Hobo Spider Information

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Agelenidae
Genus: Tegenaria
Species: T. agrestis

Hobo spiders, T. agrestis, were almost definitely introduced to North America in or around the early 1930's, more than likely by commercial vessels traveling over from Europe. It is said that the bite of this spider directly resembles that of a brown recluse and is many times mistaken. The bite has been known to cause necrosis, or tissue death.
Hobo Spider's bite is generally not fatal to healthy humans. The larger of the spider, the female, can reach lengths of up to .6 of an inch. The male only a length of up to .43 of an inch. Although the Hobo spider is very dangerous a little common sense will go a long way in preventing a bite.

Hobo spiders have made their presence in many parts of Pacific Northwest America. Contact in Europe is uncommon, although without competitors the hobo spider has adapted to urban areas around the United States.
The color of the hobo spider is brown and rustic. They have a herringbone pattern on top of their abdomen, and smooth solid colored legs.
The web can be either a curved or flat sheet of silk curved and slanting down to a tube shape where the spider rests. They are a difficult spider to identify due to many look-a-likes.
FYI cool website (http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf)

The bite of the Hobo spider is sometimes up to 50% dry or no poison is injected. There are a few things to look for if you do happen to get injected with the spiders poison (tegenarism). The bite of the spider is painless at first.
Blisters form soon afterwards and generally burst, causing necrosis. Lesions are formed and can take sometimes up to three years to heal depending on the location of the bite. Other common symptoms include headaches that can
last up to a week, diarrhea, nausea, and weakness. Death is a rare occurrence but not unreal with the spider.
Although its nickname happens to be "aggressive house spider" the Hobo spider is not aggressive and only bites for defense. Most bites come after the spider has been squished or disturbed. Male Hobo Spiders are short-lived but pose more of a threat. They are more venomous than the females and are active mid-summer to fall.

Simple common sense will further your chances of getting a bite from the Hobo Spider, much less any spider. Simply wear protective clothing while working around spider dwelling areas, i.e. wood sheds under rvs and cars that have been sitting for a significant amount of time. Shaking clothes out before entering your home and simply keeping your bed linens and comforters off the ground and away from walls. Sealing off cracks and holes in your house and foundation will take you a long way in the prevention of any spiders.

Once a clean up around the yard and home has been done a perimeter spray can be used to control the spiders further. Tempo WP , Demon insecticides or Demand CS can be sprayed around windows, doors, wood piles, etc. to help control an infestation. The Hobo and other spiders can be found in dark moist areas, woodpiles, crawl spaces, and around the perimeter of the home. These are the areas to be cleaned up and treated.

Credits:
Our thanks to Christina Helmig for research and writing which made this information page possible!