Posted by Nicole Green on September 22, 2005

Q: I found two small spiders. They look almost like baby tarantulas. They have hairy legs, though the legs are not really long. Both have black bodies. But one have some orange on it's back while the other had gray spots. The one with the orange was fast and had webbing behind it when it ran from me and it was pretty fast. Can you help me to identify them?

State: Indiana

A: Spiders come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and shapes so this is a difficult one without a photo. I do have two possibilities that come to mind so I hope these help. My first thought is that you may have had a funnel web spider. These spiders spin a web sheet in the grass or among stones in a wall and run out to grab any insects that fall or crawl on the horizontal webbing. These are fast-running spiders and their webs are most visible when morning dew highlights them.

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My other thought is that you may have seen wolf spiders. These spiders are especially common along creeks as they look for food in the rocky areas of the creek bed. I can't personally remember any of these having any color though but some do have various patterns and some subtle colors. Furthermore, the females are often seen carrying their egg sac (looks like a small ball of cotton) under their abdomen. I've included a web site so see if one of the photos looks similar to yours. ohioline.osu.edu

Keep in mind that there are many different species in each of the two groups I've shared so "your" spiders may not look exactly like these. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( September 23, 2005)