Sunday, November 25, 2012

Spider Sunday: Eastern Parson Spider

One of the more common and distinctive members of the family Gnaphosidae is the Eastern Parson Spider, Herpyllus ecclesiasticus. It gets its common name from the black and white color pattern that is reminiscent of the garb worn by old-time clergymen. It also sometimes makes house calls, which can be disconcerting to homeowners.

This species prowls mostly at night, and I find it fairly commonly around buildings, hoping to prey on small insects attracted to outdoor lights. It climbs well, so can be seen well off the ground.

By day, it hides under loose bark, or stones, boards, and other debris on the ground. Specimens that enter homes at night may seek refuge in clothing, shoes, and other objects. The spider may bite if trapped, but the effect of a bite depends mostly on the victim’s immune response. Rarely do symptoms exceed mild inflammation.

This is a mid-size spider, females ranging from 6.5-13 millimeters in body length. Males are 4.5-6.5 millimeters. The spinnerets are prominent in both genders, a characteristic of the family Gnaphosidae. Each spinneret is like a showerhead, with many tiny orifices through which silk is extruded.

The Eastern Parson Spider is widespread everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, from southern Alberta across to Nova Scotia and south to Texas and Florida. West of the Rockies it is replaced by the Western Parson Spider, Herpyllus propinquus. Look for it in deciduous woodlands.

Mature specimens of this spider can be found year-round, suggesting it is fairly long-lived. Mated females spin an egg sac in autumn. The case is flat, and deposited in a silken retreat where the mother guards it. One egg sac in Connecticut, found under loose bark, contained 130 spiderlings.

Sources and Links: Aitchison, C.W. 1984. “Low-temperature Feeding by Winter-active Spiders,” J. Arachnol. 12: 297-305.
Cox, Shelly. 2011. “Eastern Parson’s Spider,” MObugs
Edwards, Robert L. and Eric H. 1997. “Behavior and Niche Selection by Mailbox Spiders,” J. Arachnol. 25: 20-30
Guarisco, Hank. 2007. “Checklist of Kansas Ground Spiders,” Kansas School Naturalist 55: 16 pp.
Minerva Webworks, LLC. 2012. “Eastern Parson Spider,” Sutton, Massachusetts, suttonmass.org.

11 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the information! I just found one in my shower and was trying to figure out what it was.

    One thing you forgot to mention... these little guys are fast! Like trying to catch a jumping spider that's had eight cups of coffee. Thankfully he's zooming around outside now instead of in my bathroom.

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    1. Ha! So I did. They can climb *anything*, too. I had one captive one escape (re-captured at a later date) because when I went to feed it, it vaulted right out of the super-slick casserole dish I had it "confined" in.

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  2. We have one in our shower right now. Was in what looks like a loose cocoon while my wife was showering. She nearly stopped showering. After it climbed out of it's cocoon and fell into the tub. It's currently drying itself off on a rubber duck.
    If it's trying to lay it's egg sac in our bathroom I have other ideas. Wish me luck getting this fast female out.

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    1. On the one hand I empathize completely. We don't like sharing close spaces with arachnids, either. On the other hand this story is very well written and humorous. Good luck!

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  3. Found this not so little guy... falling out of the pant leg of my PJs when Id gone to the restroom. Good thing I had already pee’d! The lil’ troublemaker got a few good bites in (mildly allergic- but went away after ~30 very itchy minutes). Luckily he tired himself out with all the bites and was fairly easy to wrangle.

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    1. Ouch! Hope you are much better now. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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  4. I keep spiders as a “hobby” that makes everyone in my house insane (ie my husband and 4 kids) but hey they cause my insanity ... so I collect spiders then add other spiders and see who wins ... well my female parsons has been the winner for 6 months now she just layed eggs and webbed the eggs and her latest kill together which I have never seen before and she was really aggressive before but now she lunges at the side of the jar if a shadow passes

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  5. Just had a parsons spider in our house in nova Scotia canada are these guys safe

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    1. They are not dangerous to the average, healthy human.

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  6. I have a massive fear of spiders and I've found 4 of these in my house within the last 2 weeks! I'm not ok 😭

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  7. 2 years ago in early may I noticed what looked like a spider bite on my leg. When I got home from work I checked my sheets. Dead parson spider. Last may I felt something crawling on my leg while in bed and jumped up to find a parson spider trying to bite me again. Today I was taking a leak, first week of may and I looked down at my feet and there was a parson spider trying to crawl up my socks into my pants leg to try and bite me . Every may I have to double check my sheets to make sure a parson spider is not trying to get me. Beautiful spider but definitely after me for some odd reason

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