280 days of Urbpandemonium #160
The eastern parson spider Herpyllus ecclesiasticus* is relatively new to me, but I find them with regularity inside my work building. These are nocturnal ground spiders, roaming and hunting, darting out from beneath rocks and leaf litter to catch their prey. These spiders have probably benefitted greatly from the incursion of human structures into their range. They can be found indoors year-round.
*Herpyllus is a Greek masculine noun referring to “tufted thyme,” a type of creeping plant (Cameron 2005). Since this spider creeps and crawls without a web, perhaps Hentz was making an analogy. In Latin, ecclesiasticus means “pertaining to the congregation,” as the markings on the spider’s abdomen so resemble the old-style cravat (neck band) worn by nineteenth century parsons or ministers.