jar, take it to a place that can identify it for you. The brown recluse looks similar to what you described, but I do not recall markings on the legs, as their legs are very thin. The violin shape on the back is the main point of identification. Brown recluse tend to live inside buildings, especially if their is lots of "stuff" in boxes or in an attic. Little webbing, if any.

The best thing to do is to learn which spiders (and snakes) are poisonous, know exactly what they look like, then you will be armed with knowledge.