Giant house spider vs Hobo spider Identification, Bite, Size

Giant house spiders are hitchhikers, and most are concealed in boxes or objects to find their way into a home. Through wall cracks and holes under doors, the pests can even come within. When males come out of their dens to find mates, giant house spider sightings are most prevalent from summer to fall.

Its scale is the most evident feature of the giant house spider. Adult males may have a leg span of up to 4 inches, and females may have a leg span of up to 2 inches.

Usually, the giant house spider is dark green, brown, or beige. Their belly is orange, beige, and grey mottled and seems to have no leg banding. In the summer or fall, giant house spiders mature and mate shortly afterward. Over a span of several weeks, males and females cohabit and mate. The male finally dies and is consumed by the female. Giant house spider females spin sheet-like cobwebs into which, throughout her lifetime, the female usually builds one or more egg sacs. There will be 40-50 eggs in each egg sac, but only around 1-2% of the spiderlings that hatch will live to enter maturity.

Bites from the giant house spider usually trigger pain similar to a bee sting. The pain is typically localized and persists for a couple of hours or less than 1-2 days at its worst.

The hobo spider's common name derives from its supposed strategy of extending its distribution by hitching human rides along major highways in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, in the 1930s, the hobo spider was introduced from Europe and has since been founded in at least six states, displacing several indigenous species of a spider as it spreads.

Light to medium brown with a dark stripe down the middle to either side of lighter midline stripes; broad light brown legs without bands. In diameter, including limbs, 1-1 and 3/4 "(40-50 mm). With females substantially bigger than males, body sizes vary from 5/16 "to 9/16".

Hobo spiders create funnel webs that open with one end extending outward into a large, gently rounded sheet at both sides. In the rear of the network, an escape tunnel is typically constructed, which leads to a deep crack or another safe zone. Males roam widely around finding a mate from late June to October. During the peak activity cycle in August and September, many rampaging males may also reach the ground level of a structure every day. As this roaming habit brings them into interaction with people, male hobo spiders are liable for more strikes than female hobo spiders.

In almost any ecosystem containing openings, cracks, or crevices that can enable the construction of tunnels, Hobo spiders can be found. They are seldom found above floor level because they are weak climbers. Dark, wet areas are frequent and are most commonly found in basements, window wells, and crawl spaces.

In defense, the hobo spider can start biting; but the consequences of hobo spider bites are debated as these spiders are often correlated with other species. In fact, misinformation regarding hobo spiders is so widespread that they were previously assumed to be able to create a gangrenous lesion similar to that experienced by brown recluse spiders. Most of the proof in such cases, however, have been disputable. The prevalent theory is that bites of the hobo spider trigger only moderate pain and swelling.