male fishing spider

5958 Hello,  Last August we moved from Nashville Tennessee. Before we left, the apartment complex had an infestation of brown recluse spiders, so I wanted to play it on the safe side and ask to see if we are dealing with them 10 months after moving.  Please let me know what you think and if we need to take any further measures. Sincerely, Greg Frost

No worries here – this is a male fishing spider (family Pisauridae), likely Dolomedes triton; see http://tinyurl.com/lwo3w2t for an image. These are active hunters that do not spin a capture web, and pose no threat to humans. Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.