Help Identify a Spider

Two fanged spider shown up-close.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.

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  1. Jen says:

    Craig,

    The spider in the top photo is an Orb Weaver, they are harmless and actually help us out by eating pesky bugs. They are called Orb Weavers because they build a brand new web each night.

    The second spider is a Silver Garden Spider, typically found in parks, fields and obviously gardens usually in the summer. Like Orb Weavers, Garden Spiders are harmless.

    Hope this helps,
    Jen

  2. AA says:

    I have a spider with a yellow line down its back and a yellow circles on either side… looks scary like its staring at me.. can u help me I.D it? It’s legs are hairy, banded, brown and black stripes.AA

  3. Sara says:

    I keep finding spiders like these in the downstairs of my house, which is sort of like a half-basement. They’re in the corner of the laundry room, or in the bathroom, whether it’s crawling up the shower door or wall, or trying to get out of the sink where they’ve fallen. I live in Boise, ID, and I’m not sure what goes for a “common” spider around here but I’m hoping it’s something typical? One or two every now and then is ok, but too many spiders around the same time frame makes me jumpy.

    orb weaver

  4. monica woods says:

    This spider was found in my driveway in joliet,il. it was the size of a half dollar(legs and all). it had a brite yellow body with black markings and black hairy legs with yellow stripes ONLY at the bottom half of its legs.

  5. Kevin says:

    Dear Teresa #918,
    the spider you have there is definitely a wolf spider. I can’t think of anything else. You’re welcome!!

  6. Kevin says:

    Sorry I don’t have a picture. I REALLY wish I did. Last night, my daughter found a really big spider crawling on the carpet in the family room. I’ve never seen it before. At first I thought it was a wolf spider, but no. It didn’t have the same markings on its back. They are almost identical, though. The spider had a cream colored stripe running down its back. Can you please help me!? We live in Johnson County Kansas. Reply as soon as possible, please. If you sent a picture it would be REALLY helpful. Thanks!

    -Kevin

  7. tAMMY says:

    THIS IS FOR # 69 i THINK THAT SPIDER IS WHAT THEY CALL A HOBO SPIDER ITS BITE IS ONE JUST AS THE BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER I’VE BEEN LEARNING LOTS ABOUT SPIDERS CAUSE I LIVE IN A PLACE FULL OF THEM I FEEL LIKE I’M LIVING IN THERE HOUSE NOT MY OWN.

  8. Jen says:

    Hi Al,

    That spider is an orb weaver.

    Orb weavers are harmless and actually do us a lot of good because they eat a lot of pesky bugs.

    Hope this helps!

  9. Theresa McCauley says:

    I found a flesh colored little spider in my bed – killed it. The next morning – woke up and noticed itching on my right hand and two tiny little holes. It continued to itch all day and by the end of the day – it was swollen, red and oozing. That evening, I had a fever, sore throat, ear ache and my teeth hurt. That lasted about 24 hours and then stopped, but still don’t feel very good. 3-days later, the site is raised, red and a circle with an eye. Don’t know if I should go to the doctor or just let it go and it will go away.

    Any ideas?

    Theresa

  10. Rob says:

    HI can anyone help me identify this spider? it is medium sized about the diameter of a quarter, Black with three spots on the left right and back side with a blue/green spot that looks like eyes. I live in North Central Florida and found this on my truck hood when it was parked in my garage this past week end Nov 1 2009

  11. cheryl says:

    Earlier today I fell asleep while outside in my lawn chair, when I awoke I discovered a spider about oh… close to an inch in length, that was shiny an black, with red dots on its back, in my hair. I knocked the spider out of my hair an it began crawling away. My first thought was that it was a black widow, but I did not get a look at the underside of the spider. I have never heard of a black widow with red dots. Please help me identify this spider, I do not think I was bitten, I am not in any pain.

  12. Al says:

    I live in Maryland and came across this spider while I was raking leaves in my backyard. It is bigger than a nickel but a little smaller than a quarter. It has a fat yellow mushroom looking mid section. It has red legs protruding from its mid section then they turn clear with black stripes. I’m extremely curious to know what type of spider this is. I’ve never seen one like this before.

    orb weaver

  13. Moriah says:

    Hello! We spotted this little cutie by the beach on a big rock in Ventura, California. He was really small, maybe about an inch and a half. I took a few shots of him but I’d really like to know what kind of spider he is?

    black spider

  14. dawn says:

    In response to number 69 question that is a recluse and it is extremely toxic if bitten and left untreated it can kill most of the tissue around the bite.

  15. Anita says:

    Hi me again Anita
    I am still waiting for a reply to my question #1430 about the picture of the spider posted by Karen #70. I just found another picture that is a closer picture of the spider at #1308 Carole.

  16. Anita says:

    Hello:
    Karen #70 sent in picture of spider she found in Florida. Here is both front and back of same spider I also found in Florida. Does anyone know what it’s name is?

  17. Craig Newton says:

    I have lived in Southern California for several years and until this fall, have never seen either one of the spiders depicted in the photo. The one identified by the #1 can be over an inch long (not including the legs) and is rarely seen in the daytime hours. During the last couple months, on a daily basis, they drop down from the Oak trees just before dark, creating a single strand of web that they anchor to the ground and use to return to the trees just before sunrise. They build a fairly large web each night and they destroy it every morning before their ascent. I’ve found several inquiries regarding this particular spider posted throughout this site.

    I know next to nothing about the #2 spider in the bottom half of the photo. First sighting was this afternoon. He was sitting in the sun on the side of my shed and there was no web in sight. He seems similar to the one posted in #1283. I would sure like hear from someone familiar with either one of these Arachno-beasts.

    orb weaver and garden spider

  18. Karen McCawley says:

    I just saw the most amazing spider crawling across the road while I was out running. He (she) was BRIGHT yellow, the body, with what almost look like chines writing on the back — at first I thought it was a spider carrying a yellow peanut M & M, His legs were black and red. Any Ideas ? I live in suburbs of Philadelphia.

  19. Andrew says:

    I’m in my room and I just got bit by a spider on my ankle.

    The spider had was a little bit smaller than a quarter, had a black head, gray body, and red legs. Here is a picture as compared to a quarter:

    black head gray body spider

    I was just bit 15 minutes ago and stings. I also feel a little light-headed, but I think its all in my head from reading spider bite symptoms. The stinging is real though. I read somewhere to put toothpaste on it to prevent further infection, so I did.

    Please get back to me ASAP, I need to know if I need to goto the hospital tonight.

  20. Erika says:

    i don’t have any photos of the spider i saw today. I opened the basement door and took a couple steps down the stairs and noticed something spinning by the ceiling. so i looked and it was a spider on a web with all it’s legs together spinning its body in a circular motion. and as i backed away from it it stopped spinning and it had long skinny legs at least an inch and a black body. It freaked me out, so if anyone could help in identifying it that would be great. i’ll see if i can get a picture of it to post.

  21. Briana says:

    I found this spider in my aunts backyard next to a small tree. She lives in San jose, California, were not sure what kind of spider it is ?

    garden spider

  22. Anne Rolfe says:

    I also have found the thick looking string-like silk hanging from an entrance way into our garage. The spider which is brown, about the size of a dime with a white or creme color stripe down its back has made its way in thru the garage. Somehow it has gotten up into our house and we’ve caught several on sticky boards. Their population keeps increasing and I’m terrified of being bitten. Does anyone else have these? What are they?

    Thanks, Anne 401,
    October 26, 2009

  23. jennifer says:

    I know this is not really on topic, but i have been noticing these large 1-2in. legspan spider all over ourbushes. They are brown and a dark orange with wierd patterns on them. So please, if you could identify this spider it would really help because they are huge! and they are really creeping me out. sorry i dont have a pic:(

  24. Natalie says:

    I caught a spider outside of a building today. It is about the size of a quarter and black and fuzzy. It has a thin brown line running verticle down its thorax. It also sprayed a white mist from its rear inside the bug house. Any ideas?

  25. John Hise says:

    I found the spider in a hostos plant. It’s about the size of a dime. Orange with green spots. I live in South Jersey.

    thanks
    John.

  26. saarin says:

    We have a spider on our screen door in Marfa Texas with alternating yellow and brown striped legs and a body ( about 3-4 inches) that is white towards head and gets progressively darker as gets towards the other end. Tried to send in a photo but server rejecting address. Do you know what kind it is? I will keep trying to send photo

  27. David Lane says:

    i was scrolling through the photos on here of spiders to determine what kind of spider i found at work. under spider identification there is a pic of one that is the same shape as the one in the pic but smaller and lighter in color. it is comment number #97. October 30th, 2007 at 7:45 pm. what kind is it??

  28. Beth says:

    I live in Oregon, near Eugene in the mountains… we were walking in the forest and when we got home i had this HUGE spider on my backpack… it is black with tan stripes on the legs the body is black with some white, kind of diamond shape spots on its back, it is hairy, and it has a couple of little horns on its back and i noticed one on the abdomen also… i don’t have a picture… any one have a clue?!?!

  29. heather says:

    I found a spider today at work.. i work in louisville, kentucky.

    It was furry and had a tanish kakaii lemon shaped body with long legs (for its size) the same color as its body with black stripes, but when it opened its legs i noticed the top half of its legs were a shinny red. Curled up it was about 1 inch long but with its legs stretched out it is easily 2 1/2 inches long. Its web was a right triangle shape going down a post across a half wall then back up to the first point diagonally. Also it moves very fast.

    It looks just like this one someone else was asking about: #7
    I found a spider today at work.. i work in louisville, kentucky.

    It was furry and had a tanish kakaii lemon shaped body with long legs (for its size) the same color as its body with black stripes, but when it opened its legs i noticed the top half of its legs were a shinny red. Curled up it was about 1 inch long but with its legs streched out it is easily 2 1/2 inches long. Its web was a right triangle shape going down a post across a half wall then back up to the first point diagonally. Also it moves very fast.

  30. heather says:

    I found a spider today at work.. i work in louisville, kentucky.

    It was furry and had a tanish kakaii lemon shaped body with long legs (for its size) the same color as its body with black stripes, but when it opened its legs i noticed the top half of its legs were a shinny red. Curled up it was about 1 inch long but with its legs streched out it is easily 2 1/2 inches long. Its web was a right trangle shape going down a post across a half wall then back up to the first point dianglely. Also it moves very fast.

    It looks just like this one someone else was asking about:

    I was wondering what it was and if it was posionious?!?!
    PLEASE HELP!

  31. John says:

    i just caught a spider just like #28, i was wondering what it is? i found it in my shower not near a web that i would normally see of a spider this size

    please and thanks

  32. Emily says:

    I’ve seen a few of these crawling around my house. They’re not very big, maybe 2 cm. Does anyone know if they are dangerous or just a pest? Thanks for any replies.

    grey bug

  33. Dorothy Lea says:

    Spider a redish brown with large bulb like body with a straight dashed line from back to front in the middle of body…..with legs extened about the size of a quarter or a bit larger. Would like to have an answer asap. Thank You… Dorothy Lea

  34. Melissa from N. Alabama says:

    I have found a spider that looks like the one from #69. It has a black head that fades brown to its abdomen. The abdomen is grayish with one yellow and two white spots where it connects to the head. The leg are a copper-reddish color. I have a toddler in the house and would really like to know what it is. Sorry no picture. Thanks in advance.

  35. donna bartosik says:

    hi i don’t have a pic of the spider i found so im going to explain of hat it looked like….it was really big like fat its body was yellow with black stripes allover. and the front of the body was kind of red. so can u please help me find out what kind it was. thanks

  36. Conie Perry says:

    I sent a picture in a few moments ago with three spiders, all in one web. These spiders are INFESTED under the siding of my house, and come out at night.
    They resemble a brown Recluse, however..I did not see a “violin” but saw small “dots” on their heads.
    The smaller ones are almost see throughin a flashlight beam.
    Please help me to discover if these are deadly B.R’s or not..

    I HATE spiders, but cannot see killing them if they are not poisonous.

    Connie

  37. Jan Tatkowski says:

    #22 This spider is not a brown recluse thou it looks similar. My nephew and I have been finding a lot of this same spider all over our patio.We live in Tennessee and have had a lot of rain lately,and they come up on the patio.They seam to live in the ground since there is no web anywhere around.I looked up poisonous spiders on the web and it’s not pictured.hope this bit of info helps.

  38. Andrea says:

    I snapped this spider sitting on the back splash tiling in my kitchen. It is an incredibly small spider – the best way to compare would be to look at the enlarged bubbles of the grouting. That grout is no more than about 4 mm thick.

    I am being bitten by these spiders and will wake up with bites. I’d like to get this issue under control but would like to start by identifying what kind of spider it is. So far none of the photos I’ve found on any website matches what this one looks like.

    Thanks! I really appreciate it. Oh, and I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

    small spider

  39. Amy says:

    What kind of spider is in #522. We found one on the wall by our front door in Placerville, CA and can’t find anything to identify it. It is orange, hairy about the size of a quarter and has 2 bumps on the side of its abdomen with 2 hole twords the middle of the back.

  40. Puppi Lovesh says:

    I found a brown spider in my garage and do not know what it is. It is brown with the “but” part bigger than the one holding the legs from leg to leg in width its as big as a 50 cent coin and bigger than a quarter it has long (about a cm) intenas or feelers or whatever its called sticking out of its head. Iwill get a picture as soon as i find my camara.

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