While at work today, I got a frantic phone call from my four year old daughter.
“Daddy,†she cried. “I went to put on my pants and out jumped a big spider!â€
“It’s scary Daddy!†“We caught in a jar.â€
After a examining the spider, and talking to some spider control professionals, I was able to determine that the spider in question was a Giant Arizona Crab Spider; a common spider in Arizona.
My Daughter Found a Giant Crab Spider In Her Pants
So this is how it all went down. My daughter had been swimming in her inflatable swimming pool the previous day. Caught up in all of the excitement, she jumped into the pool completely dressed, and didn’t bother putting on her swimming suit. Obviously, while doing so her pants got wet. After swimming, she hung them up to dry, inside the house over a chair near our kitchen table. Upon returning to the dry pants the next morning she made a horrific discovery.
As my daughter went to put on her now dry pants, a giant brown spider leaped off of them and ran across the floor and up the wall. She screamed! She called for her mom who captured the spider in a jar so it could be identified.
At first it was believed to be a very poisonous and potentially deadly desert recluse spider. I brought the spider into work, and asked the spider control professionals here at Bulwark Exterminating what kind of spider it was. It was quickly determined that the spider found in my daughter pants was not a deadly desert recluse, but a Giant Arizona Crab Spider.
After a few “Oooohs†and “Awes,†“Yikes†and “Wows†from everybody in the office, I set the spider free so it could continue keeping us all free from roaches, crickets, and other annoying pests.
The spider was likely attracted to the moisture in my daughters then wet pants, as spiders need water to survive just like the rest of us.
Giant Crab Spiders
Called Giant Crab Spiders because their legs extend sideways like a crab, these spiders also move side-to-side to catch prey much like a crab would. They can be huge, measuring almost three inches across in diameter.
The huge spider is a tannish brown in color, and appears to be wearing black socks on each of its eight legs. The spider has big black jaws called chelicerae that it uses to crunch crickets and other insects it devours. Because of it’s size and coloring, it’s often times confused for a Wolf spider. Giant Crab spiders are easy to distinguish from Wolf spiders because they are great climbers, while Wolf spiders are not.
Although extremely intimidating in nature, Giant Crab spiders are not dangerous even though they can bite. Reportedly the bite is painful.
Giant Crab spiders are common in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
