Spiders are common in houses all over the world. While most spider species are harmless to humans, some people find their presence unsettling. This article will provide an overview of what the most common house spider species look like, so you can identify any eight-legged visitors in your home.
Page Contents
- 1 What are the most common spiders found in homes?
- 2 What do cellar spiders look like?
- 3 What do jumping spiders look like?
- 4 What do wolf spiders look like?
- 5 What do house cobweb spiders look like?
- 6 What do black widow spiders look like?
- 7 What do brown recluse spiders look like?
- 8 How can I identify spiders in my home?
- 9 Are spiders helpful or harmful to homes?
- 10 What should I do if I find a spider in my home?
- 11 Conclusion
What are the most common spiders found in homes?
There are many different spider species, but only a handful are regularly found inside houses. The most common house spiders are:
- Cellar spiders
- Jumping spiders
- Wolf spiders
- House cobweb spiders
- Black widow spiders
- Brown recluse spiders
The prevalence of each species varies by geographic location. For example, wolf spiders and brown recluses are common in the southern United States, while cellar spiders can be found in houses across North America.
What do cellar spiders look like?
Cellar spiders (also known as daddy longlegs spiders) are named for their tendency to reside in dark, damp spaces like basements and cellars. They have very long, spindly legs and small bodies. Their legspan can reach up to 2 inches, but their bodies are under 0.4 inches long.
Cellar spiders have a round abdomen that is gray, brown, or black. Their legs are banded with alternating light and dark segments. They build messy, irregular webs in the corners of ceilings. Cellar spiders are harmless to humans.
Cellar Spider Identification
- Long, thin legs
- Small body
- Banded legs
- Build messy webs in corners
- Harmless to humans
What do jumping spiders look like?
As their name suggests, jumping spiders are adept jumpers that can leap up to 50 times their body length. They have a squat, hairy appearance and do not spin webs to catch prey.
Jumping spiders have a large front pair of eyes that gives them excellent vision. They come in a variety of colors like black, brown, gray, and sometimes iridescent greens or reds. Their bodies are generally less than 0.5 inches long.
Jumping spiders sometimes enter houses by accident. They are curious little spiders that will actively investigate if they sense movement or vibration. Jumping spiders are not aggressive and their bites cause only mild irritation in humans.
Jumping Spider Identification
- Short, very hairy body
- Large front eyes
- erratic jumping movements
- Variety of colors like black, brown, gray, green, red
- Bodies less than 0.5 inches long
- Not aggressive
What do wolf spiders look like?
Wolf spiders are named for their tendency to aggressively chase down prey like wolves. They are adept hunters with excellent eyesight. Wolf spiders are large, brown spiders that can grow over 1 inch long. They have thick, hairy bodies with long, sturdy legs.
Wolf spiders have a stripey or spotted pattern on their bulging abdomen, and dark brown bands on their legs. They do not spin webs. Instead, wolf spiders hunt on the ground, where they live and hide during the day. At night, they roam floors looking for insects or other small invertebrates to kill and consume.
Female wolf spiders carry egg sacs with them, which look like small balls of white cotton stuck to their spinnerets. Wolf spiders can bite humans but are not dangerous unless provoked.
Wolf Spider Identification
- Large, over 1 inch long
- Robust, hairy body
- Long, sturdy legs
- Stripes or spots on abdomen
- Live and hunt on the ground
- Females carry egg sacs
- Non-aggressive, but will bite in self-defense
What do house cobweb spiders look like?
House cobweb spiders build messy, chaotic webs in undisturbed corners of homes. These webs collect dust and take on a classic cobweb appearance. Two common house cobweb spider species are the common house spider and the American house spider.
The common house spider has an oval abdomen with a body length around 0.4 inches. Their legs are about 0.7 inches long and are coated with short hairs. Common house spiders vary from tan to dark brown and build webs in garages, sheds, and other dry locations in a home.
American house spiders look extremely similar but have longer front legs around 1 inch long. Their webs are found in basements, bathrooms,windows, and other damp places in the home. Neither cobweb spider is considered dangerous to humans.
House Cobweb Spider Identification
- Oval abdomen
- Short, hairy legs 0.7 inches long
- Tan to dark brown color
- Build messy, chaotic webs in corners
- Found in dry locations like garages and sheds
- Closely related to American house spider
- Harmless to humans
What do black widow spiders look like?
Black widow spiders have a notorious reputation as one of the only spider species in North America capable of inflicting serious harm to humans. They can be identified by the red or orange hourglass shape on their jet black abdomens.
Female black widow spiders have a shiny black rounded abdomen and long, thin black legs. Their bodies grow to around 0.5 inches long, with a legspan of 1.5 inches. Males are smaller with light stripes or spots on the abdomen.
Black widows make messy, tangled webs in dark, undisturbed places like woodpiles, garages, and basements. The venom of female black widow spiders is 15 times more potent than rattlesnake venom, however they are non-aggressive and only bite in self-defense. Antivenom exists to treat black widow bites.
Black Widow Spider Identification
- Shiny black body and legs
- Red or orange hourglass on abdomen
- Females up to 0.5 inches long
- Males smaller with light stripes
- Build messy webs in dark places
- Female bite is medically significant
What do brown recluse spiders look like?
Brown recluse spiders are well-known for their potentially dangerous bite. They can be identified by the characteristic violin shape on their back created by the leg joint meeting the abdomen. The “neck” of the violin points toward the abdomen.
Brown recluse spiders are about 0.4 inches long and 0.7 inches in legspan. They are a light to dark brown color with a slightly lighter abdomen. The legs lack any banding and are uniformly colored.
Brown recluses build irregular webs in garages, attics, and basements. They prefer to hide during the day and hunt at night. Most bites happen when spiders get trapped against human skin. While rare, their venom can cause necrotic lesions in humans if left untreated.
Brown Recluse Spider Identification
- Light to dark brown color
- Violin shape on back
- Uniform leg color without bands
- 0.4 inch body length
- Build irregular webs in dry, secluded locations
- Bite can cause necrosis but incidents are rare
How can I identify spiders in my home?
The best way to identify a spider in your house is to capture it alive for closer inspection. Try trapping it under a cup and transferring it to a clear jar. Look closely at the spider’s eyes, body shape, leg length, patterns, and behaviors to match it to one of the above common house spider species.
Online spider identification guides with photos and descriptions of common species by region can also be very helpful. If you are able to take a close-up photo of the unknown spider, experts may be able to provide an identification via websites like Reddit, Facebook groups, or arachnid forums.
It is not recommended to rely on bite symptoms alone to identify a spider species, as bites can have similar effects and multiple insects or mites can cause skin irritation. Proper identification requires capturing and studying the live spider specimen in question.
Tips for Identifying House Spiders
- Catch the live spider under a cup
- Transfer it to a clear jar for closer inspection
- Examine eyes, body shape, legs, patterns
- Use online guides with regional spiders
- Post photos on arachnid forums for expert ID
- Do not rely solely on bite symptoms
Are spiders helpful or harmful to homes?
Most common house spiders are harmless or even helpful to have around your home. Very few species like black widows and brown recluses can inflict medically significant bites. However, incidents are rare as these shy spiders prefer to flee rather than fight.
Spiders are excellent natural pest controllers. Their webs and venom help them catch and kill flies, mosquitoes, roaches, ants, and other insects that also find their way indoors. A few spiders can actually help reduce nuisance bugs in the home.
Of course, excessive spider populations indoors or large webs in frequented living spaces should still be removed as a nuisance. Overall though, the helpful pest control services of common house spiders generally outweigh any minor negatives.
Are House Spiders Helpful or Harmful?
- Helpful – Eat other insect pests like flies, mosquitoes, roaches
- Helpful – Reduce nuisance bugs naturally without chemicals
- Harmful – Rarely bite humans, with mild to severe effects
- Harmful – Webs can be nuisance if excessive
- Overall: Helpful – Pest control outweighs negatives
What should I do if I find a spider in my home?
If you find a spider in your house, the best course of action depends on the type of spider and location:
- Harmless spider like a daddy longlegs in an out of the way area can be left alone
- Nuisance harmless spider can be captured in a cup and released outside
- Venomous spiders like black widows behind furniture should be sprayed with insecticide
- Medically significant spiders in living areas should be removed by vacuum or professional
Bites are very rare from spiders accidentally encountered by humans. Never intentionally handle a spider you think may be dangerous. Reducing clutter, sealing cracks, installing yellow night lights, and using essential oils are effective, non-toxic ways to discourage spiders from entering your home as well.
What To Do If You Find a Spider
- Leave harmless spiders like cellar spiders alone
- Catch and release nuisance spiders outdoors
- Insecticide for venomous spiders in hidden areas
- Vacuum or call a professional for dangerous spiders in living spaces
- Avoid handling spiders directly
- Use deterrents like sealing cracks, eliminating clutter, yellow lights, essential oils
Conclusion
Common house spiders come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they can be identified by their eyes, body type, leg features, and behaviors. Cellar spiders, jumping spiders, cobweb spiders, wolf spiders, black widows, and brown recluses are frequently encountered indoor spider species.
Bites from dangerous spiders like black widows and brown recluses are rare. Most common house spiders are harmless to humans and even beneficial by controlling insect pest populations. Understanding what the most common residential spider species look like allows you to take appropriate action for coexisting or removing any spiders found in your home.