If you've read my blog much you'll probably know that I like to photograph spiders. I used to be quite afraid of them as a child, time has passed and the fear has become interest or at least curiosity tinged with a bit of respect. Frankly, they can make quite stunning subjects as well.

But not this one.

In fact, if spiders give you the heebie jeebies, I sincerely encourage you to hit the back button NOW.

I'm going to show you a few pictures of 'Trolby' in a second (my 3 year old son named her). But I thought I'd first cover why this spider in particular was so critical to investigate and some interesting facts about her.

First off, you might like to know that Trolby is the worlds fastest spider. No kidding. I'm serious. 

Trolby is a Tegenaria Duellica. Her species has been clocked at a record setting 1.73 feet per second making them the fastest spider on the planet. Not very comforting to most of us.

Oh, did I mention she is big? The common name for T. Duellica is 'Giant House Spider'...which is fitting because she is really large. Probably a good 4".

Ok, so let's see...really big spider...really really fast spider...can this get any better?

Of course!

The Tegenaria family includes Tegenaria Agrestis, aka the Hobo spider. The Hobo's bite is no joke...in addition to being quite venomous it's rumored to cause necrosis at the wound site (though this is debated). Bottom line...a Hobo spider is absolutely not something you want in your home. Research is starting to show that bites diagnosed as by the Brown Recluse often really Hobo bites.

Oh and guess what? Duellica and Agrestis look almost exactly alike! Yay!

So now you can probably imagine why I was quite keen to sort out which one she was.

T. Duellica has one very good thing going for her:

The Giant is the single most effective known deterrent to the Hobo. It seems the Tegenaria family is not on good terms. In fact the Giant will aggressively attack and kill any Hobo it comes in contact with. They are such single minded Hobo killers that if you have Giants you can feel pretty sure you don't have Hobo's.

Whew!

BTW, these spiders are quite common in the northwest, being originally introduce to America through the port of Seattle sometime around 1930.

Ok, you've been patient (and brave). Here are the pics. I put a few too many sticks in her habitat but I think you'll be able to make her out. ;)

Cheers, -B