ARACHNIDS THE GIANT HOUSE IN SASKATCHEWAN D.J. BUCKLE, 620 Albert Avenue, Saskatoon, SK. S7N 1G7 and R.L. RANDELL, Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK. S7N OWO In May of 1994 Moe Koetting there. webs brought a large Agelenid spider to were common between stringers. the University of Saskatchewan De¬ They were most abundant near partment of Biology for identification. plumbing pipes where a small leak She had found it walking across the kept the humidity high and near a ceiling of her house on an acreage vent where small insects could enter. near Bradwell, about 30 km south¬ Many of the webs appeared to be east of Saskatoon. It proved to be a unoccupied. We saw three half- mature female of the Giant House grown juveniles and captured one of Spider { gigantea Cham¬ these. Egg sacs were present in four berlin & Ivie). This is the first time webs in loose clusters of up to ten. this species has been found in Sas¬ The new appearance of most of the katchewan. webbing and the limited number of webs with egg sacs suggest that the The Giant House Spider is the colony is probably not more than one large hairy spider which has horrified or two years old. generations of Englishmen by dash¬ ing wildly across the carpet, lurking The Giant House Spider is native in a tangle of cobwebs behind the to . It first became estab¬ water closet, or scrambling desper¬ lished in in the ately to escape from the bathtub into Victoria/Vancouver area of coastal which it has fallen. Flanders and British Columbia where it has been Swan immortalized the beast in their known since the 1920s.^ It appeared song The Spider’. It was thus with in the Seattle area of Washington considerable enthusiasm that we state in the 1960s^ and has gradually hurried off to investigate Ms. Koet- spread across British Columbia. ting’s house and determine if this Specimens from British Columbia arachnological classic had become were collected from Lillooet in 1950, established here in Saskatchewan. Campbell River in 1969, Kelowna and Williams Lake in 1988, and Ms. Koetting mentioned having Summerland in 1993. In recent years seen several , similar to the it has begun to appear in Alberta. one she caught, moving across the Leech and Steiner^ reported Giant walls of her house during the year House Spiders from houses in Ed¬ she had occupied it but she had monton, Saint Albert and Spruce found no webs. Armed with flash¬ Grove between 1987 and 1992. It lights we ventured into the two-foot- has also been taken from houses in high crawl space beneath the house. Calgary in 1987 and 1989 and Card- Water pipes in the crawl space were ston in 1994. not insulated so, presumably, winter temperatures remain above freezing The Giant House Spider is an

98 Blue Jay impressive spider. Females are 12- that this group included a third spe¬ 18 mm in length with a leg span of cies which he namied propinqua. up to 60 mm. Males are smaller (10- Crawford and Locket® found that this 14 mm long) and more slender than species had previously been named females, but have longer legs. Spi¬ gigantea by Chamberlin and Ivie in ders likely to be confused with T. 1935.® Chamberlin and Ivie had gigantea are our native funnel-web based their name on specimens from spiders of the the introduced population on Van¬ which are rarely found indoors and couver Island, British Columbia. So gigantea’s small relative, the Com¬ far, gigantea is the only one of the mon House Spider {Tegeneria three species to have been found in domestica Clerck). T. domestica is North America. Brignoli^ argued that also a European introduction. It is gigantea is a synonym of duellica found in buildings throughout the (Simon 1875) and he has been fol¬ province. Adults are 6-11 mm in lowed by a number of recent length. The {Tegenaria authors. However, as the type speci¬ agrestis Waickenaer) is another in¬ mens of duellica cannot be located, troduction from Europe. It has and Simon’s description and illustra¬ become established in British Co¬ tions are insufficient to conclusively lumbia, Washington, Oregon and place the species, it seems best to Idaho"^'^^ and should be looked for in treat duellica as a nomin dubium and Alberta and Saskatchewan. The continue to use gigantea. Hobo Spider is about the same size Acknowledgements We would like as the Common House Spider and to thank Charles Dondale (Biosys- very similar in appearance. It can tematics Research Institute, Ottawa), only be distinguished by small details Burton Schaber (Agriculture Canada of its anatomy. It is a medically sig¬ Research Station, Lethbridge), and nificant species whose bite can Walter Charles (Summerland) who produce local necrosis which is very provided locality records for British slow to heal.^'^^ Columbia and Alberta. A number of useful references are available to anyone interested in the 1. BRIGNOLI, P.M. 1978. Quelques identification of the house-dwelling notes sur les , Hahniidae, Oxyopidae et Pisauridae de France et Tegenerias.^'^’^^'^^ While the Giant d’Espagne (Araneae). Rev. suisse House Spider is one of the best Zool. 85: 265-94. known if least loved spiders of Britain 2. CHAMBERLIN, R.V. and W. IVIE. and , its nomencla- 1935. Miscellaneous new American tural history has been fraught with spiders. Bull. Univ. Utah 26: 1-79. confusion and some background in¬ formation is necessary for anyone 3. CRAWFORD, R. and G.H. LOCKET. 1976. The occurrence of Tegenaria dealing with the literature. During the gigantea Chamberlin & Ivie (1935) in first half of this century the Giant North America and Western Europe. House Spider was considered to be Bull. Br. arachnol. Soc. 3: 199. a single species and went variously 4. CRAWFORD, R. and D.K. VEST. under the names atrica (C.L. Koch 1988. The Hobo Spider and other 1843), saeva (Blackwall 1844), or European house spiders. Burke Mus. larva (Simon 1875). Workers^'® in the Ed Bull. 1:1-4. 1950s demonstrated that the Giant 5. DENIS, J. 1959. Sur la synonymie House Spider was really two very des Tegenaria du groups atrica C.L. similar species, atrica and saeva, Koch. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Toulouse 94: 172-76. and that larva was a junior synonym of atrica. In 1975 Locket® showed 6. DRESCO, E. 1957. Description d’une

53(2). June 1995 99 espece nouvelle de Tegenaria et re¬ 10. ROBERTS, M.J. 1985. The Spiders of marques sur T. saeva Black, et atrica Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1. Har¬ C.L. Koch. Vie et Milieu 8:211 -20. ley Books, Colchester.

7. LEECH, R. & M. STEINER. 1992. 11. ROTH, V.D. 1968. The spider genus Metaltela simoni (Keyserling, 1878) Tegenaria in the Western Hemisphere () new to Canada, and (Agelenidae). Amer. Mus. Novitates records for Tegenaria gigantea Cham¬ 2323: 1-33. berlin and Ivie, 1935, (Agelenidae) in Alberta and British Columbia. Can. 12. VEST, D.K. 1987. Necrotic arach- Entomol. 124: 419-20. nidism in the northwest United States and its probable relationship to 8. LOCKET, G.H. 1975. The identity of Tegenaria agrestis (Waickenaer) spi¬ Blackwall’s Tegenaria saeva (Ara- ders. Toxicon 25: 175-84. neae, Agelenidae). Bull Br. arachol. Soc. 3: 85-90. 13. WEST, R., C.D. DONDALE and R.A. RING. 1984. A revised checklist of the 9. MERRETT, P. 1980. Notes on the spiders of British Columbia. J. Ento¬ variation, identification and distribution mol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 8^: 80-98. of British species of the Tegenerla atrica group (Araneae, Agelenidae). Bull. Br. arachnol. Soc. 5: 1-8.

Giant House Spider (Tegeneria gigantea) Don Buckle

“Many years ago, the Greeks equated butterflies with the souls of people, using the Greek word for ‘psyche’ for both. One doss not have to believe in Greek my¬ thology to know that in a world without butterflies, the souls of all people would be greatly diminished.” Jeffrey Glassberg, Butterflying through binoculars.

100 Blue Jay