eastern spurred ghost spider

Eastern spurred ghost spider is a small wandering spider. It occurs in the eastern United States from Massachusetts to South Carolina, west to Minnesota and eastern Texas.

Adults are active at night. They are found well off the ground, including on tall grass, bushes, and trees.

Females are 3⁄16″ (5.0 to 5.5 mm) in length and have a 5⁄16″ to ½″ (8 to 12 mm) legspan. The body is light yellow (pale) with gray (dark) markings.

The front part of the body (cephalothorax), consisting of the head and thorax, is egg shaped and longer than wide. The upper side (carapace) is widest beyond the middle and about half that width at the front. The front of the head is very low. There are eight eyes arranged in two rows of four. The front (anterior) row is nearly straight. The anterior outer (lateral) eyes (ALE) are almost twice the size of the anterior middle (median) eyes (AME). The rear (posterior) eye row is longer and slightly curved forward. All of the eyes are narrowly ringed black. The mouthparts (chelicerae), corresponding to the jaws, are relatively long, slender, and dark orangish-brown or dark brown. Each fang rests in a furrow between two ridges (margins). The outer margin (promargin) has four teeth. The inner margin (retromargin), closest to the mouth, has seven teeth. Two indistinct, dark, broken, longitudinal lines extend from the posterior lateral eyes (PLE) to the rear of the carapace. Two similar but shorter and usually less distinct lines extend back from the posterior median eyes (PME). There is a thin dark border on the lateral margins.

The abdomen is oval and pale with horizontal rows of dark markings. These include a pair of short, bold, oblique lines in front, and a double longitudinal row of dark spots in the middle on the rear half. The breathing pore at the tip of the abdomen (tracheal spiracle) is located well in front of the spinnerets.

The legs are long, slender, and tapered. They are pale with dark spots. On the third pair of legs there is a darkened extension (spur) on the first leg segment (coxa). This is the feature that gives the species its common name. The spur is notched at the end.

Males are smaller, 3⁄16″ (4.7 to 5.0 mm) in length.

Female Body Length: 3⁄16″ (5.0 to 5.5 mm)

Male Body Length: 3⁄16″ (4.7 to 5.0 mm)

Legspan: 5⁄16″ to ½″ (8 to 12 mm)

Ghost spiders hunt at night. They spend the day in a silken retreat in a rolled up or folded over leaf.

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Alfredo Colon
6/4/2021

Location: Woodbury, MN