"Mark Herbert" wrote in message
...
In article et,
"japm" wrote:

Hello all.
I've spent hours and hours Googling this creature, but I've had _no_
success. I hope someone with a working knowledge of spiders can help me
out.
I've never seen this kind of spider locally, so I'm tempted to think it
arrived in one of the bags of potting soil we purchased / opened today
(or
one of the plants we bought!)

This afternoon a perfectly lovely spider crept into the house from the
patio. She was about
the size of a quarter total (including legs), and was a smooth, glossy
black. A number (perhaps six) white dots were on the back of the very
round,
plump abdomen (I never saw the underside).

I've no photos to share, as my arachniphobic partner grabbed a newspaper
and
thrust (threw, more like) it back outside. Still, if anyone can suggest
what
this might have been, I would certainly appreciate it !

(I'm in the U. S. Pacific Northwest, if that helps)
Thanks!
japm


The only spider I could think of that is black with white spots on its
dorsal surface is the daring jumping spider, Phidippus audax. But they
are not smooth and glossy, they are hairy, and don't get much bigger
than a nickel in legspread. A large one lives in my house and
periodically greets me in the shower. They seem to be rather
intelligent and can be very amusing. They also are very attractive,
with metallic green chelicerae. They aren't likely to bite, but
allegedly have a bite similar to, but less severe than, the brown
recluse.

http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Phidippus%20audax
http://tinyurl.com/9rza2

Thank you, but I looked pretty closely, and it wasn't hairy. It was
thoroughly glossy black excepting the white dots.
It was pretty unique, and I still haven't a clue as to what it was.
Thanks again.
japm