{"id":16810,"date":"2026-01-14T13:28:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=16810"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:29:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:29:00","slug":"eastern-parson-spider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Parson Spider"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Howdy, BugFans,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the BugLady\u2019s inquilines is an Eastern parson spider. An inquiline (from the Latin\u00a0inquilinus<\/em>\u00a0meaning \u201clodger\u201d or \u201ctenant\u201d) is an animal that lives in the dwelling of another animal.\u00a0Like the Tree frog that overwintered with the BugLady last year, the Parson spider is finding enough to eat.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some definitions of inquiline allow for the possibility that the \u201croomer\u201d might morph into an eater or an eat-ee of the host, but that would nudge it into a different ecological category.\u00a0The relationship of the host to its inquiline guest is defined as a \u201ccommensal\u201d one \u2013 positive for the guest; neutral for the host(ess).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern parson spiders (Herpyllus<\/em>\u00a0ecclesiasticus<\/em>) (great scientific name!) get their name from the white markings on the top of the abdomen that are reminiscent of the white cravats of 19th<\/sup>\u00a0century preachers.\u00a0 They\u2019re in the ground spider family Gnaphosidae.\u00a0There are a dozen species in the genus\u00a0Herpyllus<\/em>\u00a0in North America, and most can\u2019t be identified to species with photos.\u00a0The Western parson spider (H. propinquus<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 another great name) is nearly identical to the Eastern parson spider, mostly separated by range.\u00a0 Eastern parson spiders occur mainly east of the Rockies, from Canada into Mexico.\u00a0(An aside: The BugLady\u2019s Dad used to introduce juicy vocabulary words when she was a kid, and \u201cpropinquity\u201d was one of them, along with \u201cprestidigitation,\u201d \u201cprevarication,\u201d and, of course, \u201cprocrastination\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These small, hairy spiders live on the ground under rocks, logs, and other forest debris, and on tree trunks, but it\u2019s not uncommon for them to get into mailboxes, where they might be collected with the day\u2019s mail, or to come indoors in fall, where adults may overwinter. (They don\u2019t breed indoors.)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Females are about 3\/8\u201d long, and males are about 1\/4\u201d. They are speedy spiders that often run in a zigzag line, so the BugLady photographed her spider at the bottom of her \u201cInvertebrate-Catch-and-Release Jar,\u201d a repurposed parmesan cheese shaker.\u00a0Contributors to\u00a0bugguide.net<\/a>\u00a0have done better \u2014 here\u2019s a good shot<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0a glamour shot<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern parson spiders don\u2019t spin trap webs, they\u2019re active, nocturnal\/crepuscular hunters that search for their prey \u2014 small invertebrates, including other spiders \u2014 on foot.\u00a0This one has subdued a moth<\/a> that was bigger than it was. They do use silk for other purposes. They rest in silk retreats under boards, bark, rocks, etc. in the daytime, young spiders that stay outside during winter make a silk cocoon under loose tree bark, and females enclose their eggs in a silken sac in summer before hiding it (and they stay around to protect it).\u00a0Not a lot is known about their natural history, but the fact that adult parson spiders can be found in any season suggests that they may have a two-year life cycle.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with the usual \u201cScare sites\u201d that pop up when you Google animals (\u201cEastern parson spider bite\u201d\/\u201cEastern parson spider poisonous\u201d), there is some discussion about whether the Parson spider\u2019s bite is problematic for humans, beyond the rare individual who might be allergic. The conclusion seems to be that the bite is painful and may produce some temporary inflammation, but it\u2019s not a medical emergency, and the odds are good that you\u2019ll never be bitten by one because spiders would rather flee than fight.\u00a0As one author points out, spider bites are very rare occurrences and misinformation is rampant.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BugLady<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Eastern Parson Spider<\/a>, <\/span>spider<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Howdy, BugFans, One of the BugLady\u2019s inquilines is an Eastern parson spider. An inquiline (from the Latin\u00a0inquilinus\u00a0meaning \u201clodger\u201d or \u201ctenant\u201d) is an animal that lives in the dwelling of another animal.\u00a0Like the Tree frog that overwintered with the BugLady last …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19040,"featured_media":16811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[8],"tags":[980,545],"class_list":["post-16810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bug-of-the-week","tag-eastern-parson-spider","tag-spider"],"yoast_head":"\nField Station<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eastern Parson Spider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Howdy, BugFans, One of the BugLady\u2019s inquilines is an Eastern parson spider. An inquiline (from the Latin\u00a0inquilinus\u00a0meaning \u201clodger\u201d or \u201ctenant\u201d) is an animal that lives in the dwelling of another animal.\u00a0Like the Tree frog that overwintered with the BugLady last …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Field Station\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-14T19:28:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T19:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2026\/01\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cheryl L Totty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cheryl L Totty\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cheryl L Totty\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/365468c94aabed8a123e6da688a6d5c8\"},\"headline\":\"Eastern Parson Spider\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-14T19:28:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T19:29:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":576,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Eastern Parson Spider\",\"spider\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bug of the Week\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eastern Parson Spider - Field Station\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-14T19:28:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T19:29:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/365468c94aabed8a123e6da688a6d5c8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Eastern Parson Spinder on a web\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/eastern-parson-spider\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bug of the Week\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/category\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Eastern Parson Spider\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/\",\"name\":\"Field Station\",\"description\":\"UW-Milwaukee\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/365468c94aabed8a123e6da688a6d5c8\",\"name\":\"Cheryl L Totty\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1edbe06902c8624b66c8658fae321475d81213bcc5c5560cd86d6e8bab29025?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1edbe06902c8624b66c8658fae321475d81213bcc5c5560cd86d6e8bab29025?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f1edbe06902c8624b66c8658fae321475d81213bcc5c5560cd86d6e8bab29025?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cheryl L Totty\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Field Station","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eastern Parson Spider","og_description":"Howdy, BugFans, One of the BugLady\u2019s inquilines is an Eastern parson spider. An inquiline (from the Latin\u00a0inquilinus\u00a0meaning \u201clodger\u201d or \u201ctenant\u201d) is an animal that lives in the dwelling of another animal.\u00a0Like the Tree frog that overwintered with the BugLady last …","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/","og_site_name":"Field Station","article_published_time":"2026-01-14T19:28:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-20T19:29:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2026\/01\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Cheryl L Totty","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cheryl L Totty","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/"},"author":{"name":"Cheryl L Totty","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#\/schema\/person\/365468c94aabed8a123e6da688a6d5c8"},"headline":"Eastern Parson Spider","datePublished":"2026-01-14T19:28:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T19:29:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/"},"wordCount":576,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2026\/01\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp","keywords":["Eastern Parson Spider","spider"],"articleSection":["Bug of the Week"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/","name":"Eastern Parson Spider - Field Station","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2026\/01\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp","datePublished":"2026-01-14T19:28:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T19:29:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#\/schema\/person\/365468c94aabed8a123e6da688a6d5c8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2026\/01\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2026\/01\/Spider-e-parson25-1rz.webp","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Eastern Parson Spinder on a web"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/eastern-parson-spider\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bug of the Week","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/category\/bug-of-the-week\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Eastern Parson Spider"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/","name":"Field Station","description":"UW-Milwaukee","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#\/schema\/person\/365468c94aabed8a123e6da688a6d5c8","name":"Cheryl L Totty","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1edbe06902c8624b66c8658fae321475d81213bcc5c5560cd86d6e8bab29025?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1edbe06902c8624b66c8658fae321475d81213bcc5c5560cd86d6e8bab29025?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1edbe06902c8624b66c8658fae321475d81213bcc5c5560cd86d6e8bab29025?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cheryl L Totty"}}]}},"acf":[],"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1768937346:19040"],"_thumbnail_id":["16811"],"_edit_last":["19040"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1768937311"],"feat_img_video":[""],"feat_img_gallery":[""],"feat_img_caption":["feat-img-caption-on"],"breadcrumbs_display":["breadcrumbs-on"],"otp_nav_display":["otp-on-mobile"],"post_layout":["post-layout-theme"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["8"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"_wp_old_date":["2026-01-20"],"_uwm_wg_content_review_log":["a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:11:\"reviewer_id\";i:0;s:6:\"status\";s:5:\"reset\";s:10:\"entry_date\";s:19:\"2026-03-01 02:10:40\";s:16:\"priority_content\";s:0:\"\";s:4:\"note\";s:43:\"Content review reset at start of new cycle.\";}}"]},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 10:28:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19040"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16812,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16810\/revisions\/16812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}