Red Spider Species, Unknown?

[MrAl]

Hello there,


A while back i ran into a spider which is certainly not too common around here (NJ). I thought i would ask around to see if anyone knows anything about this one.

First, i dont have a picture unfortunately, and i've search more than a 1000 pictures and cant find it. I'll describe what it looks like.

It was about 3/4 inch or maybe about an inch including the legs. The abdomen was not super big like some spiders, but more average size relative to the head. The legs were not those long skinny type but more chunky, but not short either like a red spider mite.
The most interesting characteristic though was that it was a bright blood red color. Not only that, the coloring was very uniform throughout the head, abdomen, and legs. All the same color like someone dropped a bucket of paint on it, except that the body head and legs appeared translucent so the sun light would shine right through it almost like it would be lighting it up with an internal LED or bulb. That's how different the coloring was, unlike anything i've seen before. Usually we see a difference in coloring between head, legs, and abdomen, but this coloring was very uniform. And it's almost like you can see through the body, or at least see the light shining through, so you see like a red glow sort of but cant see any internal organs.

I've not seen another one like that since then and that was a while back (maybe a few years already). But i'd like to find out what it was and maybe where it comes from and of course it's toxicity to humans and pets.

Thanks for any info that shows what this thing is or even info that leads me to more info that might help.

After reading up on some of the other species i can see why many humans are afraid of spiders (close to 90 percent i think). Some of them are harmless and dont even bite and some cant even bite through the flesh, but others are so deadly like a snake and others are not deadly but can cause bad illness and very bad wounds at the bite site due to the venom decomposing the flesh...not a pretty picture. And it's hard to try to identify a spider you might happen upon especially in the dark and you might not have time to tell what it is anyway, and some species look similar.
Also, warming climates means a larger area migration for some species which may bring unwanted visitors farther north too.

 

[Ian Rogers]

There are many translucent spiders... I was looking toward the "red translucent huntsman spider"... Some of these have extraordinary markings..

 

[DerStrom8]

I've seen bright orange ones up in Vermont, but I can't seem to remember ever seeing a spider that was bright red.

A quick google search gave me this thing, which matches your description. Obviously it'd be easier to identify if we had a photo, but since that's not possible I'm just taking shots in the dark

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

While I might believe many unknown species in the Amazon jungle, I don't believe it in New Jersey (presuming that's what NJ is?).

 

[killivolt]

Hello there,


A while back i ran into a spider which is certainly not too common around here (NJ). I thought i would ask around to see if anyone knows anything about this one.

First, i dont have a picture unfortunately, and i've search more than a 1000 pictures and cant find it. I'll describe what it looks like.

It was about 3/4 inch or maybe about an inch including the legs. The abdomen was not super big like some spiders, but more average size relative to the head. The legs were not those long skinny type but more chunky, but not short either like a red spider mite.
The most interesting characteristic though was that it was a bright blood red color. Not only that, the coloring was very uniform throughout the head, abdomen, and legs. All the same color like someone dropped a bucket of paint on it, except that the body head and legs appeared translucent so the sun light would shine right through it almost like it would be lighting it up with an internal LED or bulb. That's how different the coloring was, unlike anything i've seen before. Usually we see a difference in coloring between head, legs, and abdomen, but this coloring was very uniform. And it's almost like you can see through the body, or at least see the light shining through, so you see like a red glow sort of but cant see any internal organs.

I've not seen another one like that since then and that was a while back (maybe a few years already). But i'd like to find out what it was and maybe where it comes from and of course it's toxicity to humans and pets.

Thanks for any info that shows what this thing is or even info that leads me to more info that might help.

After reading up on some of the other species i can see why many humans are afraid of spiders (close to 90 percent i think). Some of them are harmless and dont even bite and some cant even bite through the flesh, but others are so deadly like a snake and others are not deadly but can cause bad illness and very bad wounds at the bite site due to the venom decomposing the flesh...not a pretty picture. And it's hard to try to identify a spider you might happen upon especially in the dark and you might not have time to tell what it is anyway, and some species look similar.
Also, warming climates means a larger area migration for some species which may bring unwanted visitors farther north too.

Are you confusing it with this............... Mysterious-Red-Ant-Wasp

I had something like this bit or stung me when I was a kid. Never have seen it since. I'm in Utah.

 

[Mr RB]

...
It was about 3/4 inch or maybe about an inch including the legs. The abdomen was not super big like some spiders, ...

First, was it a ground spider or a web spider? Ground spiders are flat and hunt, web spiders (usually) have a orb shaped abdomen and thin legs and sit in a web all day.

I've seen some web spiders here about 3/4" across the legs, abdomen maybe a 4mm orb, and a translucent dark orange/browny red colour.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Thanks for the ideas and information from all of you.


Ian:
Pretty sure it is not a Huntsman.

DerStrom:
That's close, but i should have mentioned that the legs are about all the same length too.
And the abdomen was the same color as the head, and legs same color as the abdomen almost
exactly if not exactly. No hair either.
What is the name of that spider?

Nigel:
Yes, New Jersey. It may be just 'unknown' to me although known to man in general and cataloged.

killivolt:
No definitely not. It's definitely a spider not some other thing like a mite or wasp.
It's very clearly a spider and has legs, abdomen, heat, everything the same color which
appears translucent and very bright blood red.

MrRB:
Dont know if it is ground or web. It was on the dashboard of the car so maybe web.
You would never mistake this spider for brown or anything near that, or even dark
orange. You would know instantly that it is red and no mistaking that and that it is
the same color throughout. This one was not flat either, but rather perky standing
on it's legs. The legs were not stubby but they were not long and thin either.
And now that i've thought about it, the legs where all about the same size too or
very nearly so. The texture of the surface of the skin looked almost like a human
finger except without finger prints. In fact, the coloring looked almost like if you
shine a bright flashlight 'through' the tip of your finger, you can see red and that's almost
like what the color of the spider was.

All:
I am fearing that could this have been a spider in mid transfermation of some kind?
Maybe loosing it's outer skin or something. I'd hate to think that's what it was
as this spider actually looks really cool unlike other ones i've seen through the
years which are usually quite ugly and nasty looking
ADDED:
The coloring looked almost like the head in the picture DerStrom posted except
it was not shiny (did not really reflect light), but the abdomen was the same color.
Also, no noticeable hair, and legs same color as head and abdomen. Legs all about
the same length, not stubby but not long and thin either.

I've also read that there is one spider that can crush a mouse's head with the arms
that hold the fangs. That's how strong those arms are so could easily pierce flesh.
As you probably already have read, there is at least one spider that eats birds.

 

[tvtech]

Hi,

Thanks for the ideas and information from all of you.


Ian:
Pretty sure it is not a Huntsman.

DerStrom:
That's close, but i should have mentioned that the legs are about all the same length too.
And the abdomen was the same color as the head, and legs same color as the abdomen almost
exactly if not exactly. No hair either.
What is the name of that spider?

Nigel:
Yes, New Jersey. It may be just 'unknown' to me although known to man in general and cataloged.

killivolt:
No definitely not. It's definitely a spider not some other thing like a mite or wasp.
It's very clearly a spider and has legs, abdomen, heat, everything the same color which
appears translucent and very bright blood red.

MrRB:
Dont know if it is ground or web. It was on the dashboard of the car so maybe web.
You would never mistake this spider for brown or anything near that, or even dark
orange. You would know instantly that it is red and no mistaking that and that it is
the same color throughout. This one was not flat either, but rather perky standing
on it's legs. The legs were not stubby but they were not long and thin either.
And now that i've thought about it, the legs where all about the same size too or
very nearly so. The texture of the surface of the skin looked almost like a human
finger except without finger prints. In fact, the coloring looked almost like if you
shine a bright flashlight 'through' the tip of your finger, you can see red and that's almost
like what the color of the spider was.

All:
I am fearing that could this have been a spider in mid transfermation of some kind?
Maybe loosing it's outer skin or something. I'd hate to think that's what it was
as this spider actually looks really cool unlike other ones i've seen through the
years which are usually quite ugly and nasty looking
ADDED:
The coloring looked almost like the head in the picture DerStrom posted except
it was not shiny (did not really reflect light), but the abdomen was the same color.
Also, no noticeable hair, and legs same color as head and abdomen. Legs all about
the same length, not stubby but not long and thin either.

I've also read that there is one spider that can crush a mouse's head with the arms
that hold the fangs. That's how strong those arms are so could easily pierce flesh.
As you probably already have read, there is at least one spider that eats birds.

LOL. This is funny. Like really funny That is why ETO ROCKS. Love this place.

We all deserve time out now and again. Too much thinking makes us....boring???. Think about it

Every person who is a part of ETO though...is my friend....and I am not kidding.

I was going to ramble on.....but I need to sleep now. Heck, my age is catching up with me


EDIT EDIT EDIT on 07 Feb 2013

I believe I have actually hit the heights of stupidity......I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE PULLING MY LEG WITH SPIDERS AND STUFF...

I feel rat faced now.

Regards,
tvtech

 

[DerStrom8]

DerStrom:
That's close, but i should have mentioned that the legs are about all the same length too.
And the abdomen was the same color as the head, and legs same color as the abdomen almost
exactly if not exactly. No hair either.
What is the name of that spider?

I'm not sure of the name of it. It's some type of ground spider though.

My favorite spider is the one that sits in branches hanging over small streams and catches small fish.



Then again, the one that eats chickens is pretty crazy too

 

[killivolt]

I'm not sure of the name of it. It's some type of ground spider though.

My favorite spider is the one that sits in branches hanging over small streams and catches small fish.

View attachment 70679




Then again, the one that eats chickens is pretty crazy too

View attachment 70678

Unless that's a small chicken. that would be one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen.

 

[DerStrom8]

Unless that's a small chicken. that would be one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen.

11.8 inches, lives in Peru. To my knowledge they are still unsure if the species is even classified.

 

[Mr RB]

...
Dont know if it is ground or web. It was on the dashboard of the car so maybe web.
...

If it looked anything like DerStrom's red spider picture it is a ground or hunting spider. They'll climb walls and trees as well as run around on the ground, the main difference is they hunt their prey and dont just sit in a web waiting for something to get stuck.

Household web spiders are more like a daddy longlegs, really thin legs and a little orb abdomen.

...
This one was not flat either, but rather perky standing
on it's legs. The legs were not stubby but they were not long and thin either.
And now that i've thought about it, the legs where all about the same size too or
very nearly so. The texture of the surface of the skin looked almost like a human
finger except without finger prints. In fact, the coloring looked almost like if you
shine a bright flashlight 'through' the tip of your finger, you can see red and that's almost
like what the color of the spider was.
...

Ahah! If it had just shed its skin (which they do to grow) it's legs will be bendy and soft and curved in under it a bit, and it will be very pale and transparent. I've found huntsmans that had just shed and if you poke them their legs are all bendy and soft, and they can't even move much until their legs harden up.

Normally they climb up high to a safe place before shedding, and come out of their old skin and just dangle from an inch of web while they wait for their new skin to harden up. It's creepy when you find a big huntsman skin about 5" across somewhere in the house, because you know he just grew another stage bigger and is probably >6" now lurking behind a door or something...

 

[MrAl]

Hi,


Well that was just a guess so im not sure yet what made it so red looking and so uniform in coloring, but that would make sense.
It wasnt hanging from a thread however, just crawling on the dashboard.
Wow 5 inches across, that's pretty big. I would think you have to be careful if you run into one of those guys

 

[redcatsdance]

Hello:

I had the same experience, I live in Arizona and have notice this same type of spider that has a red glow to it that has been crawling on my wall and ceiling. This same spider tried to crawl on me, I just happen to turn over and it somehow flew back on the wall. And that is when I saw it light up as if it had red lights that resembled Christmas lights. And last night, this was really spooky/scary, but, I just happen to look on the ceiling at night and that spider glowed red and was on the web and I could not believe my eyes, then, the glow disappeared. I have been researching this spider and came across your description and it matches what I have seen too.

I was telling my friend about it and she thinks that there is some spiritual meaning to it, however, I don't. I would like to know what kind of spider is this because I am not comfortable sleeping with a spider that lights up red and don't know if it is safe or not. If you find out any more information, please let me know.

Thank you

Hello there,


A while back i ran into a spider which is certainly not too common around here (NJ). I thought i would ask around to see if anyone knows anything about this one.

First, i dont have a picture unfortunately, and i've search more than a 1000 pictures and cant find it. I'll describe what it looks like.

It was about 3/4 inch or maybe about an inch including the legs. The abdomen was not super big like some spiders, but more average size relative to the head. The legs were not those long skinny type but more chunky, but not short either like a red spider mite.
The most interesting characteristic though was that it was a bright blood red color. Not only that, the coloring was very uniform throughout the head, abdomen, and legs. All the same color like someone dropped a bucket of paint on it, except that the body head and legs appeared translucent so the sun light would shine right through it almost like it would be lighting it up with an internal LED or bulb. That's how different the coloring was, unlike anything i've seen before. Usually we see a difference in coloring between head, legs, and abdomen, but this coloring was very uniform. And it's almost like you can see through the body, or at least see the light shining through, so you see like a red glow sort of but cant see any internal organs.

I've not seen another one like that since then and that was a while back (maybe a few years already). But i'd like to find out what it was and maybe where it comes from and of course it's toxicity to humans and pets.

Thanks for any info that shows what this thing is or even info that leads me to more info that might help.

After reading up on some of the other species i can see why many humans are afraid of spiders (close to 90 percent i think). Some of them are harmless and dont even bite and some cant even bite through the flesh, but others are so deadly like a snake and others are not deadly but can cause bad illness and very bad wounds at the bite site due to the venom decomposing the flesh...not a pretty picture. And it's hard to try to identify a spider you might happen upon especially in the dark and you might not have time to tell what it is anyway, and some species look similar.
Also, warming climates means a larger area migration for some species which may bring unwanted visitors farther north too.

 

[gerty]

Are you confusing it with this............... Mysterious-Red-Ant-Wasp

Killivolt: Here in TN we call those "Calf Killers" . Legend has it that they would swarm a calf and sting it to death. Fact is they are wingless wasps, and if you see one they are almost always alone. You do not want to get stung by one, very painfull...

 

[redcatsdance]

No, not at all, it is a spider that I have never seen before. I called an exterminator and described it to him and he never heard of it either, asked if it was black widow and the answer is no, not a black widow. I will get a blue light to see if I can find the web, because at this moment it is daylight and I can't find the web.

Are you confusing it with this............... Mysterious-Red-Ant-Wasp

Killivolt: Here in TN we call those "Calf Killers" . Legend has it that they would swarm a calf and sting it to death. Fact is they are wingless wasps, and if you see one they are almost always alone. You do not want to get stung by one, very painfull...

 

[DerStrom8]

No, not at all, it is a spider that I have never seen before. I called an exterminator and described it to him and he never heard of it either, asked if it was black widow and the answer is no, not a black widow. I will get a blue light to see if I can find the web, because at this moment it is daylight and I can't find the web.

Hi redcatsdance. gerty was not responding to you. He was responding to killivolt. The first part is a quote from KV.

 

[gerty]

Hi redcatsdance. gerty was not responding to you. He was responding to killivolt. The first part is a quote from KV.

Sometimes that quote button just wont work for me..

edit: just realized the link didn't work either..

 

[DerStrom8]

Sometimes that quote button just wont work for me..

Yup, I know exactly what you mean

 

[killivolt]

Are you confusing it with this............... Mysterious-Red-Ant-Wasp

Killivolt: Here in TN we call those "Calf Killers" . Legend has it that they would swarm a calf and sting it to death. Fact is they are wingless wasps, and if you see one they are almost always alone. You do not want to get stung by one, very painfull...

gerty, Yes, it was alone and a young curious boy, did get stung.

It was very painful, they are very fury and shiny and I was attracted immediately most children don't know "Red" means "Ouch" or "Dead"

Same thing happened when I picked up a Caterpillar once. My Family taught me about spiders but, nothing about the other little creatures.

I Managed Apartments for about 10yrs, not a lot of work involved, one day I seen a mysterious bug down in the grass. It looked harmless to me.

It had a small head, but tucked beneath the little head was his weapon, he rose his head and thing came out like a single, fang and "Wham" it stuck a proboscis deep into my index finger.

These are pictures of what it was and they are not supposed to be in Utah, I thought only in South America, they have migrated to other warm area's "Watch where you sleep" Kissing Bug / Chagas



Edit: There is a map of locations in top left of the page, showing areas in the U.S. to be of concern.