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.
saw a post somewhere cant find it though.. i live in north dakota and found two big black spiders with a white v on the back and black and brown striped fuzzy legs. the body wasnt too big but with legs included the bigger of the two was about a half inch to an inch bigger in diameter than a 50 cent piece. what is it?
i live in North Florida i have seen a large tan brown spider about the size of a half dollar. has what looks like a white cross on its back … my question is what is it…
About 2 years ago (I know that sounds funny but what I saw was not normal for where I live in Oregon) This spider had a couple of legs sticking out of some boards and as I passed by they retracted very quickly, So I came back with my dad’s RAID can and lifted the top board and I saw this very very dark teal-ish spider with a funky yellow pattern on its back. It was probably as big as a normal sized tuna can and sprayed the dang thing and I ran for my life because after I sprayed the spider it started chasing after me. I need help please!!!!! (sorry I couldn’t get a picture)
I found a tan legged, black bodied spider with a brown stripe down its back in my basement. has 8 legs and 2 shorter antena looking legs. Could you tell me if they are safe. its about an inch long with the legs slightly bent.
I live in Wakefield MA, and my house has had a few problems with daddy long legs. But the spider that I just saw in my bedroom was certainly not a daddy long legs. It is like a tan color and it has six legs. It was on the ceiling and I know there was a web because my dad had to get rid of it. I saw it climb down on its string of web from the ceiling and onto my pillow. I am fairly sure it’s missing a leg, (my dad tried to get it) and it has a huge abdomen. We are fairly sure it’s either a house spider, a jumping spider, or a comb clawed. I hope you can help us find out what type of spider this is and I am sorry I cannot supply a picture. Thank you.
Could you please help me identify this spider?
I found several in my bathroom in Ventura county CA.
Thanks!
Emily
what type of spider is this, I touched it, not knowing it was there???
I have a bunch of these spiders in my home. Everytime I turn around they are there. They are small, black, and have white dots on there backs. Can u help me figure oum what it is??
WHAT. IS. IT? I can’t find any info anywhere about it but it looks similar to Danielle’s post.
Please help.
I was in my room and saw a spider about 3/4 inch in diameter. It’s black and hairy. There are three yellow markings on the back. They remind me of a kissy face or puckered lips. When I tried to kill it, the spider jumped at me and expanded to about an inch and a half in diameter. Anyone able to tell me what kind it is?
I found a chubby, big tan spider with a black face near my front door that I’ve never seen before. How can I find out if it’s dangerous?
I have seen a few spiders in my home recently. The spider has a green body, black tipped legs “feet”, black fangs, and I have seen it 1/3 of an inch long to an inch long. I read somewhere that a bite from a spider with these traits can become necrotic like the brown recluse. Any idea what this spider is? I live in New Jersey.
Thanks
Well I have a question to ask also? My brother & I were doing the dishes and i went to clean some pot’s this big black spider with white dots on its body came crawling out of the pan and scared the heck out of me. I completely screamed my head off. I couldn’t even go near that part of the sink. What kind of spider is that? Is it poisonous or is it just a harmless black with white dots on its body? I really need an answer that question? Don’t be in a hurry to answer my question at any time. Just take your time okay.
Found a Nickel sized spider (including legs) on the sliding glass doors that led to my porch. It is black with two thick legs at the front and all the others were thinner. It hid in the door frame when it saw me. I think it may be a black house spider but I’m not sure. Couldn’t get a pic. (had to kill it) thanks in advance!
I have about 10 or more of these that ive seen today all over my patio. I live in San Francisco and im having trouble identifying. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,
Jeremy