Piraurina Mira, commonly called nursery web spider, is a brown spider species with long legs. They are endemic to the Eastern USA.
American nursery web spiders are often confused with wolf spiders or fishing spiders.
The best way to identify Nursery Web Spiders from their lookalikes is by examining their eye patterns. If you are looking at a spider specimen at home, it is best to take a full resolution picture of the spider and zoom in to the eyes.
The Pisaurina mira spider has a lower row of four eyes on a nearly straight line. The two outer eyes of the upper row are higher and the two center eyes are a bit closer to the lower row. Wolf spiders and fishing spiders do not have their lower eyes on one row.
Pisaurina Mira Description
The Pisaurina mira tend to have two different looks to them (As shown in the above photos). One is to have a lighter tan body with a wide deeper brown stripe down the middle with medium length legs, and the other is to have less of a stripe showing up and more of a widespread pattern with long legs.
Size
The body of an adult Nursery Web Spider grows to around 3/4 inches (19 mm). They sometimes have medium length legs and some have long legs. With the longer legs, it would not be surprising if they reached 2 ½” (64 mm) to 3” (76 mm) across.
Web
The only time the Nursery Web Spider spins webbing, is to place their eggs in a sac and carry it around underneath the cephalothorax. As the eggs grow closer to hatching, the mother will attach the eggs to a leave or branch or something, and then it will stand guard over the eggs until they hatch.
Nusery Web Spider Bite
The Nursery Web Spider is listed in the category of little to no risk of danger. When they are protecting young or eggs, they tend to become more aggressive. The bite is usually very mild. Localized pain and minor swelling may occur. There can also be localized tissue damage along the line of a large pimple on a rare occasion.
Scientific Classification of Pisaurina Mira
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Infraorder: Araneomorphae
- Family: Pisauridae
- Genus: Pisaurina
- Species: Pisaurina Mira
Common Names
Nursery web spider or American nursery web spider.
Distribution of the Nursery Web Spider in the USA
The nursery web spider can be found throughout the Eastern States of the United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
More Nursery Web Spider Pictures
Found under garden row cover in Randolph, Vermont, early September, 2020.
Hello William,
Thanks for getting in touch and for this great picture. This is an American nursery web spider (absolutely harmless): http://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
What is this? Its leg span is around 1.5 inches. I think it was outdoors and climbed into our mailbox, but came in when I brought in the mail (really startling me when I laid out the mail). We live in Warren, RI.
Hello Tom, thanks for this great shot. This is most certainly an American nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira). It’s not a medically significant spider: http://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
Hi. My son found this spider in the grass in Lynchburg VA. It didn’t match the basic VA spider photos. Any idea?
Hello Michelle,
This is a female American nursery web spider. They are not medically significant:
https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
Found this lovely lady while deadheading my roses
Hello Ken, this appears to be some type of gravid fishing spider (Dolomedes sp.). They are also part of the nursery web spider family (Pisauridae): https://usaspiders.com/dolomedes-fishing-spider/
Beautiful shot!
Can you identify this spider? It was outside on my porch. It’s about 2 1/2” long.
Hello Jody, thanks for getting in touch! This is an American nursery web spider (Pisaurina sp.). It’s not a medically significant spider. You can read more about it here: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
I’m attaching a pic of yellow spider for ID.
It was in the folds of a piece of landscaping cloth I didn’t see any web.
It’s size including the legs was approximately 1” -1.25”.
Hello Christine, thanks for getting in touch! This is an American nursery web spider (Pisaurina sp.). The strong yellow coloration is a bit odd. That might be due to something the spider ate or it could also appear more yellow on the photograph. The spider is not medically significant. You can read more about it here: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
Can you identify this spider? It is located in Toms River NJ
Hello Jody, thanks for getting in touch! This is an American nursery web spider (Pisaurina sp.). It’s not a medically significant spider. My best guess is that it is the species Pisaurina brevipes.
You can read some information about a close relative of it here: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
This spider was found in a small potted fuchsia plant on my deck in Massachusetts. I’m assuming it’s a nursery spider?
Hi Darcy, wow! What an incredible shot! Yes, this is definitely a Pisaurina nursery web spider! Thanks for uploading this!
I appreciate you taking a look at this, as I have tried for a couple of hours to identify it but to no avail. It’s a pretty clear pic, so I think it would be helpful to others if you can identify it. I didn’t measure it, but it is quite large. I found it at the foundation of my house in Ohio. Thanks!
Hi Steven, thanks for uploading this picture. This ist most likely a gravid female Nursery web spider: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
Any ideas on this spider. It was highly aggressive while it was hunting for other insects. At one point caught a fly(about the same size as it’s head), killed it and dropped it’s body. This spider including legs is around 3 to 4 inches diameter.
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing this great shot! This is an American nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira): https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
Unidentified spider found on pavement at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, mid-morning.
Hello David, thanks for uploading this great shot! This is a gravid American nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira). They appear very frequently throughout the U.S. at this time of the year: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
I just moved to Ohio from Arizona. I am not familiar with this spider…any ideas? My husband wants to kill it but I don’t mind spiders if they are non aggressive and if you get bit you won’t die.
Hello Michelle, thanks for getting in touch! This is definitely a nursery web spider. It’s not medically significant and there is no need to kill it 🙂 thanks for convincing your husband 🙂
Woke up with this in our bed and it bit my husband. We noticed the egg sack and put her outside. Please identify?
Hello Pamela, thanks for getting in touch! This is an American nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira). It’s not medically significant.
Any idea what kind of spider this is? It’s about 1.5 or so.. found in my laundry room in Arkansas.. 😩
Hello Lora, this is a nursery web spider, as you’ve identified correctly.
Found this one on my kids play set in Massachusetts. Didn’t seem to move a lot. Is this a grass spider?
Hello BI, thanks for uploading this shot. The spider in your pic is a nursery web spider. Most likely Pisaurina dubia, possible Pisaurina mira. They are not medically significant: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
Please identify the spider that I have a photo of. Thank you 😊
Hello Julie, thanks for getting in touch! This is a dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus), a close relative of the nursery web spider. You can read more about it here: https://usaspiders.com/dolomedes-fishing-spider/
Found this guy crawling up the patio furniture. Kind leathery, the body was the size of a dime. What do you think? Near Cape Cod, MA. Coastal area.
Hello Marsha, thanks for uploading this great shot! This is definitely some type of nursery web spider (Pisauridae). Most likely Pisaurina mira: https://usaspiders.com/pisaurina-mira-nursery-web-spider/
It’s not a medically significant spider.
Can you please help me figure out what type of spider this is?
Hello Ryan, it looks too dark for a nursery web spider. It’s hard to make out the details of the spider but given the size and posture, it is probably a fishing spider: https://usaspiders.com/dolomedes-fishing-spider/
If it’s not a fishing spider, it is a wolf spider. Both of them are not medically significant.
Is this a nursery web spider? Its been there for a few days, on an outdoor window frame of the house, in a somewhat shady spot, near Birmingham, Alabama. It’s body is almost an inch long and with legs, about 3″ long.