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Project Noah Nature School
Metaltella simoni
Brown female spider with a gray, fuzzy abdomen like a mouse. It was about 10mmm long. The male of this species can be seen at my other spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/168...
This was under a rock in the backyard garden. Originally from Argentina. "Long established in the Gulf States from Florida - Texas. More recently established in southern California and North Carolina." - BugGuide
Spotted on Jan 13, 2013
Submitted on Jan 14, 2013
4 Comments
Thank you Maria :)
Nice spotting!
Thank you! I see it now with the eye pattern. I'll update the ID :)
Hi Cindy, great shots of a great spider! I think this might be a female Metaltella simoni though. The eye arrangement, carapace shape, abdomen, and spinnerets (not big and cylindrical) are rather different from the Gnaphosids (like Scotophaeus blackwalli). M. simoni is kinda similar to a lot of Amaurobiids, but the pattern and location seem to be reliable. At least based on how we've been placing things on BugGuide. Here's one for comparison:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/50213/bgim...