What IS this??

[TnTitanz]

Can someone please tell me what kind of spider this is, and if it is poisonous. I live in southeast Tennessee, and have seen many of them this year!

[Whitlock]

It is a common jumping spider, and I assure you it poses no threat whatsoever to you or your family and pets. These little ones just walk around looking for small insects to jump on and eat.

BTW, just for clarification, all spiders are venomous, but very few are dangerous to us, only about three or four that I know of off the top of my head.

[MyssArachnomancer]

TECHNICALLY, one family of spiders is not venomous, the Uloboridae. Instead of using venom, they quickly subdue prey with sticky silk.

"Poisonous" versus "Venomous" depends on how a organic chemical affects you. Poisonous refers to something that you either eat or make physical contact with that makes you ill, such as Poison Ivy or a poisonous fruit you eat. Venomous, on the other hand, refers to either an enzyme or other chemical something injects (either with fangs, stingers or other means) that either causes a debilitating effect or begins to digest flesh. It's a silly nitpicking thing we naturalists do. ^^

[Eric]

TnTitanz:

Very nice image, thank you for sharing! The spider is a jumping spider, Platycryptus undatus. It is a common species usually seen on the exterior walls of barns, or on tree trunks. Jumping spiders hunt "on foot" instead of spinning a web to catch prey. Consequently, they sometimes stray indoors.

Eric