Monday, February 9, 2009

eeeeek!

I found this alive when I was cleaning the spare bedroom. It made my toes curl and I yelped from the creeps. Now I know how Miss Muffet felt. I caught it and put it in a container with holes on the lid. I had it on the window sill above our kitchen sink and I accidently dropped it in the dish water. Some water got in and the poor thing drowned. 

It's called Steatoda grossa or a False Black Widow.
 
I turned everything upside down and vacuumed every nook and cranny. I get the creeps every time I think about it crawling around in that bedroom. It was only about a half inch long, but a look at that bulbous posterior sure made me jump back three feet.  I couldn't find too much information on Google, but I was able to quickly find a photo and the name for this menacing creature. Females could live up to six years!
 
I'm ending this post because I'm getting the willies every time I look at the photo. I usually like looking at photos of spiders and insects, but when it's one that was inside my home and in a bedroom...well it isn't as fun to look at. 
Check out Bug Sufari. She does a beautiful job of photographing spiders and all sorts of insects.