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Sphodros abboti
Abbot Purseweb Spider
Blue Purseweb Spider
Purse-web Spider
Florida native
These photos show webs of purse-web spiders. This is most likely the Abbot purseweb spider, as that is the species that is found in the areas where these photos were taken. Sphodros abboti occurs in the central and north peninsula and throughout the panhandle of Florida and into neighboring counties of Georgia and Alabama.
These are small spiders with black legs, and a black body with a purple back. Males have a blue abdomen. Sometimes the body is red.
Purseweb spiders build a tubular web against the base of trees and wait inside for their prey. When prey walks across the web the spider pierces through the web with its fangs to deliver the venom.
The other species of this genus in Florida is S. rufipes - Red-legged Purseweb Spider - which is also found in north Florida and south Georgia, but does not range south into the peninsula as far as S. abboti.
Sphodros abboti is a member of the Atypidae - Purseweb Spiders family.
For more information on this species, visit the following link:
Bugguide.net page for this species
Date record last modified: Mar 16, 2022
