what kind of big black spider exists in rhode island and would live under a dock?
i work at a day camp in rhode island….which is the STATE that is near boston (a lot of people confuse it with LONG island, new york.)
there is a big pond (which is filled from another pond)
and there are docks in the pond… we were giving the kids swimming lessons today and on the dock, there was a HUGE… BEYOND HUGE black spider.
ive never seen anything like it.
the lifegaurd said that there are hundreds under the docks living in the air pockets…
could you please give me a clue about what kind of spider it could be so i can look up if it bites of anything like that.
if you have a lot of information feel free to email me at esherman_8890@ric.edu
sorry todd. that isnt it.. thanks for your help… it wasnt that intense.. but it was arround that size.
it looked as big as a turantula but not furry at all.
It *might* be a purseweb spider. They are relatives of the tarantulas (suborder Mygalomorphae). You can tell them because, like tarantulas, they have huge chelicerae that fold forward, instead of sideways in a pinching motion like most other spiders (suborder Araneomorphae). I am not sure if they get up north to RI though.
Does it look like this?
http://bugguide.net/node/view/116685
None of them are considered harmful to humans, although I have heard they have really powerful fangs that can go through shoes. The venom is weak to us though.
Does the thumbs down mean no?
It is better that you take a look at these sites to be sure which spider you saw -
http://www.spideridentification.org/
http://www.badspiderbites.com/spider-identification/
http://www.aboutbugsbugsbugs.com/spiders/biology.htm
http://www.pesticide.org/spiders.html
This is a great site for identifying insects-go to this page-
http://bugguide.net/node/view/4/bgpage
Go to the spider page and then try clicking on
Infraorder Mygalomorphae – Mygalomorphs
which apparently are not “true” spiders, though they look like them to me. There are some very big, scary-looking ones there.
PS-I live in RI, too. When people out west confuse it with Long Island, I say “no, it’s a state… go to New York and hang a left.” (how can you not have at least HEARD of it? there are only fifty darn states)