Help Identify a Spider
Need help identifying a spider? If so, then take a look at our collection of spider pictures to see if it looks like yours.
You can also look through the comments below to see if any of the images match your spider.
Don’t see your spider? feel free to upload your photo here and we’ll attempt to id it, and if we can’t, then perhaps one of the visitors can after we post it.
I live in southern California and found this spider on my dining room wall. It is by far the biggest spider I have ever seen. Judging from the eyes, I don’t believe it is a brown recluse, but beyond that I have no idea what it could be. My other guess is a huntsman spider, but I didn’t see any spots on the tail end. Anyone have any ideas?
I live in northwest Washington state and was just bitten by a spider that looks just like “April’s Spider”–post # 42–October 1, 2007. It was hiding in my clothes–very little pain thus far. any information you have on it would be appreciated. Thanks.
Top of spider
Bottom of spider
for number 62 ive found the same exact spider in northern califronia crawling on the ground and by the bright color looks it seems it might be poisonus. this was in gilroy california
Hi i live in NC, the spiders are black with yellow stripes and white fangs, about the size of a pinny or a nickel.
@#100. That’s not a brown recluse. It’s a wolf spider.
I live in south west England & whilst cleaning a shop floor, came across a spider which had a deep red/black body & legs. It’s abdomen was cloudy white/cream but had no markings. Whilst trying to get it into a cloth to pick it up & put it outside, it reared up & I was able to see that it had pincers. Although I was unable to get a photo I was wondering if anyone could identify it? It was about 2.5cms long.
dEAR fRIEND
i LIVE IN INVERNESS FLORIDA, FLAT RUSTY ORANGE SPIDER MOVES SIDE WAYS AND CAN HIDE BEHIND PICTURES AND JUMP VERY WELL. CAN NOT IDENTIFY IT SIZE OF MY HAND 2 OF THEM FLORIDA ROOM WALL OTHER TAN ORANGE FLAT BODY THOUGHT MAYBE WOOD SPIDER CAN NOT IDENTIFY IT WENT THROUGH ALL MY BOOKS, CARDS OF ANIMALS ON LINE PICTURES AND NOTHING.
ENDED UP WITH BITE ON SHOULDER THAT HAD TO BE LANCED.
CAN YOU HELP ME.
I was out looking for bugs for a science project, and i found two spiders. One’s a kind of gold yellow with black stripes on only its back, and the other is brown with four white stripes. All I need to know is what they are, because I’m pretty sure they aren’t poisonous. Thanks for you guys’ help if you can look them up, because i’ve looked EVERYWHERE!!!
:B <-Buck-tooth Billy!
I live in Greenville, South Carolina. i saw this on my door frame outside of my house. i’ve seen a web on the stairs before but it was a smaller brown spider in it. this one was about a foot and a half off the deck after it had been raining off and on all day. its about and inch and a half total size, black with red stripe on back and legs. it also has two eyes coming out of its head. it looks like it may have some yellow markings on its side and i didn’t get a good enough look ( i was more worried about getting the picture than studying it at the time as i’m a photographer) but it only has seven legs… i don’t know if that’s normal or if it had been pulled off.
I found this spider hanging over my door jam. It was huge! it wasnt agreesive and move pretty sluggish and seemed dead when i hit it but regained its stregth throughout the day. he never got away but could still move?! i just wanna know what it is. I live in Western Virginia.
I find these spider all over my property in Central Florida. My son is deathly afraid of spiders and fears it may be poisonous. I am having trouble identifying it via internet. Any help is appreciated.
I live in southwest florida and came across a spider. There are a lot of different spiders and i end up killing them without taking pictures. If i come along to see this spider again i will take a picture. The first spider was brown about three inches long the body about 1 inch. Three was hook like structure at the head and a litter shade of brown triangle shape on the head portion of the spider, one side along the middle of the body pointing to the head. The bottom portion was a solid color of the brown. Another aspect of this spider is that it had only four legs three on the left (top two and what appeared to be the most bottom) and one on the right(top most). It was on my outside screen and it moved with lighting speed to the side to avoid me killing it but i was able to kill it. The second spider was similar to the first in all aspects including the legs except it was a total of one inch long. When i killed this spider then i thought what kind of spider was this. Can you tell me what kind of spider is this? If i come across another one I will take a picture. Thanks
i live in North Carolina
Hi the spider are Brown with white fangs.
There is a pattern on them but, I can’t see it because they are so small that there about the size of a piny.
For Barb #57. This looks like a Hobo Spider. although the bite of the hobo spider is initially painless, the bite can be serious. After 24 hours, the bite develops into a blister and after 24-36 hours, the blister breaks open, leaving an open, oozing ulceration. Typically when the venom is injected, the victim will experience an immediate redness, which develops around the bite. The most common reported symptom is severe headache. Other symptoms can include nausea, weakness, fatigue, temporary memory loss and vision impairment. In any case, first aid and medical attention should be sought, if bitten, as and when any adverse health effects are observed.
i found this spider inside my outdoor garbage can. no webs were around. but i did see a little brown sac in the opposite corner. can you help me identify it? it is tannish with a weird darker stripe down the back.
I see this spider around houses here in Norway a couple of times a year. This time, having access to a 7 megapixel camera, I caught and photographed it, as I’ve always wondered what these spiders were called. It looks similar to the Australian Black House Spider, and they are around the similar size as far as I’ve seen (around 0.7 to 0.8 inches across, legs not stretched). As far as I know though, there is no record of indiginous venomous spiders in Norway. I’ve been looking around the internet for spider identification pictures and websites, but can’t find detailed information, especially not specifics on Norwegian species. I was hoping you could help me identify it.
The pictures I have were taken quite up close, so they are obviously not to scale. I’ve cropped them so only, but still all of the spider is visible, pasted them into a single image file and scaled it down 50%. If you want the full size un-cropped images I have that too. It is a little wet as I washed the old pill box I caught it in with tapwater before capturing it. As you can see, its legs are fairly hairless and it has a dark reddish brown colour, though the flash brightened it up a bit.
Hope you can identify it with what I have provided.
Vegard
#22 is not a brown recluse I have seen one and that is not even close to what they look like I have lived in California my whole life and #88 ur from L.A. so what that spider is an Orb Spider very pretty spiders I think they make there nest all night up in the air then tear it down in the day then start back up again at night and do this repetitively, now my question is I just killed this spider it didn’t have the body of a recluse but his legs were long so I am a little nervous cause I cant find any spiders that look like he did the only reason I killed him is cause my friend has a 13 month old and she is scared of bugs…should have taken a picture…
If your spider looks like Pic. 903 it’s probably a wolf spider –Harmless
930 – Huntsman Also Harmless
911 – And similar with white stripes Most likely a brown recluse – Very Harmful, Kill them without skin contact, very aggressive too
Many spiders on this site are garden spiders, in grade 2 we all learned that Garden spiders are harmless, all of your pictures are! Their just different types, just a quick tip so you don’t mistake it…
If the spider has a web that is spreading from one object to another (Not in a corner, but spread out) It’s fangs are in-capable of biting you.
BTW — #1 and #97 Are Wolf Spiders, they are very docile and very rarely bites, but it’s just better to leave them alone
I had this Spider in my house last night (in Austria), and I’m just wondering what type it is and if I should keep an eye out for it from now on. It was a good inch and a half to two inches. Thank you!
I find about 1 a month of this spider in my house. I can’t figure where they come from. This one was in the kitchen sink this morning and was approximately the size of a half dollar. I’ve never seen a web or sign of a nest. No one has been bitten by one, but they freak out the kids, and worry me. We live 10 miles east of Seattle, WA in the foothills to the Cascades in a heavily wooded residential neighborhood. Can you help? Thanks.
Tony Beaupre
I do not have a photo.Mainly because I was at work when i saw it.
I work in a daycare and finding spider’s there is rare.But a kid in the 1 yr old class saw it.It was about the size of a quarter.It was black and has fuzz or fur type stuff on it. It was on its legs but mostly on its back. I ended up killing it since I didn’t know if it was poisonous or not and I had no way to set it free.I didn’t want to risk anyone getting bit.Does anyone know what it might be?I haven’t been able to find it anywhere while searching the net. I’m in Indiana.
Hello I am responding to the new york residents who found the spiders that appear to be Brown Recluse I too have found several of these spiders in my northern NY home. I have 4 small children and am very concerned I am adding photos but they are not that great. We live about 50 miles north of Fort Drum. The Recluse I found was almost as big as a fifty cent piece. my husband also found a few nears the dogs dishes.
For Rachel #22 and Michelle #72 – Those spiders are NOT brown recluse spiders. The brown reclusive has a very distinctive upside-down violin shape on the top of its thorax (just behind its head) portion of the body. The “base” of the violin is behind the head and the “neck” of the violin aims towards the abdomen. Research pics of brown recluses on the web by typing “brown recluse spider” in your search engine. Your spiders are essentially harmless.
To Beth #16 – You need to get to a doctor ASAP and he or she will be able to determine if your bite is actually from a tic w/lyme disease, which seems so from your description. If so, you need treatment immediately!
To Jenn #30 – Your description may be of a “southern black widow”, sometimes called a “northern black widow”. These kind of black widows are found throughout the south and as far north as Massachusetts. They have a red pattern down the back instead of the plain, solid black of the more familiar widow. All widows have an hour glass on the underside of their abdomen. To make widows even more challenging to identify, they also come in brown or grey with a geometic pattern on the top of their abdomen and a yellow or orange hourglass on the underside! Regardless, all widows are very poisonous.
FOR EVERYONE ON KEEPING SPIDERS OUT OF YOUR DWELLINGS: Rub lemon oil or lemon Pledge along the base of all entryways, doorways and windows. Spiders taste with their feet and hate the taste of lemon. This is a very safe and green way to keep spiders out and will not harm your children or pets.
In relation to #901 and #892…
Too me these look like camel spiders or wind scorpions…
The only problem with these is they get really massive and can be very aggressive.. They will often chase humans in an attempt to sit in the shadow we cast.
There is only one venomous sub-species of these spiders but they reside in India.
Hope this helps!!!
Just curious what this spider might be. It is somewhere between 1/2-2/3 inches. Shiny black. It has a red tip on its butt. Does not have an hourglass design. Same colors though.
It was founf in Tennessee, under a brick.
If a response could be sent to my email, I would really appreciate it.
Black or very dark brown, slightly furry spider with a dark red oval mark on its back and small bright yellow spots inside the red marking. Caught it. Don’t want to let it go as I usually do with spiders because it seems scarier. Is it a wolf spider? It has built a web in the container in which I’ve trapped it, but I found it crawling on the living room wall.
Hey there. I live in new Orleans, about 3 blocks off the river very near a port. Just saying, because i doubt this spider was common to the area. I’m thinking maybe it camein on a boat and wound up in my home. Regardless it was walking across my ceiling the other night and i almost died. By far the largest spider i’ve ever seen. I’m sorry the picture is so bad, but i was terrified. It was bigger than my hand spread open, to help give a reference. Please tell me what it is if you can, or point me in a good direction.
Thanks, Al
Here is a very interesting spider the girls and I found when we came home this afternoon. It was on the playroom window screen and LARGE. Took numerous pictures to try and see if someone knows what type of spider it is.
Vickie
Like your website. I was wondering if you can help ID this spider? It is less than 1cm total length and was found on my boat (Panama City Florida-backyard by tidal creek). No bites yet but the proximity makes bites more likely. Thanks for your advice.
Kathy
In the last week I’ve seen two of the same spider in my house. Both times I’ve found them crawling on windows. I live in mid-ohio. They are black and about the size of a nickle (this includes leg span too). They also have what seems to me a yellow dot on their back/butt part. (I don’t know the technical term.)
Also, the first one I saw started a web on my curtains (my curtains are white sheer, and at first was very hard to see the web. The web looked like a vertical tube. At one point the spider crawled behind it.
The one I killed shriveled up to about the size of a kernel of corn. (odd comparison i know).
I’ve tried to look it up but haven’t found anything. Is it possible that it’s a black widow? They seem a little hairy (although I didn’t get very close).
I have a daughter who is almost a year old and I want to make sure she’s safe.
thanks!
So I sent in the pic of the spider, all I can say is that it was brown BIG hairy! big body!! longer legs…i live close to a lake just moved here in Texas! I have NEVER seen anything like it!! I’m a little freaked out and I can’t describe any more about it but I hope the pic does it justice!!!! Please let me know
I found this in my home in the early morning! we live by a lake so I don’t knwo it freaked me out!!! It was huge!! It was brown had a big body, longer legs, looked like a tarantula maybe alittle smaller! not by much though!!
Hi – We found a spider similar to Sonda’s #62. I pulled some clothes together from my son’s room and my room and took them to the laundry room, my husband put the towels in the washer and found the spider. Unfortunately, he killed, so we didn’t get a great photo. I’ll send the photos we did get to your email. If you can tell us what it is, we’d greatly appreciate it.
thanks,
Pinckney, MI
48169
I was out on my back patio with my husband saturday morning after a huge down poor early that morning and i look down on the cement and see a spider i have never seen a spider like this before and i can not find an equal to it any were i was wondering if you can help me with this i unfortunately do not have a picture of it but my husband inspected it and looked at it for a good long while so i can describe it in exact detail.
It was the size of a quarter and it was furry black with all black legs and two large eyes that i could see clearly on it’s thorax was a white and black target it was a large perfect white circle then a black circle and then in the middle of the two circles was a solid white circle it had unfortunately losed one of its front right legs and was very agresive because of that we were trying to get him/her out of the way of the restarting down poor so it didnt drowned in the water and it reared up and batted at the stick we were using to try and move it to a safer location and it bared its very large fangs at us the fangs for its body size were quite large the were about 7/8 of an inch and were neon green/yellow. I would like to know if this spider is harmful as i come from washington in a town with qwite a few hobo and brown recluse’s i have been bitten quite a few times and i would not want another occurance and i dont want my two small children to be harmed in any way i am not a big fan of spiders and i am quite affraid of them i am in San Antonio TX around fort Sam Houston and i have asked many people around here if they have ever seen a spider like that or knew what it was and no one could help me with an answer i would appreciate it if i could get the answers i seek asap thank you hope to hear from you soon..
Rachel Clark
I live in vallejo ca , found this spider yesterday and wanted to know what kind it is. it was on the wall inside the house, now its on the bottom of my shoe.
I live in the Bay Area, Northern California, and found crawling on my bedroom ceiling a fuzzy-ish black spider with it’s underside black, and it’s topside red and black “lightning”. What is it?
I was told to go outside and look at the spider that my stepbrother had found in the back yard I’m not sure what kind of spider it is but it was the size of a half dollar with legs spread and the body on it was only about the size of a nickel. But it was a blackish grey color but on the abdomen it had really light grey waves and there were 4 of them. I didn’t get a picture of it.
Hi,
Could you please help me to identify this brown spider I found in my Phoenix garage. Legs look a bit limp because it was dying from bug spray at the time.
Thanks,
Jason
I dont have photo, but this one was in a finished bathroom in a finished basement the body was the size of a large thumb and with legs altogether was the size of a golf ball or bigger, was a burnt orange color. I didnt stick around long, as I suffer from severe panic attacks in the presence of spiders, it did look like his front legs may have been a little longer than the others. Tonight i was awakened by a sharp sting on my cheek, its extremely tender and painful! My son had reported earlier that he had seen a spider on my bed(after the fact of course) does anyone know what kind of spider this could be?
I have a family of these unusual black spiders living in and around my house. I don’t know what type of spider it is. Can someone help me identify this particular breed? It has a black head and black legs. The body looks like it’s carrying a sunflower seed, and it’s back is brown with a black skunk like strip down it’s back. I am concerned about what could happen if one of us gets bit. Please help me!
First off, thanks for offering your time to identify spiders. I have
been searching for the past hour+ and have yet to come up with
/anything/ conclusive.
I’m just north of Birmingham, AL, and (barely) found this guy on the
carpeted stairs coming up from our basement (which has a garage and a
bedroom). The first thing that I think when I see a big, brown spider,
of course, is “is it a brown recluse?” From what I’ve seen on the net,
it’s not, but I can’t seem to find any spider that has the same
markings.
Thanks again,
Kevin
I just found this, I’m not sure what it is.
Recently, I was browsing the internet and came across your site. It was very interesting and helpful to read. I live in Erie Michigan, right on Lake Erie, and we have spiders galore! Since, its early April, they are starting to come out for the summer season. Last year I came across a very large wolf spider on the deck, its abdomen was about 2 inches. The biggest spider I have ever seen.
If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to send in some pictures throughout the season just to make sure they are the harmless wolf spiders I have been told. Here the first one, found last week on my computer! I am going to have my house treated this year, since they are so bad. I can only guess they are so abundant here because of the water and large number of mosquitos. Its very common in the morning I would walk into another room of the house and get a web across the face.
Thanks for all the info and have a great spring.
Angela
OK, now I’ve REALLY got the willy’s after looking at all the spiders on this website!!! We have found a spider (dead – thank GOD!!) on the rug in front of our fireplace. 4 days later, we’ve found 2 identical ones outside our patio door (DEAD also!!) Our neighbor thought it/they were black widows, but I’m not convinced….VERY concerned though. Yes, they’re black. Two of them (when they were alive, I’m guessing from the size they are now) were about the size of a nickle (including their legs.) They have a red line looking area going down their back, and a red kind of dot looking area on their belly. They are not shiny and their abdomen looks fairly proportional to the rest of their body. Can anyone shed some light on what they think they may be. If it helps, we live in upstate South Carolina (20 miles from the mountains – approx 4 1/2 hours inland from the coast) and 40 miles from the GA state line. Thank you for any help you may be able to supply!
I just got bit by a spider coming out of my washing machine! It was about half in or a little smaller, it was black with a couple of yellow dots and strips, fat and furry! Any one got any ideas??? oh, I live in Florida northern fla
Found this running across the floor! Anyone know the type?
Sorry I have no photo to share, We found this spider in our car we were driving through NV and AZ so it was picked up some time in one of those states, It had shorter legs its back was orangish redish the rest was black to dark brown. Thanks for any help.
can you tell me what kind of spider this is ?
I got bit by a brown recluse Oct of 08 and I’m just feeling better and don’t want another bit again!
I have never seen one like this one is it dangerous?
if you could let me know
Thank you
Kimberly Z.