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.
The spider come walking out from under my RV the the dogs noticed them,what is he and if the bit is poisonous?? Thank you, but you can see he’s no longer walking.
Jack from Oklahoma
I recently found this spider in a web spanning my driveway – the anchor lines were easily 15-20 feet. I’m in the Pasadena area of Southern California, near the Los Angeles Arboretum. In the 30+ years I’ve lived here, this is the only time I’ve seen a spider this large.
It is much larger than a black widow. Maybe about the size of a quarter (counting the leg span), and possibly a bit larger. The back bulbous part of the body is maybe .25 – .3 inches in diameter. Any idea what she is? While I’m asking questions…. how do they get the anchor lines across such a large span and 8 feet off the ground? Do they walk it off (i.e attache the line, then drop, walk across the driveway, up the hedge on the other side….)?
Thanks.
– Steve
My father recently found a spider that he did not recognize. The spider in question is now dead, but while alive it was white to cream in color, with an oversize abdomen, and a solid,black mark on it’s underside that looked like a number 8. the spider was in a wooded, hilly area in upstate NY. Our family is curious about what type of spider this is, can you help?
Wayne H. Scotia, NY
I live in Northglenn Co. I dont have them now but growing up I found 3 really big spiders in our laundry room. One of them was all yellow with 5 black spots in the shape of an hour glass on the belly the other 2 were the same except they were orange not yellow. I have been trying to figure out what they are for years now and since I have my own place and have a huge fear of spiders due to the 3 found in the laundry room of my home growing up that just so happens to be a few blocks away from where I am living now I would like to know what they are so that I know if they are deadly or not and how to best get ride of them.
The 3 that were found in my home growing up were caught put into glass jars with lids and taken out back to roast in the sun. But couple weeks later there were 5 of them 2 yellow 3 orange. I remember them being the size of my hand and their webs were the size of 2 small dogs. PLEASE HELP!!!!! If they get into my home I want to know what I need to do to get them out and keep them out.
Thanks,
Britt
i live in Columbus GA and i have several small spiders in my bathroom with brown fronts black backs and little white dots on the back what is it?
if you find out what kind of spider this is, email me. we have tons of them in the house. we just keep killing them.
Calm down. I get pretty freaked out at spiders too and I just have to calm myself down by going about 5 feet from where the spider is and whack it with a broom or something.
See if that helps. :)
I hope not! eww!
ORB SPIDER, Part of the Garden Weavers. They do get big but are harmless unless provoked. Otherwise they do not bother anyone. If bitten will hurt but not venomous still seek some medical aid for any spider bite. These spiders do make huge pretty webs. Actually amazing to watch catch prey as well. Fascinating.
Hey, spiders freak me out. I live in Olympia, Washington.
I actually found two kinds i have never seen before. One was tiny, body was black, and had thin little red legs.
The other had a large abdomen and was brown with striped legs, it straightened it’s legs out and it was like… standing.. sideways…scary!
Trying again – spider found in my garage near Seattle Washington. Cool markings, seems to make a small tight web around garden tools and in corners.
The Jewelled Spider is also known by its Latin name – Gasteracantha Minax, meaning “threatening and projecting”. They are also known as spiny orb weavers and are part of the orb weaving spider family. This spider’s body is very broad and grows to the size of a 20c piece, with its 8 legs being the length of a pin (fairly short for a spider). Its abdomen is strikingly coloured with bright yellows, orange or reds as well as white and black. Six stout spines (long and sharp) come from the border of the abdomen.
I found one of these once, soo cool looking, I looked it up with my zoology professor and all we could find was the name “Jumping Spider”, it said it was harmless though.
I think this might be my spider. I’m in Kensington, CA, a woodsy area near Berkeley. Do you know what this is? I found mine in my shower this morning.
I’m not sure what it is but I found a spider than looks just like this in my shower this morning, did you ever find out what it was?
I meant to leave a comment on this post but did the one below instead by accident :/
I’m not sure what it is but I found a spider than looks just like this in my shower this morning, did you ever find out what it was?
Hi, I live in NJ and I wanted to know if you can help me identify these spiders I have outside by my window every night.
They are tan/beige with large round abdomens. They have tan and brown striped legs. They only come out at night and just sit on the web.
Laura,
The spider you found is an Orb Weaver – they are harmless!
Hope this helps,
Jen
Trying to identify a spider, sorry no picture.
It was roosting off the eve of the house. Kind of resembled a Hermit Crab looking thing. Large Orangish shell, very meaty when crushed.
Thanks!
My friend lives in Warren Michigan on the south side, and there’s this spider that made it’s web above her front door. It’s yellow and has brown stripes on it’s legs, it has a big butt which in #461 they said it was an egg sack because the spider looks similar, also it looks like it would have hair near it’s face and on it’s butt, it’s kind of a clear yellow as you can see in the picture, also it has legs like the St. Andrews cross spider just not as long. I just want to make sure this spider isn’t poisonous.
Hi, I did not get a picture. Woke up from a nap and saw on the wall a spider about 3-4 inches overall with bright red legs and black, I think, in the middle. He was moving fast and went behind a window curtain and I believe out through a hole in the screen. I live in Panama where various venomous creatures exist. Do you know if such a creature is common in these parts? Thanks for any info you can provide. Justin.
sorry not picture. but when i was letting the dog out yesterday i saw a black sorta shine spider with 3 orange dots on its “butt” none of them were connected and one was quite bigger than the other they formed a sideways eyes and nose. the spider was about the size of a button on a cell phone. i ended up seeing another one on the support beam of our deck. (the first one was having dinner) they were both solid black with hairy outer fangs. i didn’t do anything to them considering it got pretty cold here last night. I live on the out skirts of Kansas City Kansas. any ideas?
I just recently moved to Edwards AFB, California, (in the Mojave Desert) and I have seen many spiders but for some reason one in particular worries me! I will try to get a picture next time but it is a brown spider with a relatively small body and thin long legs with pale markings on its back. Whenever I Google that exact description I get a ton of hits about the brown recluse but the pictures don’t look like what I have seen. I have looked all over the internet trying to figure out what it is but I can’t find it! Anything would help! Thank you!
I found this dried up spider in a corner in my bedroom and my girlfriend is freaked out. Big thank you to anyone who can tell me if this is poisonous.
I really think so too:P I have been poking around the internet for a while this week, and its really hard to find anything good to read on blogs:P Maybe thats because there are too many of those around =) But this website actually keeps catching my attention:P Great stories, and kawai design ^__^. Ill be sure to give it more visits now =P
Tarah @ #1633 This is a late response but may be helpful to others. Those may actually have been bites from “Turkey Ticks” (larvae ticks from possibly the Lone Star tick). Since they may be infected with Spotted Fever or Lyme Disease, medical treatment should be sought urgently! These may be evident in late spring or fall.
Danny Who
#172. January 24th, 2008, at 5:30 PM.
Hi, I live in Cleveland, Ohio, and found this spider crawling on my living room coffee table. It’s about half an inch long, looks black or very dark to my eye, has dark and tannish striped legs, and a pale yellow spot, not quite heart shaped, almost like a half of an hour glass. I immediately found an empty jar and maneuvered the spider inside and put the lid on.
Spider Pictures from Dan
All the pictures above are shot through the glass but still came out a bit blurry, even though I was trying macro mode. It was easier to get the spider’s underside as he was crawling.
Is this spider in the widow family? I never see spiders like this around the house if it’s some kind of house spider.
Thanks much.
Dan
Danny Who
#173. January 26th, 2008, at 11:02 PM.
Re: #172, I just got an email from an associate professor in biology at OSU, who stated “This is a subadult (one molt from being adult) Phidippus audax, the “bold jumper.” A completely harmless spider that is common in Ohio. In the spring, after the weather warms they grow to adult size (about 1/2 again this size) and mate. Some adults can be found through the warm months, particularly in sunny places or if indoors near sunny windows. They have beautiful iridescent green/blue fang bases, so if you see the front of the spider in good light this can be dramatic. On the young ones (such as yours) it isn’t always very visible.
My name is Maddy Cohn: Donna in article # 308. both of you are from Cleveland. And where are you exactly from in Cleveland? Because my family and I dont have any problems. Are you in South Euclid, Mayfield, etc. Please let me know. Because I want to know what the hell you are smoking!
This spider has a reputation for occasional nips if handled roughly with bare hands (not recommended), but the bite is of no real medical significance and they are considered “harmless to humans and pets.””
I don’t want to include the contact’s name without his permission.
Since it’s winter here, I let him go from the quarantine jar in my basement, so he can get on with his job catching nasty bugs. It it was summer, he would have went outside. I did catch the green fang base when I tried to lighten one of the pics up in Photoshop, but by then, the whole pic was getting too light.
for #22 – did you ever find out what kind of spider it was? if so, what? and is it dangerous? I found the same kind in our basement.
hey, OK so I found this spider on my couch one day. It was sitting next to my dog and it’s body looked like an ant’s, maybe a LITTLE bigger and it was bright, almost neon, orange. Just solid orange, no pattern or anything. It had jet-black legs that were very tall. It stood tall instead of the legs going out and low. It had two antenna’s I guess, that were also jet-black. Does anyone know what this is?
I live in South Carolina along the coast if this helps.
I live in Buffalo, NY. I remodeled a basement bathroom and the construction worker said I had a lot of water damage behind toilet. He said when he ripped it out a large spider fled the scene. Over the last 4 weeks since this has happened I have killed 5 of them. They are big, fast and gross. I’ve owned my home since ’03 and have never seen these before he remodeled. Is it possible they have lived undetected all these years behind the wall and are now displaced? What are they and how do I get rid of these things? Most resemble #22. They appear to have a velvety appearance…
PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!
I found this spider in my basement when I was exercising and I’m wondering if anyone might know anything about it . Very similar to #689 if not exact. When it was moving around it was about quarter size , quick, though sort of dorsal. A question I had is if it was pregnant as to have a bunch of little ones like it running around or if that’s just how they are ?? Also if this spider is potentially venomous ?? Any info would be great ! Hope the pic. helps . I also found a different one similar in size yet hairy all over and a constant dark brown color over entire body no markings though. Worried it was a brown recluse i swooshed it not have seeing one like it before .
Can you fill me in? I always seem to be hearing that black widows and brown recluses live in Ohio and Illinois? Is this true? Because if so I never had any problems. Now I saw a baby wolf spider in the woods while I was going on a walk in the woods during junior high my teacher pointed it out to me.
How come you guys say you see them all the time in your basement, porch, or house? I have checked everywhere in my house in Ohio and don’t seem to be having any problems. I am confused because I never got bitten. And every article I read talks about spider bites.
I have two of the same spider as #67 hanging on their large webs between my window and my trees outside. Do you know what type it is? It is poisonous?
Thank you!
I was just wondering if you found out what spider #226 was because I just found one in my kitchen
Milwaukee, WI.
OK so we have a whole in our couch cushion so we have a sheet wrapped around it that’s the same color. i was cleaning the house the other day and i decided to wash the sheet i took off the couch and put it on the floor a black spider about the size of half a thumb maybe a little smaller with bright yellow spots on i saw like 3 or 4 yellow spots i know if there’s one there’s more somewhere i just want to make sure they are not toxic or poisonous. please i don’t have a picture because i called the creepy thing quickly. i live in Gresham Oregon please help.
We live in MA and found a spider in the bathroom that looks identical to the picture in #22. We have a lot of spiders in our building, but haven’t seen one like this before. We have 2 small children, 1 of which is a fearless boy who likes to pick up bugs. Just want to make sure they’re not dangerous.
My 13 year old daughter keeps finding these spiders in our bathroom. We live in far western Maryland, in a very rural area. None of us have thought to get pictures, we’ll try to next time we see one. It’s shape is very similar to a brown house spider. It’s smooth and shiny, not hairy. It’s a reddish-brown color with two rows of black diamonds on it’s back going from head to rear. I’ve looked and looked. At first I thought it was a triangulate cobweb spider, but the markings are not quite the same, but it’s the closest I’ve found. It’s a pretty small spider, smaller than a dime, but we keep finding them! I have 4 kids and pet and I’m scared that someone is going to get bitten! Any ideas on what type it may be? Thanks in advance!
I unfortunately have no photo as the spider we saw a few days ago hasn’t reappeared. Only thing is, the two kids with me have been pestering me to find out what kind of spider it was we saw!
here is a description (and I have looked on the internet hoping to find a photo to identify, but no such luck)
It’s about the size of a half-dollar all told me with the back shell about the size of a dime. Coloring: caramel brown and creamy white. Legs are hairy.
What got us was something I’ve never seen on a spider – it looked like a snail’s house (you know, the type of cockleshell?). The pattern was very distinctive – wavy and sort of like the swirls you see on a Hershey’s white and chocolate kiss wrapping.
The spider gave us a chance to look at it before it dove for the space between the concrete steps and PVC siding. We live in southeast Manitoba. I’ve never seen such a beautiful creature! Anyone got an idea of what it is? (Oh, and there was a web, but the spider didn’t head for it)
I keep seeing these spiders around the house. They mostly cling to the ceiling but I got pics of one on the wall in the hallway. They are not scared of me getting a close look and not afraid of the camera. They travel from room to room overnight mostly. Kind of a dark body with lighter legs and dark little spots on the legs. Sometimes it sits with it’s legs to the side looking like a crab ,but not always. I don’t know if they are poisonous or not or if they bite. Can you tell me about this spider?
Hello,
I have found a rather odd sort of spider, and would like to know what it is: It is a pale brown color, rather small, and it’s legs aren’t too long. It does have bands on its legs that appear to be a very pale yellow/brown and slightly darker brown (about the same color as the rest of it’s body). I believe it has a darker stripe down its back, divided by another stripe about the same color of its ‘skin’ (however, this is not very noticeable at all). However, it’s most defining characteristic is its very hard and horny ‘shell’- I have looked it up but found nothing. It resembles a crab spider (slightly) in the sense of the overall shape (though here is is slightly more rounded) and the horns that seem to protrude from its back. I have it in a container at the moment, and the shell appears to be rather heavy, if the sound it makes whenever the spider falls over is anything to go by. Again, the spider is rather small- maybe the size of a fingernail. It has five ‘horns’ running down each side, and one large protruding from the front, pointing towards its head, and three in the back. If it helps, when I first caught it, it assumed catalepsy, though I assume most spiders might. It was found in my kitchen, on the floor, and I suppose it had crawled out from beneath the cabinets; however, I could find no spider webs in the area. I live in north east Oklahoma.
Thank you for any help you may provide!
large tan/orangeish spider making giant traditional “Halloween” web attached to side of house and plant. We is about 2.5 to 3 feet wide greater than 3 feet tall. The spider is shy and will hide if we try and come around a corner to see it. the body of the spider is greater than the size of a quarter. It likes to carry its legs close to its body. We live in southeast Ohio. He gives me the willies.
Alright My name is Britanie Mason i live in northeast GA and there was a spider in my window last night when i crawled in and i believe that it was the same kind of spider as John 516 i am very scared and need to know if it was in fact poisonous?
April comment number 29. That spider is a parsons spider and is not poisonous. They come inside usually by accident as they tend to live in rubbish piles or old wood piles. They move fast and do not spin webs as they are hunters. They act very similarly to the huntsman spider and the wolf spider.
Hi there! Last Sunday, Sept. 26th 2010 in Pasadena, CA I saw two spiders, gray color, very fuzzy, with black ring stripes on the legs with a brightly colored orange abdomen along the handrail of some steps at a church in broad daylight (approx. 4pm?) They were very ominous looking. While I was moving to get a pic, the spider moved with me, and was following me with it’s eyes…I’m not kidding! Just like in the movie “Arachnophobia.” Please advise? I’ve been in this region all my life and I’ve never seen anything like it!
-DJ Keith
I can’t look at these images because I have severe arachnophobia, but I need to know what this is…please help me. I haven’t got a picture because it ran when a friend tried to catch it. Black with stubby legs and hair, with light bands on legs like bracelets…he jumps, I noticed because he was flying at my face…please get back to me…thank you
Ash
I have these huge spiders all over my property.
I can’t find any pictures on line of a spider with these markings.
They look a little like a Hobo Spider, but thankfully their markings don’t match.
We live in Grays Harbor County, Western Washington.
They seem to be a ground spider and are very aggressive.
I want to know if they bite and if they are harmful to humans and pets.
Here are different views of the same spider.
I found a spider with spikes on the end it was black body and the spikes where white! What type of spider it was?
I am so terrified of spiders! I have just moved into my first home in the foothills of the Cascades in Washington. I can’t seem to get use to it. I sprayed inside first, then outside. A day later, my house was over run by almost every spider everyone here had described. Everyone says that spiders are harmless, but I DON’T THINK SO!
sis and i found a spider there are many more living outside around our house there not small there the size of a penny make webs and we now know that they eat centipedes how ever you spell that want to keep him cant get a good pic tho i want to know if you have any idea or pictures of common outside spiders…..
I live in Dallas Texas and in my backyard i came across a spider with black and orange looking legs its butt is black with yellow spots.I would estimate this spider to be about 3 inches wide and 3 inches wide.After i fed it a grass hopper and from there and on i am going keep my distance away from it.