Spider identification

[sevenxl77]

Found this beauty under the couch earlier today.

The white/yellow back seemed almost shell like. Searched google but can't really find anything close to it.

Any ideas?

 

[Egg White]

it's an incy wincy...

 

[Sonic67]

It's a Vermicious Knid.

 

[Pisto_Grih]

Lost hermit crab?

 

[Showoff]

Looks like a Green Orb Weaver Spider. Common and widespread throughout Britain (mostly found in Leicestershire and Rutland). Unlikely but may bite, so be careful and lob it back outside.

 

[sevenxl77]

When I did a search the Green Orb Weaver did seem the closest match but the colouring doesn't seem right.

I'm in Manchester btw. I did pick it up and it seemed quite placid, although wanted to get away after a while, luckily no bites

Here's a different, close up picture I snapped.

 

[shodan]

Launch into space and nuke it from orbit... It's the only way to be sure...

 

[DVD-Man]

Launch into space and nuke it from orbit... It's the only way to be sure...

Classic GC universal answer sadly under used, thanks for bringing it up again.

 

[shodan]

Classic GC universal answer sadly under used, thanks for bringing it up again.

You're welcome. It is my genuine heartfelt response to seeing these alien bastard's...

 

[SteveCritten]

Looks like a Green Orb Weaver Spider. Common and widespread throughout Britain (mostly found in Leicestershire and Rutland). Unlikely but may bite, so be careful and lob it back outside.

Not necessarily the green version but a variant of the Araneus quadratus which can vary widely in colour sometimes called the four spotted orb weaver.
Nick's Spiders - Araneus quadratus First few lines it's says colour can be pale yellow.

 

[drhcnip]

ok, asked for you on another forum which has some experts in the field amongst its members....

the answer:
Looks as if it could be a Steatoda species, Family Theridiidae. As for which of the several UK resident species you have, the pale abdominal colouration is actually somewhat confusing, because Steatoda species usually have glossy mahogany-brown or black abdominal colour. It could be that the colour has lightened because this is a gravid (pregnant) female, in which case, the most likely possibility is Steatoda bipunctata, colloquially referred to as either the Rabbit Hutch Spider (courtesy of their frequent appearance in such constructions) or the Coffee Bean Spider (courtesy of the fact that the abdomen in many specimens resembles a coffee bean in appearance).

If it's a small spider, bipunctata is your most likely candidate out of the Steatoda species, because both the other two commonly found members of the Genus, Steatoda nobilis and Steatoda grossa, are usually considerably larger thanbipunctata, though still not especially large. If you're familiar with Amaurobius spiders that frequent window sills, then fully grown adults of bipunctata are usually about half the size of an Amaurobius, whilst nobilis attains about 80% the size, andgrossa possibly attaining 110% of the size, though it''s rare to find one that large. You're looking at about a 3cm leg span forgrossa, the largest species, and no more than 1.5 cm for bipunctata.

 

[sevenxl77]

ok, asked for you on another forum which has some experts in the field amongst its members....

the answer:
Looks as if it could be a Steatoda species, Family Theridiidae. As for which of the several UK resident species you have, the pale abdominal colouration is actually somewhat confusing, because Steatoda species usually have glossy mahogany-brown or black abdominal colour. It could be that the colour has lightened because this is a gravid (pregnant) female, in which case, the most likely possibility is Steatoda bipunctata, colloquially referred to as either the Rabbit Hutch Spider (courtesy of their frequent appearance in such constructions) or the Coffee Bean Spider (courtesy of the fact that the abdomen in many specimens resembles a coffee bean in appearance).

If it's a small spider, bipunctata is your most likely candidate out of the Steatoda species, because both the other two commonly found members of the Genus, Steatoda nobilis and Steatoda grossa, are usually considerably larger thanbipunctata, though still not especially large. If you're familiar with Amaurobius spiders that frequent window sills, then fully grown adults of bipunctata are usually about half the size of an Amaurobius, whilst nobilis attains about 80% the size, andgrossa possibly attaining 110% of the size, though it''s rare to find one that large. You're looking at about a 3cm leg span forgrossa, the largest species, and no more than 1.5 cm for bipunctata.

Thanks

It certainly looks like steatoda bipunctata and the first thing I thought was that it was pregnant.

Can't seem to find a pic of one with a white back but the pregnant explanation could answer that.

Lots of reading and searching to do now, bit consfused, are these sometimes knows as false widows?

 

[Sonic67]

It certainly looks like steatoda bipunctata and the first thing I thought was that it was pregnant.

Another classic GC universal answer, but I couldn't resist.