Spider Identification Guide
Use this page to help identify a spider by comparing its size, color, markings, and body shape with our library of spider pictures.
Below, you can also browse visitor-submitted spider photos and identification discussions. While not every match is exact, these examples may help narrow down what you found.
If your concern is a possible bite rather than the spider itself, see our spider bite pictures and treatment information for additional guidance.
Spider Identification Chart: Match What You See
Find the row that sounds most like your spider. A description alone can never confirm a dangerous species, but it can tell you what deserves a closer look. Where you live matters too, since most species keep to known ranges.
| What you see | Most likely spider | Dangerous? | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shiny black, round belly, red hourglass on the underside | Black widow | Yes | Black widow guide |
| Tan or brown, dark violin mark behind the head, plain uniform legs, six eyes | Brown recluse | Yes | Brown recluse identification |
| Tan or brown widow shape, orange hourglass, spiky round egg sacs | Brown widow | Mildly | Brown widow guide |
| Brown or gray, hairy, a lighter stripe down the back, hunts on the ground | Wolf spider | No | Wolf spider guide |
| Black, fuzzy, compact, with a white or orange dot on the back, moves in jumps | Bold jumping spider | No | Jumping spider guide |
| Brown with chevron markings on the abdomen, builds a funnel-shaped web | Hobo spider or another funnel weaver | No, despite the reputation | Hobo spider guide |
| Bright silver belly, hangs under a flat web near water | Silver orb spider | No | Silver orb guide |
| Large yellow-and-black spider with a zigzag band in a wheel web | Garden spider (Argiope) | No | Garden spider guide |
| Long yellow body, golden silk web strung high between trees | Golden silk orb-weaver, the banana spider | No | Banana spider guide |
| Glossy brown, round belly with faint pale marks, messy tangle web indoors | False widow (Steatoda) | Mildly, often mistaken for a widow | Compare photos |
| Bright green, long-legged, in gardens and orchards | Orchard spider, sometimes miscalled a green widow | No | Dangerous spider overview |
| White or yellow spider sitting motionless in a flower | Crab spider | No | Compare photos |
| Huge, fast, tan, in desert country, not in a web | Camel spider, not a true spider at all | No venom | Camel spider facts |
Two honest cautions. First, color and markings vary inside every species, so treat the chart as a starting point and confirm against real photos. Second, range matters more than people expect: a “brown recluse” spotted far outside the central and southern United States is usually a lookalike, most often a wolf spider or a funnel weaver.
If your real question is about a bite rather than the spider, start with the spider bite pictures and bite identification chart instead.
Reader Encounters: Identification Wins From the Archive
Three condensed reader stories that show identification working the way it should: calmly, with a container and a photo, and without anyone getting bitten.
Shawn: the doorway monster was an orb weaver
Shawn walked out his front door into a quarter-bodied spider hanging six inches from his face in a web the size of a card table, and retreated indoors with, in his words, a few choice expletives. With the porch light on it turned into a scene from Charlotte’s Web: a big orb weaver calmly eating a moth in the middle of its wheel. Another reader on this page identified it for him. Startling, harmless, and gone in a few days, which is the usual orb weaver story.
DeeJay: the spiky egg sacs gave it away
DeeJay’s mailbox, wash bucket, porch chair, and bike seat all turned out to be hosting widow spiders, and the round egg sacs covered in spikes, like tiny naval mines, are what identified the brown widows. With an immune-compromised daughter at home she could not fog the place, so it became patrol work: flip the furniture, check the undersides, crush the sacs. The spiky sac is the single most reliable brown widow tell, worth knowing anywhere they are spreading.
Addie: the pat-a-pat in the dark
Addie heard a soft pat-a-pat-a-pat near her pillow at night and talked herself out of it, until it crossed her husband’s head two minutes later. The tan, velvety spider with a two-inch leg span went into a bird-feeder tube and got a portrait taken: a fishing spider, almost certainly a stowaway from a camping trip, big enough to be alarming and harmless enough to release outside. Catch, photograph, compare, release. That is the whole method, and nobody had to get close.
Sorry, no picture is available yet-I took it on a cellphone.
It is a light brown color with dark brown stripes along its legs.It also has an orange looking stripe down its back. It isn’t very big, maybe 2 inches big uncurled,but its legs are very thin. Any help?
I went outside and I found a metallic white body with black and yellow spotted leg spider dead on the ground. I can not find anywhere what it is. I have lived in New Mexico all my life and I have never seen anything like this. If anyone has any ideas on what it is that would be great!
Thanks,
Ashley
I live in Morgantown , West Virginia. This spider was on the handle end of a tennis racket on my back deck. I do live on the edge of woods.
I can tell you from my research in looking for my spider, that number 20, 32, and 48 are garden spiders. My spider’s body covers a quarter and it is fairly black in color. I took pictures of it but don’t know how to place it on the net. I found it crawling across my living room floor. I found pictures on a site tht resembled it just not quite right. The mouse spider and a trap door spider, which fit close in size and color.
Found a red spider, black legs (white spots at the joints), 3/8 inches long, has dark bands around tail section, almost like a bee. I thought it was the red fuzzy cow ant (wasp) until I counted the 8 legs.
I live in central CT. This spider lives outside of my garage & has a very large, detailed web. There were 2 spiders on the same web (different kinds) but 1 has disappeared. I wonder if he was eaten by this larger one. We seem to have several different kinds living around our house but this is the largest, ugliest one. Does it have a specific name?
I am afraid of spiders yet they intrigue me.
Thank you
Trish
Hello. This spider has taken refuge in the top of my front porch. I am an avid spider-hater, when they are inside, but as long as they are outside I am fine. I will be the one oohing and ahhing them in their glorious webs. I just am curious about what type this one is? I have spent hours trying to find one similiar on your site and many others, but no such luck has fallen upon me. Can you please tell me (1) what kind of spider is it and (2) is it poisonous to humans or dangerous to my dogs? Thank you so uch . I love your website. I live in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina if that helps.
I live in South Florida and was out in my yard with the dogs, luckily I had my flashlight and didn’t walk into it, but the web seemed like it was just floating in the air….don’t quite know what it was attached to. I have never seen anything like it…..can you identify it?
Thank you so much!
I found this spider in the top corner, outside edge of a door frame. The door goes to the outside. I did not see any web. I live in Denver Colorado and am not sure what type of spider this is, can you help me identify it?
Steve
Sir, I came across your web site and wanted to see if you could help me identify this spider. We live in Colorado, and my brother found this one around the Highlands Ranch area.
I LOVE spiders, and have had tranula’s since I was a kid, so I love your web site.
There are two possiblilties, one is a Wolf Spider, although I have never seen one gray or this big, well in Colorado anyway; when I was stationed in California we seen some huge wolf spiders, but always brown.
The other is a male tranula, but I am unsure of the species. This is the right shape and body structure of one.
This measures about 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches from leg tip to leg tip. It will not let you get close enough to hold it, but otherwise is a beautiful spider.
Can you please let me know. I would truly appreicate it. Thank you,
Laramie R.
[email removed]
I found this spider outside of my walk-out basement but also found one in the storage area in my basement. I have two small children and I am nervouse it might be dangerous. I live about 30 miles North of Philadelphia, PA.
My kids found this one crawling across the kitchen floor this morning going
from the table (which is near the sliding glass door) to the kitchen island.
I trapped it under a cup and then double bagged it in ziplocs. It could
easily fit on a dime, is entirely brown with lighter brown on the upper part
of the body. There aren’t any stripes on it but it does have two browns on
the upper part of the body, just not sure if it is a fiddle shape or not.
I’m not getting close enough too it (even with it being in a ziploc) to look
at it’s eyes since that would help narrow down the type. We live in Northwest
Florida and have had issues with brown and black widows around the outside of
the house before (one black widow in the house) and even though this isn’t one
of those I want to make sure it isn’t a brown recluse which we do have in this
area. Thanks for the help.
~Jennifer
I found this weird spider and after looking at your website, thought maybe you could identify it. Unfortunately, it died and shriveled up before I could get a good picture, but I am hoping the yellow and black design on the underside will be meaningful. Kind of looks like a scull and crossbones to me! It was odd because it walked like a crab. You can’t see it too well in the pictures but the front had a fairly large yellow area with a solid black design on it. Legs were red and checkerboard. Any ideas? I live in a suburb of Chicago and I’ve never seen anything like this one.
Thanks.
I stumbled across your site and thought it would be great to send two pictures to you to help me ID some spiders that I’ve found around my house, but can’t figure out:
I live in Southern California — Rancho Cucamonga, to be exact (roughly 50 miles north east of Los Angeles and at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains).
Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)
I tried to take a photo of the spider I just killed, but it was worthless. It’s a brown spider that’s about 3/8 of an inch long, has a rounded abdomen towards the thorax, and comes to a point at the end. The abdomen is a lighter brown than the thorax or head, and has some darker-colored spots on it, as well as two markings on either side that look like angel wings. The legs don’t appear to be extremely long, but, being dead, it’s curled up, and I have no intention of using my only pair of tweezers to find that out! I just moved to Honolulu, Hawai’i, and this is the first spider I’ve encountered in my home. It died on my couch, may it rest in peace, and may it’s bretheren stay outside of my home… but I’m still curious as to it’s species. Any clue?
For John #516… I have the exact same type of spider living at my porch light. I also have one living in between some hedges. Their webs are very intricate. The bottom of the spider has four white dots, right?
this spider is outside our house im wonderin if its poisonous because i have a 5 month old daughter and i take her outside every once a while. it had a web 4 ft by 4ft on top of our house between 2 cables but we had a storm last night and now its on the ground with an even bigger web im not sure about the width but its 7 to 8ft high now
Any idea what sort of Spider this is ?? our dog found it in the garden earlier very hairy lookin thing never seen one before and we thought it was a baby tarantula !as its very hairy but didnt realise there were so many different types of garden spider till I looked it up on the web , hope you can help.
Tracy.
this spider was alive not now outside of my house in columbus ohio, what kind is it, is it dangerous, cause i am worried it has family!!!!!
I dont have a photo but live in orlando florida , near a pond and conservation…nothing big.
I have a spider that has moved with me through 3 houses , its redish , has a look simliar to a black widow , its bottom/butt turns a silver color when they get older/ more mature and they mainly like to live under boxes and tiny low to the ground crevices and do not make webs or climb walls and you really never see them until you lift something up. They are easily killed with the swiping of a broom over them…they mush instantly. They look pretty serious.
Im wondering how serious they are and if I can get a name for these little buggers.
9-14-08
I found the same spider crawling in my little girls tent and have no idea what kind of spider it is. I not sure if i should be afraid or just scoot it out on its marry way.
If someone has identified it or someone has told Duane, please let me know. There has been at least 4 spotted in our fourplex and we have 11 children playing around here.
Thank you (from a very concered father)
Steve A.
Dan that is a male black widow
TOM L that is a brown widow samething as a black widow but brown
Taken 12 Sep 08 off Willow Creek, Prescott, Arizona
Any idea what species? Beautiful, almost tropical, coloring, and very tiny.
Regards,
Alan F.
This type of spider keeps popping up on my front porch, which is disconcerting for me. I have tried to figure out what it is, but none of my internet research has proven fruitful. Any information on what kind of spider it is would be greatly appreciated. I live southeast of Atlanta.
the picture i am providing came off of this website. i actually found one of these spiders at my dads farm house is ohio and actually was reasearching this spider when i cam across your website also reasearching another one. it is an argiope it is also called a bananna spider yellow garden spider zipper spider and golden orb spider and last lastly known as the writinf spider. they spin a zig zag web and hang waiting for the prey to fly into the web for attack because they have poor eyes sight. this spider is a harmless spider that is non venomous although can land a powerfull bite. the females are larger than the males and has a differant look to them. i wouldnt worry bout them and would feed them cause their webs are only thirtyfour percent effective
What kind of spider is this. I live in Iowa. I’m sending a photo to you via e-mail.
I have found these spiders in my place before.. and havent been able to get a good picture of them. This one has been running my window and wall today, I can’t find anywhere what it is?
Thanks,
Jessica
I stumbled across your website while trying to identify a particular spider. We have 2 of these spiders in our front yard. They created very intricate webs from the lower limbs of a plum tree to the bushes below. I am terrified of spiders and just want to know what we have in our yard. Hope you can help.
Concerned Mom
Georgia
I found a black, yellow and white spider on the outside door of my house in delaware. Can anyone tell me if it’s dangerous? I hate to kill it but it is freaking out my roommates. It looks similar to a picture of a wood spider I saw but that was from India.
So I’ve had a spider for a short while now. I caught it about a month and a half ago, and decided to keep it, considering it was pretty huge. Thought it would be interesting to watch and stuff, and I was so right about that. I put the spider in a critter carrier( clear, plastic cage ) to be sure it would not get out. The spider has made an amazing nest/web so far. I’m not sure what the spider is though! I thought it was a wolf spider, but I think it’s actually too big. When I put the cage together, I tossed in random wood bits and dirt from outside, along with a few larger pieces of bark, that kind of created a cave. The spider created two tunnels, and also one larger one, that sort of goes around the whole cage itself. I also thought it might be a wood spider, or at least what I called a wood spider. Not sure about that either. It’s very aggressive, and attacks most moving things in the cage. It will go after a metal rod if I put it in there. I would send a picture of the spider, and it’s habitat that sort of formed, but I currently don’t have a working camera.
The spider itself, was brown when I found it, with some paler brown markings along the top of it’s abdomen. Recently, it shed. Now looking at it once again, I’ve noticed that it’s darker in color, so closer to black. The spots are now a rusty brown/orange color. The spider is slightly larger than half dollar.
Any idea? I’ve had a lot of fun with this spider so far! Just watching it and such.
Oh, one other thing. It did not build the tunnels until I threw in a smaller, similar looking spider, which I am almost sure, was a wolf spider. The body shape was differ than it. The smaller spider disappeared completely, so I guessed that it became lunch. I also thought, that it was a male spider, which freaked me out a little. I don’t want babies!
Anyway, any help would be great. If a picture is needed, I can try and get a friend to take one with their cell.
I’ll try and check back here, or my email. Not sure where my answer to this will be =P
I found this spider in my house and can’t figure out what type it is. I live in South Central Georgia. Thanks in advance for any help.
I found a spider that looks like Robin #95, and sondra #62 last night in my bed. Is it dangerous?
I live in western NY (rochester area) the other night my wife and I were at the laundromat and she saw a large spider (about the size of a penny) moving along the floor. I personally am terrified of spiders so i didnt get up to get a look at it but she described it as ‘black with greenish spots on it’s back” and that the abdomen was flat. I looked up about Brown Recluse thinking it could be that but i don’t think they come in black. Does anybody know what this might be?
I found this spider in an extremly strategically placed web (right to the side of a light, near enough to catch a large number of moths and mosquitos when the light is on, but far enough away to stay dry when it rains. I’m quite comfortable having him live on my porch, as he disapears mysteriously during the day and reappears happily in his web at night. As long as he doesn’t try to move inside for the winter I’m quite satsified with these arangements.
I can’t find anything on what TYPE of spider he may be, however.
Unfortunately it came in a bag of grapes, of which i don’t know the originating country… shortly after discovery, it passed away…
Identification advice and/or suggestions appreciated!
Thanks,
Dave
ok guys one thing i wanted to clear up for everyone i dont know if it has been actually posted or not but here goes anyways a brown recluse is roughly about 1/2 inch in length(body not legs) and as the name describes it is brown may be light to dark shades but brown but it does have one very unique feature the brown recluse spider has a very distinct black violin patern on its back by its eyes if it doesnt have the violin it is NOT a brown recluse.
yes they are not web spinners but they do not live outside they are an indoor spider and they are called a recluse because they do not like the light and will run they are commonly found within bedding, shoes, cluttered or basicly anywhere that can keep they hidden hence recluse(reclusive or hiding) they do move very fast and they venom is deadly but if you are bitten you will now it with in 3 hrs the bite becaomes very painful and like everyone else has described the venom from a recluse causes necrosis( or rotting of the flesh) so if you think you have been bitten by a brown recluse seek medical attention immediatly for it is and extremely dangerouse spider how ever remember if it doesnt have a violin on its back it is not a recluse i know because when i lived in Cape Girardeau Missouri the apt i moved into i found 5 of them and because i know they are dominatly in the southern parts of the u.s i did some heavy research on them and came to find out that the spiders i was finding were in fact brown recluse’s.
how ever they do not dwell in basements or garages due to the fact that it gets too cold (unless finished) for them to survive and because i am a New Yorker I will tell you do to the weather pattern changes over the years and because I work for a moving and storage company that deals primarily with military moves yes recluses and widows are becomeing more common in the northern areas up here due to the fact that the weather is providing them with the climate they need to survive.
I didn’t get a picture of my spider because I didn’t think of it at the time. I had never seen this spider in the house before. It was on the basement wall and I captured it in a pill bottle. It was about the size of a dime including it’s leg span. It had a brown bulbous abdomen which looked smooth to me and a dark brown or black body with a blue pattern on the top of it’s head. The head was kind of small. I couldn’t see any marks on the underside of the spider. I hope I have given you enough information to find out if it is a dangerous one.
i may have been bitten by a spider i cant identify. it felt like a sting when i went to swat it i found a spider on the ground very mad it was small maybe half to three quarters of an inch with a triangle shape on it intire back with yellow dots on the triangle.
the rest of the spider i could see may have been dark brown to black
by the way i found your site very informitive. i learnt something to day thanks
I found this spider in our family room on the floor. It is the second one I’ve found in the last month. They are pretty fast (I think he lost a leg when I caught him) and this is about as big as a silver dollar. I live in Portland, Oregon. Do you know what this might be? Thanks.
Chris E.
Hello,
I have found two of these spiders in my house within the last 4 days. I live in a garden (basement) apartment in Chicago, IL. I have two very small children and would greatly appreciate if you could tell me if these are Hobo Spiders, Brown Recluse Spiders, or anything else I should be concerned with for that matter.
Thanks!
Couldn’t figure out how to maneuver in your site, so am sending directly
from my email. I hope this picture is clear enough to identify; I am
concerned because in your website, my spider looks a lot like #89 –
which someone chimed in as a brown recluse – from images I have seen of
recluses, it doesn’t look like one(?) For certain it is identical to #22
on your website, so whatever that spider is, I would like to know.
This is the 4th one I’ve found – always crawling on the floor, either
late evening or early morn. I live in Naples, FL. Cannot see too good in
pic, but back has a lightish beige oval mark on back of body, and same
color streak on upper portion of body. It is the size of a quarter, just
like your #22.
Please advise, as I am concerned for safety of my young daughter. Thanks
for any assistance you may provide.
D.Z. Naples, FL
Post # 502
also Argiope spider, harmless
Posts # 470, 485, 489
Argiope spider, harmless
I have a large spider on the outside of my loft window. It is rather large, approx 3/4″-1″ (including legs) and I don’t know if it is poisonous and if I should be worried about this being outside a home with children. I have a horrible fear of spiders and I am afraid it might come inside at night and bite my child.
It is light brown and dark brown in color (the best I can tell) or maybe light brown and black. The belly has 4 very small brown dots like this:
: : and what looks like a church bell—black with white outline. Does anyone know what this is and should I be worried? We live in northeast Tennessee.
well I’ve had MRSA 4 times in all now I have a hot bump forming on my left butt-cheek. Tell me I’m not prone to staph infections all within 2yrs.
Small with red back to 1/2 up then white stripeacross thorax, then black. fuzzy, southern az
Hi I found this spider in a friends house today and I was wondering if you could help me identfy it. I will be most greatul for your help! We live in Cranston Rhode Island.
Terri
Got ID for us?
Phoenix, Arizona