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Titiotus spider - a non-toxic, brown recluse look-alike

JimPhotosMay 14, 20150 Likes

Titiotus spider – a non-toxic, brown recluse look-alike

This spider is a species within the genus Titiotus, which is native to California. The genus is covered in “A Revision of the Endemic Californian Spider Genus Titiotus Simon (Araneae, Tengellidae), by Norman I. Platnick and Darrell Ubick. Based on their distribution map, our local species are Titiotus californicus and Titiotus gertschi.

Titiotus distribution map

Titiotus distribution map. Click to enlarge

Titiotus superfically looks like a brown recluse spider, or desert recluse spider, but isn’t. Titiotus has eight eyes, whereas brown recluse-type spiders have only six. Due to its prominent violin marking and large size, Titiotus is one of the most commonly reported species. Do not worry, as the venom of these spiders is not toxic to people. Rick Vetter told me, via a personal communication, of a medical student who was bitten, and the bite had “almost no effect.”

A quote from the Platnick and Ubick paper: “At lower elevations, including the Coast Ranges, Titiotus species occur mostly in forests, especially oak and mixed evergreen, but also in rocky grasslands. These spiders are also strongly cavernicolous; almost half of  the known species are recorded from caves, where they may be quite abundant. For example, in Speleogen Cave (Calaveras County, Aug. 8, 1986, D. Ubick) several subadult and earlier instar Titiotus, presumably  T. gertschi, new species, the only species known from that cave, were observed in a small room (.5 m  diameter).”

This suggests a reason Titiotus is so common in homes, especially in cooler and darker areas, like basements… they love caves!

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Rick Vetter for his review and comments about this page.

Click on an image to enlarge it. See also this page for more pictures.

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

 

 

 

 

 

 

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

female Titotus

 

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male of the species:

Male Titiotus species unknown

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Male Titiotus

Image370

male Titiotus.

 

 

Probable Titiotus spider. Photo by Jason Mink, 30 September 2017, Sonora Ca.

Probable Titiotus spider. Photo by Jason Mink, 30 September 2017, Sonora Ca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titiotus photo by Ryan McQuoid  6 June 2019

Titiotus photo by Ryan McQuoid 6 June 2019

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Jim

Neoclytus conjunctus, Twain Harte CA ( firewood borer)

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