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. Abbie B. says:

    Hey ,

    I was walking around my house when I was this huge web going down from the electrical box the the ground . There was the spider that was a little bigger than a quarter while scrunched up . But when it moved its legs made it about 2 quarters big . It was brown and had yellow stripes on its legs . ( If I can I will put a picture . )
    I know it wasn’t a brown lacruse or black widow because I have seen them . Please let me know what it is and if its poisonous . Thanks ! (:

  2. Claudia says:

    I found this spider on the high ceiling of my staircase; it was not in a web. I live in Northern California and am not sure what type of spider this is, can you help me identify it? It was at least 3″ wide; shiny orange body with black toes.

  3. Kia says:

    I found a spider in my bed it looks black maybe a dark brown with barely noticeable dark brown stripes down the abdomen. it has 3 little yellow spots in a row down the abdomen my phone is dead right now but i can post a picture when its charged since i have it in a bottle, the abdomen isn’t round though its flat on top kinda looks like a crab shell and the spider is very hairy and the pinchers are blue.

    the only reason i ask is cause i have a bite on my face and it has a bump that is about an inch long and is shaped like a tube3 instead of a mound it causes my face to swell up completely on the left side and unfortunately the hospital is closed till tomorrow i’ve had this bite 2 days and i’ve become recently light headed is there anything that i can do?

  4. Allie says:

    I live in Michigan and I was wondering if someone could help me identify a spider I found. It’s probably the size of a dime. It’s got a light brown/grey body with a cross on it and a black. I can’t find it anywhere online

  5. Tara says:

    I found this small kinda medium reddish brownish spider on my bathroom wall. It has a small body but the legs are a little bit longer then its body. I know that its not a house spider because I know what they look like. But I’ve never seen this kind of spider before. Any ideas on what it might be?

  6. Tim says:

    Had one indoors the other day, not sure what it was. Very furry and coal black. Too big to fit under the dresser. Legs and all bigger than a silver dollar. Main body was at least half dollar size if not just a little over that. Didn’t get close enough to see any other markings. Moved fairly quick too on the hardwood floor.

  7. Steve says:

    So i found this small spider in my bathroom trying blend into the white walls of the bath tub. It has brown legs, head, and thorax. But it’s abdomen is black with a whitish line going down the center almost to the spinnerets. I’ve looked all over for a picture to identify this little guy, but no luck.

  8. Melonie says:


    Hi,

    I am a rural route letter carrier in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and recently came across this spider on one of my mailboxes. I apologize for the quality of the picture as I only had my cell phone camera. Someone told me it was a pumpkin spider, but I have looked those up and have not seen anything like this.

    Life’s short, eat your dessert first ;)

  9. Mark says:


    Hello,

    I just stumbled upon your site and hoped you could help. We just had our first baby, a girl and she is sleeping in our bedroom with us right now. We were startled to see what our dog was barking at uncontrollably last night. My wife is worried about this being near our baby, as am I. Any thoughts on the type of spider it is, is very much appreciated. We live in Roeland Park Kansas, basically Kansas City.

    Thank you,
    Mark

  10. Janet says:


    I got this from my daughter-in-law who lives in AZ. They found this spider in their garage. Says it moves from side to side like a crab. Concerned about children getting bit. Do you know what kind of spider this is in the photo and whether it is poisonous? Have tried to find this spider on the internet but to no avail.

    Thanks for looking at this photo.

    Sincerely,
    Janet H.

  11. The Jones Family says:


    The cobweb is between our front shutters and bush. We live in the metro Detroit
    area (Bloomfield Township). Can you identify this for me. I can’t seem to
    find any photos of it on the web. We just want to be sure of what we are
    dealing with as we begin to work in that flower bed!

    Thanks!

    The Jones Family

  12. Branden says:


    Hi I was wondering if you know what kind of spider is in the attached photo. We’ve found two in our apartment in central Indiana. Thank you for the help.

    Sincerely,
    Branden

  13. Tricia says:

    Hi there!

    I live in Jackson, Wyo. and couldn’t seem to find what type of spider I found amongst my shoes this afternoon. I’m glad it wasn’t IN my shoe so my foot could find it. I caught it and took some pictures. I’d really appreciate it if you could help!

    TC

  14. Alanna R. says:

    Hi I live in California on Edwards air force base and I found a light brown spider that has only four legs and the legs don’t look like they were tore off either. I don’t know what kind it is so can you help me.

  15. shrayas pradhan says:

    i found a completely green spider in my garden, it weaved a type of net in a leaf covering it.it had a white back and a black mark there.it was about the size of a fingernail. i live in Kathmandu in Nepal

    can you please help me identify this spider?

  16. Leslie Jackson says:


    I live in Northern Michigan and saw this spider yesterday afternoon on the kitchen window.

    He seemed too large to be a Jumping and the wrong body for a Wolf.

    Any help in regards to identification would be much appreciated!

  17. Mark says:

    We live in Kansas City and just had our first baby, a girl. In our room where she is sleeping we were shocked to see what our dog was barking at last night, any idea what kind of spider this is? Thank you.

  18. christine says:

    Found a spider in my outside electrical cover..It is and orangish yellow with black markings on its back, the body is kinda humped. It has a big black spot on it stomach, legs are kind of clear with red and black markings on them. I have it in a jar at the moment and when you shake the jar a little it sticks to the jar. There is no web for him to stick to..Can someone help?

  19. ed says:

    Yeah, I found the same spider that Keegan found on my garage door in the corner. I pet the spider and i brought in the house today. I put it in the aquarium and fed it some crickets. It is really fat i think it is pregnant. It has a white cross on it’s back.

  20. john myers says:

    found this big spider in the back yard, I live in so. cal. It’s body is as big as my thumb from my knuckle joint to the tip of my thumb and it’s entire body is light orange in color, its butt area is as big as my thumb nail and the legs stretched out to approx 1 1/2-2 inches, it moves pretty fast and makes a good sized web, I can’t find any pictures of it and am thinking of doing it in before he decides to have me for dinner lol. Can any one help me with identifying it? Thank you

  21. Mandy says:

    REPLY TO MICHAEL B. – I live in Columbus, OH and found (to be what looks like) the exact same spider in a large web hanging from my house today. I have not been able to identify the spider either. I’m interesting in learning what this spider is and if it’s dangerous.

  22. Mary says:


    Hello! I was hoping that maybe you wouldn’t mind helping me ID this spider I found on my back deck tonight.
    I turned the back porch light on and found him crawling away from my back door. I’m in Northern Virginia and my backyard leads to a heavily wooded area and park land beyond that but I’m in a suburban neighborhood of Fairfax, Virginia.

    This spider seemed like it was coming out from under the house and in this case I just want to make sure that this spider is not dangerous.

    Thank you!

    Mary

  23. Michael B. says:


    This large spider has been camped out in its web on our back deck in Chicago IL for about 3 weeks.

    What is it and is it dangerous?

  24. Heidi says:

    I found a spider in my basement bathroom and would like to know what it is. It had a bright red body & legs except it had a brown butt and it’s two legs toward the end of it’s butt was also brown. It was maybe about an inch long including it’s legs. I was going to try to kill it or catch it but it ran away really fast. Hopefully it’s harmless.

  25. kimny says:

    @ Shauna- do you live near a lake or pond? It might be a fishing spider- they are brown with a white () markings huge bodies and long thick legs, had one in my bathroom once when we lived next to a lake, it was so big at first we thought it was someone’s pet! When we tried to kill it it got aggressive and lunged at us- scary! I’m not a fan of spiders!

  26. Kylie says:

    So I killed a spider I found in my closet floor today. It was small, thin, was brown and had two yellow stripes going down the sides of its body…I know it wasn’t a brown recluse since I didn’t see a violin on its head. I live in Middle Tennessee and it would be nice to go into my closet and not have to worry about being bitten by a poisonous spider. It moved fast. Could it be a weaver spider? Please help! My boyfriend hates them!

  27. gary says:

    Hey….for the past few weeks, have been dealing with spiders, large, brown spiders and they are everywhere. Found one on an evening on my pillow. They go by so fast I have little time to kill them but when I do, they roll up in balls and crunch. I am on the first level of the house and in fall/spring, get spiders and in winter, mice. Would rather deal with the mice.

    These terrify me as I am afraid they are allergic and I don’t have antihistamines lying about for the occasional spider bite, or other bug bite in the event I am allergic. Some are small, about 1/2″ to about 3″ long. So fast! I read that we should not kill spiders, but I am so scared of them, I know not what else to do.

    Please tell me, please, if I should be afraid of these spiders or are they just harmless. Saw one outside in a web, a beautiful web, in the AM, glistening with dew. Left that one alone. I have a bottle of spider killer near but is easier to kill them manually. Again, please, begging you to help me. Either relieve me or I am calling exterminator.

    Thanks….
    Gary

  28. Diamond says:

    There is this spider out side my window and it has like a cream color and a dark brown color and it has like a circle web but then it has red on the top of its head I don’t no if it is a wolf spider or not can, you can tell me please?

  29. Katelyn says:

    I found a grey spider around an inch to an inch and a half with stripped legs and a weird raised shape on its back spinning a web between my shed and pole in my back yard. I live in central Indiana.

  30. Jen says:

    I caught a black, shiny spider with 3 red dots on its back( the dot closest to its rear stretches out into a line) & 2 small thin red lines across its under side. The front legs are longer than the rest & its belly is about 2 to3 x bigger than its head. It had a web under the edge of a cat box. It doesn’t have any hair or fuzzy bits. It’s about 1″ (legs included) long with the body & head about half of that. I caught a black widow earlier this year & that 1 was much bigger, but wasn’t IN MY HOUSE. Does anyone know what this 1 could be? Thank you!

  31. Shauna says:

    I have a question that I would be amazed if anyone can answer, because I have been searching the internet for, like, a year and have yet to find an answer. But there is a breed of spider that frequently invades my apartment. It can vary in size from being a little more than the size of a quarter with legs to the one I saw today which had to be, including legs, like 3-4 inches long.

    It was humongous is the moral. :) It is brown. It has on its thorax a lighter brown shape that looks like “()”. And it’s big enough that when I kill it, it leaves a thick brown blood (or something) behind. Anyone have any ideas? I have cats, so I really want to know if it can hurt them. Thank you!

    I live in Northwest Indiana.

  32. Kristy says:

    Alrighty, I live in Sacramento, California. Earlier today I walked through a very large (appx. 6ft in diameter, from my car to a nearby tree) sticky web. The spider had a similar shape to a black widow, but it was larger, yellow, and had different marking on its belly. It was big enough to catch my eye out of my peripherals from about six feet away and hanging out in the open outside. Wish I could have gotten a picture of it, please help me identify this!

  33. michelle nielsen says:

    I live in southeast Idaho. Under the rail of our deck, I found a spider that has a huge round body. It’s dark brown and it’s legs are striped with what looks like a yellow or tan color. It built a cob web and I watched as it spun a fly into his silk and stored it in the corner it likes to sit in. He’s not visible very often, he just hangs out in the dark corner most of the time. I know it’s not a hobo or brown recluse and it’s not a cat face. I don’t know what it is! But I would love to know!

  34. Jenn P says:

    Keegan, that looks like a garden orb spider. Does its spin a huge round web? They aren’t dangerous from what I’ve heard.

  35. Jennifer says:

    I found a brown spider with white spots in it’s back. It has long brown and white stripped legs. We live in Concoed Ma and found the spider crawling across the drive way this morning. Just wondering what it’s called; we have never seen one like this before. Thanks!

  36. Katrina says:

    Hello, I live in Albany, NY and just found a dark-brown spider crawling fast across my living room floor. I cannot figure out what it is. The spider has a larger abdomen with white spots that actually look like they are sticking out. The abdomen is not smooth and is covered with the white spots all over the abdomen, but not the legs. He has 2 little fangs in the front.

    The spider itself isn’t too big but definitely noticeable on a tan carpet. He is a fast runner too. The legs appear to be lighter than the body itself. It almost looks like a diseased spider the way the white spots look on the abdomen. Any idea? I’m so scared of these spiders, although I did just bring in my plants inside because it’s been getting colder outside. I wonder if this spider is from my plants.

  37. Pat says:

    My husband saw a spider in the woods here in TN. It was fat, yellow with orange legs with tiny black spots on the legs. Does anyone know what kind of spider this was? I have searched on the internet at so many sites, looked a spider pics, and haven’t found it yet.

  38. Rick says:

    @Scott and his “largish spider in the garage.” That looks to me like a “White-banded Fishing Spider,” Dolomedes Albineus. It’s a beautiful specimen, too. It’s hard to see the eye-pattern for sure, but it’s likely 8 eyes set in two rows, with the top row in a slight curve. The prominent hairs on the first leg segments (closest to the body) are also a possible identifier. Just Google the Latin name.

  39. Brittany says:

    My brother saw this spider in our yard today, it’s red and it’s abdomen was the size of a small strawberry. It was in a web, and a beautifully done one at that. I live in Portland, Oregon. Can you please identify it for me. I have a picture of it too.

  40. Erin K says:

    I just found a spider in my OK apartment although I think it may have possibly come back from the dog park with my lab and me…at first I though it was a Hobo spider or a wolf spider, but on the under side of the abdomen is a yellow mark shaped like a heart with an extra little hump between the other two.

    The entire yellow mark is outlined in black. It’s the size of my thumbnail (not including the legs…looked a LOT bigger with those!) and didn’t seem particularly aggressive because it was just crawling along next to my dog without attacking it. Although I freaked out and killed it fairly quickly… Anyway, just wondering what it might be since i’m new to the state. Thanks for any help!

  41. Nancy says:

    Spider I found here in So. California, was tonight, taking down my Yellow Ribbon, (my daughter returned today from her 2nd tour in Iraq) and inside this ribbon when I brought it into the house, (It is a 12 inch dia. ribbon). a black spider, with semi-hairy legs, rounded back black, with 3 yellow spots, they look yellow. It fell out of one of the loops of ribbon, and clinging to the loop was a nest of babies.

    So small but moving. The nest was a sack like white protection, clinging with goo to the ribbon, pretty well. I washed them down the garbage disposal. Inside another loop was another sack, and these babies looked a wee bit larger. the mama spider, assuming it’s a female, climbing up the coffee can I caught her in, looks as if she has two bright neon green fangs? Never saw a spider like this, and don’t know if she is venomous? Help? I have her in a coffee can with one of her nests and a flower. I don’t want to let her go if she is venomous. Real creepy looking

  42. Ashley says:

    I have killed 6 dark brown spiders in my house in the last 2 days. They move very fast I haven’t really studied them I also do not have a picture. I live in a log cabin house and they are also in the buildings are my house. I have also seen them outside as well. If anyone has any kind of answer please let me know thanks.

  43. laurie belthazard says:

    hi, I’m so hoping you can tell me what this weird spider mis, first of all I live in upstate NY. The spider seemed to be aggressive toward me when I got close to it. It is the size of a quarter and it has a large orange hump on its back, maybe a little yellow, but not much on its hump also, it has brown and whitish legs that have hair on them. I cant seem to find it on the computer anywhere. Please can you help me???

  44. Vickie Coulter says:

    There has been this spider outside our front window all summer now. She looks like she has a peanut shell for a body, and these striped legs. Does anyone know what she could be??? We had an awful storm yesterday and she was holding on to her web (what was left of it) as tight as she could and trying not to blow away. I felt so bad, I brought her in and put her in a jar with her latest kill, and some water. She seems to be doing better. It is nicer today, so I am letting her go free this afternoon. What kind of spider has a striped peanut shell like body?

  45. Meg says:

    I found this spider in my yard this morning after it stopped raining. He was standing in one place poking his legs around and moved very slowly. He’s all scrunched up in the pic but with legs expanded, about 2 inches wide. Has a rock-like texture with two black eye-like dots on its back and gray stripes on the legs. I live in Eastern Washington State and have never seen one!

  46. Stacie says:

    My husband and I found a pretty large spider in the car this morning. I live in Nevada and I have never seen a spider like this before. It had a fat yellowish greenish abdomen and pretty long legs, as I stated before it was pretty big so I know it was not a daddy long legs. If you could help me identify this spider that would be great.

  47. Amber P says:

    My mom found this spider on the kitchen counter in our Southwest Michigan home. She said she noticed it was on water when she was capturing it so maybe it’s one that is attracted to water. Never have seen one like it before, I call it’s front “feelers” little boxing gloves and my boyfriend says he thought they looked like little crab pinchers.

    This is not a picture we took of it, but this picture looks exactly like it, but it came with no info on the spider when I found it. Our spider is a bit more hairy and just a little darker brown. The actual size of the one we have is about 2 1/2 to 3 inches leg span. Please help me out and tell me what type of spider this is!!! It’s so ugly! haha

    Amber

  48. kc says:

    i have a spider that is the size of a nickle is tan mostly and a tan butt with a white stripe down it with little white dots surrounding the white stripe.

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