Hobo Spider
The Truth About The Hobo Spider
Not to be confused with the brown recluse spider, the hobo spider has his very own characteristics and climate preferences. The hobo spider is indigenes to Europe, and is thought to have migrated to the northwestern territory of North America via shipping freight to the Seattle area. The theory is that due to the very specific mating habits of this spider, it was not possible for one or two adult hobo spiders to have survived the journey across the sea and continued breeding. This leads experts to believe that at least one egg sack had been deposited on a shipping crate or pallet and hatched out once it arrived on North American soil.
In Europe, encounters with this venomous spider are extremely rare, as the relatively peaceful species takes shelter in the fields and on the edges of heavily wooded areas. It is, therefore, very difficult for a human to disturb them enough as to invoke an attack. In North America, however, the hobo spider has become quite adept to populated, rural areas. Not nearly so shy and amiable in their new environment, this venomous arachnid can be found in corners of basements, under sea vessel benches, and tucked away in stair cases. Her web is built to be dense and sturdy in order to support her substantial weight and that of her unsuspecting prey. It tends to be triangular in shape with a gray tint, and is normally connected to rough surfaces.
Since his move to North America in the 1930’s, the hobo spider has extended his territory as far east as Washington and Idaho, as far south as Oregon. Responsible for the greatest number of venomous spider bites in the northwest region, scientists gave the hobo spider his own disease category in the late 1970’s.
Those who are victimized by a hobo spider are said to be inflicted with necrotic arachnidism, which is categorized differently than the brown recluse spider, whose bite inflicts loxosceles arachnidism. The infliction sites look and feel similar on the victims, but the chemical makeup of the two venoms are quite dissimilar from one another.
The possible climate adaptations of the hobo spider are unclear, as they have already spread farther south and east as original thought to be likely. He was referred to throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s as the aggressive house spider, and a great deal of early documentation can be found on this much feared spider under that name. Science, however, gave appropriate favor to the origins of his species name, which means “mat weaver of the field”, in the 60’s and all official literature on hobo spider findings and research has been written under the appropriate title ever since.