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I live in Kansas. I found a spider inside my macaroni pasta package after dinner (6pm), and I really want to figure out its species.

Since I have consumed food from that package, I'm especially concerned if itself or its eggs and/or whatnot could be poisonous to human. I think the spider didn't bite me, unless it has painless and asymptomatic bites.

The spider is brownish in its color, and approximately as large as a penny (~2 cm diameter). I have taken pictures of the spider (currently alive, in the sink) attached below. I really appreciate your help!!

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It is a crab spider, likely of genus Xysticus but possibly genus Ozyptila. If you needed to get down to genus, bugguide (https://bugguide.net/node/view/63082) says that we can differentiate these genera by counting the macrosetae (the thick hairs) on the front legs. You would need some high-quality zoomed photos to check those.

In general, eating spiders is not toxic for people or animals. Many animals (birds, fish, cats, etc) eat spiders without having the spider venom affect them in any detrimental way. The venom in crab spiders is not much different from the majority of other spider families in North America. (Black widow and Brown recluse venom are exceptions when it comes to bites from the spider, and I don't know how bad it is to eat those... but these crab spiders are not related to those dangerous ones).

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  • $\begingroup$ Venoms (basically by definition) need to enter the body through a wound to be effective, as they involve larger compounds that can't be absorbed through the skin or digestive tract. As long as your digestive tract is free from ulcers, there shouldn't be any danger to swallowing something venomous. $\endgroup$
    – outis
    Nov 17, 2021 at 17:48
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you so much for the information! $\endgroup$
    – T. G.
    Nov 22, 2021 at 17:46

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