This image was sent to me (Aubrey) by Paul Wenninger for identification. The original was much larger. I cropped it to show the area of interest. The horizontal line is the blade of a machete. This the spider is probably Heteropoda venatoria. I see nothing in the photo which would preclude this ID.

Email stream follows:

______________________________________________

No worries. Looking forward to another photo. One other thing: the only other sparassid reported from the Marianas is an Olios sp known only from Guam according to Joe Beatty (S. IL Univ at Carbondale, retired) and Jim Berry (Butler Univ, retired), whove collected all across Micronesia, but its always much smaller.

Alx

On 4 January 2013 07:30, <paul.wenninger@fe.navy.mil> wrote:

Thanks for the info. To bad the guy didn't keep the specimen but he is
arachnaphobic. He is going to send another photo I think.

    Paul Wenninger
    Naval Base Guam (NBG)
    Public Works Department (PWD)
    Natural Resources Specialist
    Tel:671-339-2065
    Fax:671-333-2035
    paul.wenninger@fe.navy.mil

    Environmental Management System (EMS) is essential to sustaining
    compliance,
    reducing pollution, continual improvement and avoiding risk.

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Alexander M. Kerr [mailto:uogmarinelab@gmail.com]
    Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 6:19 PM
    To: Aubrey Moore
    Cc: Wenninger, Paul S. CIV USN NAVFACMAR
    Subject: Re: FW: Spider

Hi guys,

    Afraid i ll not be of much help. The arrangement of the setae on the legs
    looks normal for Guam's huntsman, including the basal ring of lighter
    colour. But the red abdomen is way strange; ive never seen that in Guam's
    huntsman spiders (Heteropoda venatoria). The large size of the abdomen
    could be because it was a gravid female. And if im seeing things correctly,
    the arrangement of the eyes on your specimen doesnt even look Heteropoda or
    maybe even typical of its family, the Sparassidae (H venatoria has two rows
    of two medial eyes; this one looks like it has a single row?). Aubrey do
    you have a book on IDing spider families? Finally the colour pattern on the
    cephalothorax looks wrong too (Marianas H venatoria have two big dark spots;
    this one looks like its got a dark central stripe expanding posteriorly).
    But its really hard to tell from the photo.

What is unequivocal from the photo is thats one dead-ass spider. Looks like
it was killed by a parent of small children.

Cheers,

Alex

On 3 January 2013 17:35, Aubrey Moore <aubreymoore@guam.net> wrote:

Hi Paul,

Happy New Year.

            My best guess is that this is just a huntsman spider, Heteropoda
    venatoria. There is some variation in color and some have a reddish brown
    abdomen as shown in the photo. I'm forwarding this to Alex Kerr for his
    expert opinion. If you get a better close-up, please send it along.

All the Best,

- Aubrey

            -------- Original Message --------
    Subject:        FW: Spider
    Date:   Thu, 3 Jan 2013 03:37:09 +0000
    From:   <paul.wenninger@fe.navy.mil> <mailto:paul.wenninger@fe.navy.mil>

To: <aubreymoore@guam.net> <mailto:aubreymoore@guam.net>

Hi Aubrey,

            My co-worker killed this spider. I have never seen one like it on
    Guam
            before, neither has Gretchen. He said it was as large as his hand
    and the
            abdomen was the size of a quarter. Note the machete that is in the
    photo.
            You can see the brown abdomen in the photo. He is goind to try to
    send a
            close up photo tomorrow. Thought you or somone at UOG might be
    interested.
            Please let me know what you think. He did not keep the specimen.

v/r

            Paul Wenninger
            Naval Base Guam (NBG)
            Public Works Department (PWD)
            Natural Resources Specialist
            Tel:671-339-2065
            Fax:671-333-2035
            paul.wenninger@fe.navy.mil

            Environmental Management System (EMS) is essential to sustaining
            compliance,
            reducing pollution, continual improvement and avoiding risk.

            -----Original Message-----
            From: Damian, C. Omar CIV USN NAVFACMAR
            Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 11:37 AM
            To: Wenninger, Paul S. CIV USN NAVFACMAR
            Subject: FW: Spider

Hi Paul,

            Here's a picture of the spider that I killed on Monday. My wife
    didn't send
            the close up picture, but I'll try and get it sent tomorrow. Please
    forward
            to Aubrey for identification. By the way, I live in Barrigada next
    to
            Admiral Nimitz Golf Course.

R/Omar

    --
    Alexander M Kerr
    Associate Professor of Biology
    Marine Laboratory
    University of Guam
    Mangilao GU 96913 USA
    Tel: 1-671-735-2182/2175
    Fax: 1-671-734-6767
    http://www.guammarinelab.com/alexkerr.html

--
Alexander M Kerr
Associate Professor of Biology
Marine Laboratory
University of Guam
Mangilao GU 96913 USA
Tel: 1-671-735-2182/2175
Fax: 1-671-734-6767
http://www.guammarinelab.com/alexkerr.html

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