Cheiracanthium mildei
I was startled to find this female Long-legged Sac Spider just inside my mailbox. The reason I noticed her was when I went to
get the mail, there was a long, thin strand of silk across the opening. I looked around and just as I was about to give up on
finding the spider, I noticed about a one-inch-square mass of webbing between the mailbox door and the box. There,
sitting in the middle, was this spider. I have seen many long-legged sac spiders in my house and yard but this one had a
grayish body and I knew it was going to be a good one. A nice man on Bugguide.net offered to ID him and he examined it
and found out it was a Cheiracanthium mildei. It actually produced an egg sac while it was being transported
to South Dakota for examination. © Carol Davis, 6-22-2009
When I first opened the mailbox it split open her retreat and left her vulnerable. In this photo she is trying
to hide from me and the camera. I was going to leave her there but I didn't think the letter carrier would be
thrilled to see a bunch of little baby spiders running around on the mailbox. I put her in a jar trying to decide
what to do with her, after I posted her photo on Bugguide.net, and it was then I was asked to ship her out for
identification. It has been written that these spiders are extremely dangerous but opinion seems
to be changing. Read more about them on Bugguide. © Carol Davis, 6-22-2009
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