i have never heard of hobos. could you tell us more?

Hobo spiders (Tegenaria agrestis) don't live in your region. Instead, they are in the Pacific Northwest.

You may have seen one of the look-a-likes. Common are the Agelenids, common name grass spider.

Oops. Perhaps it's too late here. I read your state abbreviation as Indiana. (sigh)

In any event, hobo spiders have a number of look-a-likes. Perhaps the most common one -- also the largest and fastest one -- brought to our office is the giant house spider (Tegnearia gigantea).

For the specifics of precise ID -- which, by the way, few folks can do -- read PLS 116 from Washington State University. You'll need a handlens, at least 10 power.

http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: How to ID the Hobo Spider

Jean,

Thanks for the info. I know that at least one of the spiders I saw was not a Hobo, but probably a Hololena species spider, or Agelenid. (The male I saw looked just like the picture of the Hololena in the link you posted.) Hooray! I still have yet to go back and take a closer look at the female I trapped in a glass jar (while wearing gloves!), to see if she's a Hobo or not. I caught her at night, by porch light while I was trying desperately to pot up a few plants that were about to expire from being root bound, so all I know is she's huge, fast, and can't climb up the interior of a terra cotta pot.

The pictures in that article were VERY helpful. I know a lot more now about id'ing Hobos--or at least determining that spiders are NOT Hobos--and I'm glad that I haven't really seen any yet. (At least I hope not! I've got to get over my heebie-jeebies and go take a good look at the one in the jar . . .)

Thanks again!

Hey, she's secured in a jar. Go take a look. :>)

And, can you post a photo?

very interesting!

i asked for more info b/c i had been told in the past the only spiders the united states have to "worry" about is the black widow and brown recluse (the desert loxocles- spelling??- being a "cousin" of the recluse).

Hobo spiders! Up until a month ago I had never heard of one, but while vacationing up in Oregon last month I got a 10 minute introduction that made my hair stand up! I was near my home town of Sweet Home, and had headed out to a farm where I lived 30 years ago. I stopped on a two lane country road to take a picture of a grove of moss-draped oaks across a field of grass, and an older white-haired lady drove past me as I pulled over and then turned around and came back. She stopped and asked if I was OK, thought I might be having car trouble. I told her why I had stopped and we chatted for a few minutes. I mentioned I was going on a 7 mile hike up above the Santiam Pass the following day, and she IMMEDIATELY took great interest and told me to put on as much insect repellent as I could stand, and watch out for Hobo spiders. She had been bitten on the leg while collecting fir boughs for Christmas wreaths the previous November and after much pain and suffering was finally into a rehabilitation phase, 8 months later! She certainly got MY attention. As it turned out, my hike was blessed by rain and fog, just like last August's hike, and I never saw a living critter. I did keep my eye peeled for spiders, though.

And I thought the scorpions we have here were bad, but they only hurt for a day or so. Thank you for the link to the Hobo ID site. Now I know what the little buggers look like.

The gal in the jar was a Hololena spider. The dark stripes and more intricate patterns on her abdomen were just like the picture in the article linked by Jean001. We've found a couple of little, wickedly fast spiders in the house, but they've been clearly striped--so probably either grass spiders or T. gigantea (sp?), the European Giant House Spider, one of the main predators of the Hobos. They're bigger and faster, and great for out competing the Hobos. I'm glad I live in an area where they're happy. They haven't seemed to establish themselves well in the more arid areas of the Hobo territory. Outside, I'm leaving them all alone. Inside, I'm still dispatching them.

I'm hoping that when the landscaping is done (we currently have a large expanse of level dirt all around the house), the spiders will be happy in their usual places, and stay out of sight. Right now we've disturbed just about everything! We've seen very frightened field mice, a vole stumping along the barren ground, and numerous spiders. Luckily I'm planning on planting a lot of good host plants for the Hobo's competitors, and I've seen a lot of little teensy garden spiders of all colors and shapes. Oh, and the cats we plan on getting should help, too.

I just love being able to really learn abobut things, instead of just being frightened of them!

Thanks so much, everyone!