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.
hi #80 an #188
thos 2 spiders are different, #188 is in fact the false black widow but #80 i think it is a black widow, if you still have it be extremely carefull and take it to a local vet in a secure jar with very small holes in, if you go on google and type in black widow, look at images and you will find that the red diamond on its back is similar to the one on yours, so again be extremely carefull as it could be fatal if the spider bites!
I live in central California. I found a small spider about two centimeters long. It is black with red marks on it’s back, blue-green fangs and striped legs. Anybody know what type of spider I found?
Im trying to find the pictures of different spider bites, but am having difficulty getting any to come up, keeps coming back to the same pages. My husband has a spider bite, but it does not have the ring around it. It is hard and red and seems to be more localized than when first it was up and down the leg also. He has been taking antiobiotics and got 2 shots of antibiotics. He is tired, sleeping, and does not feel well. We are in contact with his doctor, who happens to be out of town at a relatives funeral and will not be back until Wed. If it is still bad on Monday, he will have to go to the emergency? I captured a spider today near our closets, stomped it and put it in a plastic baggy to show to the doctor. It is all curled up, had a tan body, kind of black legs. I am a scaried of spiders, but can stomp them if I have to.
To #32 and #48:
I am not certain, but those look like Banana Spiders to me. I encountered my first one in Mobile, Al, and it scared the bejeezes out of me. They are, however, harmless…Kentucky might be a little far north for Banana spiders, but your pictures resemble the one I met. Additionaly, to all out there, (especially YOU, #16 and #27) you should have recieved definitive medical attention (thats EMS talk for a doctor) IMMEDIATELY! Those symptoms are not normal, especially if you think you have been bitten by an unknown spider!
Hello:
I discovered a spider nesting in our pantry under a paper shopping bag. I am very aware and familiar with Black Widows in our area. This spider had the exact shape and size of a Widow, but was a medium to darker brown with with white spots on the bulbus body. There was no hour glass on it’s belly. I don’t have a picture of it and no one was bitten. Do you possibly know what it was?
Thanks for any info, Paul
Found this spider just sitting on my carpet. Spread out, legs and all it is quite a bit larger than a quarter coin. Its front half has a shiny, brown look, legs are shiny brown too. It has two smaller legs on its front that it waves around. The back part is darker brown black and is not shiny. It has two tear shaped lighter spots with two round lighter spots under that.
I have not seen that spider before and I have a lot of them because I live in Detroit, Oregon in the mountains. We have gobs of snow all around, that may have driven it indoors. It is very impressive looking, ugly, actually and I am a spider lover.
yesterday, my 2yr old and myself were startled while looking through storage tubs outside. A large black furry with white spots all over the spider jumped out. No picture, had to get rid of him. I have a phobia of most all spiders and didn’t want the thing jumping on either one of us. We live in Fort Worth, Tx. Can anyone identify? Thanks. Jodie
To Andy (#80) and myself (#188).
It’s Steatoda or sometimes called Steadota – false black widow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatoda
“Many spiders of the genus Steatoda are often mistaken for widow spiders, and are known as false black widows; however Steatoda are significantly less harmful to humans. Steatoda are shaped similarly to widow spiders, with round, bulbous abdomens. However, not all Steatoda species resemble widows – many have distinct coloring, and are significantly smaller than Latrodectus specimens. Some species of Steatoda actually will prey on widows, as well as other spiders which are considered hazardous to humans.
Some members of this genus do have bites which are medically significant in humans (such as S. grossa and S. nobilis), however bites by Steatoda species generally do not have any long-lasting effects. The symptoms associated with the bite of several steatoda species are known in the medical profession as steatodism; and have been described as a less-severe form of latrodectism (the symptoms associated with a widow spider bite).”
#62–Sonda
That spider is called a Sow bug Killer Spider. It’s an invasive species from the Mediterranean. Its bite is harmless to humans.
comment number 157, your spider is a Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver, which is scientifically identified as a Gasteracantha elipsoides. I found another picture identical to yours here : http://pelotes.jea.com/spiders.htm
to all of you who are wondering if the spider you found is poisonous: there are only two spiders (In north america at least) that are deadly; the black widow and the brown recluse (aka the violin spider) these two spiders are most likely found in the southern states. A black widow can be identified by the red mark on it’s back, and the violin spider has a violin look behind it’s eyes.
I have spiders that are shown in #87. Brown bodied and a redish orange hour glass on the abdomen. This is the time of the year we see alot. I would feel better if I knew what they were and if they are poisonous.
#181 Robert, it’s a female Golden Orb Weaver.
Here is more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:040327_7754.jpg
Hi,
Today in the garage, behind washer machine (where is warm) I found one (bigger) and a few minutes later second (smaller) spiders.
They are brown, have round body, kind of similar to young black widow but I don’t know what are they.
Bigger one (its body) is about 9mm and smaller is about 5-6mm. Looks like female (bigger) and male (smaller).
I caught them both and made some close up pictures, which I have included below.
Thanks!
well today after noon my little cusin got bitten by a small black,red n yellow spider and i’m trying to figure what kind of spider is that i try to take a picture of it but i coulden’t find my camera ……
Hey! I live in a warehouse in Ojai, CA. I live with lots of spiders
(I’ve killed 4 black widows just this week), so I knew I was going to
be bitten sooner or later.
This spider above was the first guy to get to me just
about a half hour ago. I’d like to know his background.
Thanks.
Hi there my name is Leah i have been bitten by something and have no idea what? I have not been anywhere different to normal i have not been swimming or near bushy areas ect.
I live in far north queensland australia. The area of the bite is very itchy and swollen and also blistering a little i have included the picture below.
I really hope you can shed some light on this for me thanks heaps and really hope to get a reply soon.
I think
#161 is a spiny orb weaver
and
#181 is a golden orb weaver.
Hi,
I found this little guy sitting in the corner of my bathtub early this morning. It was bigger than the small cobweb spiders I usually find around the house and it had scary looking pincher’s.
I’d estimate its front to back leg span to be around 2-3 inches. I suspect it may be a brown recluse spider, although I live near Baltimore which is outside of their normal region.
Below is a photo I took with my cell phone. I have two small kittens in the home and I’d like to know if they’re at risk of a poisonous bite.
Any help ID’ing it would be much appreciated.
Thanks!!!
-Chris
Barbara #167,
Thanks… only problem is I live in Upstate NY!!
They are rather small to… a thick body, but never really more than the size of a quarter.
The rest of the spiders in/around our house are daddy long legs and common tan/clear/black house spiders.
Hi,
Can you identify this spider?
It was about 8 cm long and we saw it near the beach at Punta Leona Costa Rica – Pacific coast
Below is a picture:
Robert Fair, B.Sc.
White Rock, BC, Canada
I just came back from our vacation in Cancun and saw this spider while we were playing cards. Can you please confirm its identity? I have included a picture below with a card to give you an estimate of the size of this spider.
I keep thinking it is a brown recluse. It was jumping pretty high about 2 feet in the air. Is it poisonous.
I found a spider similar to the one that lisa #50 had found, its a brownish instead of red and blue it also has a similar pattern to the one on its back i was researching it a little and i think its a hobo spider but im not to sure could you please let me know ive already seen 3-4 of them and im gettin a little worried.
thanks
Ryan
Looking for an ID on a straw-colored spider, with a tiny body and extreeeeeeeeemly long legs with an elaborate web, sorry no pic
Hello,
Lately I’ve been feeling a numbness around my face, arms legs and wonder if it could be the result of a spider bite?
I live in upstate NY, northern catskill mountains, on a farm. Here is a picture of the big spider in our bathroom:
Thanks,
Ellen
#157 Pam B.
#161 Rami
The spiders you have shown are one in the same and look very much like the same spider my 6 year old son was bitten by earlier on this evening, We actually caught the spider to inspect it more closely and found it to be a spider most commonly known as the “Spiny Spider” ( or Christmas spider or Jewel Spider ) Other wise known as “Austracantha Minax.”
My son immediately experienced a strong stinging pain in the area of the bite which looked similar to that of a mosquito bite or ant bite. The stinging was enough to bring him to tears and almost scream when I gently touched the area. I held a tissue with methylated spirits on the bite and within minutes the stinging sensation slowly began to subside. I am still going to keep an eye on the bite over the next few days. Apparently bites from this spider are rare. I guess this was one of those rare occasions?!
I wish I had a photo of the spider that bit me, but it was in the early morning hours (3:25 EST to be exact). I thought it was a mosquito, but then realized it couldn’t penetrate a sheet, blanket and comforter. I’ve moved so I must have had a spider in a box and it made it’s way into my bed.
Anyway, I scratched immediately. After a couple of days the bite was a little oozy and red/pink. I went to the doctor and he gave me Bactroban for the bite. It seemed to work, but now the bite is reappearing. Anyone have any idea what kind of spider with such poison could affect me in this way? Honestly, one day I couldn’t even sit down it was so painful until I got on the medication.
Any advice/help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
Heather
Hi, I have no photo but the type of spider doesn’t seem very common, so it may be easy to place, I recently saw a spider that appeared to be a slightly transparent blue, And rather than legs spouting around its body they went quite far down, for example a normal spider may be }8{ while this spider was more like 0 Does anyone know what this is? Thanks ( )
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 irridescent 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.
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.
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.
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
Michelle #32
Your spider looks like a ST ANDREWS CROSS SPIDER. not very aggressive and are a low risk to humans. I wouldn’t worry too much about this one.
We have been spotting these spiders (see picture below) a lot lately, is it dangerous? Any information on this spider would be appreciated.
We are location is Cabinda, Angola, West Africa. The spider is about 4cm in diameter.
it’s winter here in PA and cold outside. SoI have 4 small itchy mosquito like bites on my arm. Is there any spiders that leave bites like that?
For Fredrik #166, your spider is definitely a wandering spider. It eats insects.
(Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Spiders) Apparently, some of them are transported into North America on plants and fruit because they are typically tropical. Their description and picture match your picture exactly,…”Cephalothorax yellowish to orangish brown. Legs orangish brown to brown, palest close to body. Abdomen grayish yellow to black. Body sparsely coated with fine down. ..” : )
For Derek, #165
My thoughts were a hunstman spider and when I looked it up, some of your info matched. The range was exculsively Florida and they hang around in the woods, garden and house walls. My source says that they are appreciated in many southern homes as free exterminatos of household insect pests…cockroaches, etc.
Check it out…heteropoda venatoria
Hello,
I would greatly appreciate help on identifying the spider below.
Thank you!
Fredrik
Hello,
I have included below a picture of a spider that is very common around our house. We live near a river and it is very wet around our house… these spiders are both inside and outside (this was taken in very cold temperature)
I want to say they are wolf spiders, but I’m not sure… we literally have hundreds around our house and I hate spiders.
Any ideas?
I live in Portland Oregon and saw a spider outside of my apartment. It had a brick red back with I believe three white dots going vertically down its red back. It had long legs and moved very slow. It looked like a brown recluse but of course wasn’t. We have a dog we take to this area on daily basis and are concerned the spider might be dangerous. Any help would be appreicated, thanks!
I was wondering if you could me identify a spider. It was found by my bathtub, it was really, really red and the back sack was white. It was about 3/4 in. long. Sorry no pic.
Thanks!
Hi, found a spider by the pool today. On the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. It was about 25mm, big brown hairy bum and a heart shaped body, with solid looking legs. Any ideas appreciated!
I see this spider all the time in our yard, wondering what it is…
Randy from N Ala #152
Hi Randy I live in northern Alabama too and what is in your picture is a Pholcidae “Daddy long legs or Cellar Spider” similar to the Harvestman the daddylong legs most people know. But the Harvestman don’t make webs and the Phoicidae do, one more thing they are harmeless to humans and pets. But can make a mess with their webs. Hope this helps.
Sean
Jim,
Saw your website and thought I would send you the spider picture below.
We just moved to Santa Clara, CA and after a couple of weeks, I opened our coat closet and found the following spider crawling up the closet door.
I would like to know what kind of spider it is.
Thanks,
Randy
Hello,
Earlier today, 1/8/08, I was cleaning my brother’s car and I came across this spider just chilling’ in the car door. I don’t know if it was hibernating, or if spiders even do that, but it was curled up. See the picture below.
Its back legs have yellowish orange stripes on them and the front four legs are about twice as long as the back four. Just out of curiosity, I wanted to know what kind of spider this is. Please get back to me if you know.
Thank you,
TiA
Can you help me identify this type of spider? I noticed it at the backside of our mobile home.
Kinda curios to what kind it is………….and if it is dangerous!!
Thanks,
Pam B.
#70 is Gasteracantha Cancriformis, a type of Spiny Orb-Weaver. I am also in Florida and have had one of these beauties spinning a web on my back porch for a couple weeks now. No need to worry about them, they are harmless. It is sometimes called the crab spider by locals, but there is another spider which is officially called the crab spider.
we found a orange and black leged spider(lower leg orange and uper leg black ) with a tanis or pale yellow body. any one know what it might be
My son who loves and collects spiders found a strange one this morning its not really big its a brownish colour and has a perfect small lighter brown cross on its back like its been branded. My son is upset because i wont let him handle spiders until we idenifiy them. we live in newzealand and dont have a huge poisonous spider problem here but ive never seen this one before and my son has heaps of books and charts on spiders. And help would be great.
Racheal in Rochester,
That is more than likely a barn funnel web weaving spider. You should be able to google tegenaria domestica. I had someone telling me that is was a hobo spider. The only way you can tell the difference for sure is to look at the sex organ under a microscope. Don’t worry to my knowledge there are no Hobo spiders in NY either. Go out in your yard some morning and you should see some funnel looking webs.
Hello,
I live in North Alabama and find these spiders in my house often, can you tell me what type they are?
Thanks,
Randy
I was bit by a spider yesterday. it is a red knot with a faint red circle around it about the size of a half dollar. It really itches. No other symtoms. Is this okay?