Defiance, Missouri- April 25, 2012

[lisaayres]

Defiance, MO

Found her in my bedroom at night on a plant pot. I caught her and released her outside.
The lighting was dim even with lights on so I had to overexpose the photo. I hope you can still identify it.

[shelliebear]

How large is she? What color is her abdomen? Was her upper body really that shiny?

[lisaayres]

About 1/2 inch
tan
yes

[shelliebear]

Looks a lot like a hacklemesh weaver (Amaurobiidae), regardless of further details.

[lisaayres]

Thanks, it looks a lot like this guy:http://bugguide.net/node/view/519255/bgimage
Do you know anything about them? like their behavior?

[shelliebear]

I was wondering about Callobius But Mandy, one of our experts and night owls, will probably tell you that there's no way to know the exact type of spider without looking under a microscope.
However, assuming you do have Callobius, they aren't dangerous to humans. They can bite if you squeeze or pinch them but as long as you avoid that they probably won't bite. Their bite can be relatively painful, like a bee sting I'd imagine, but no lasting effects. I don't know much about them other than that but our experts will. Hang on!

[Eric]

Just not enough detail in this image to be certain, but I am leaning heavily toward one of the sac spiders in the family Clubionidae, genus Elaver; or a ghost spider of some kind (family Anyphaenidae). Not really beefy enough to be in the Amaurobiidae.

[Mandy]

I also vote for genus Elaver of family Clubionidae.

Do you know anything about them? like their behavior?

Sac spiders are wandering hunters (no web for prey capture) and are most active at night. During the day, they like to find a crevice or corner somewhere and spin a little silken sac around themselves. They're really fast when spooked... I have a hard time feeding mine without them escaping out of the vial as soon as I open it!