Overview of Spider Species in the United States
Micrathena gracilis, commonly known as spined micrathena, is one of the spiny orb weaver spiders. The spiny body serves to protect them from birds, lizards or other predators. The hard spines should hurt predators when dealing a bite. These easy to recognize, unobtrusive forest denizens are abundant throughout the Eastern United States and especially common […]
The spider species Micrathena mitrata, commonly called white micrathena, is an orb weaving spider. They have a large bulbous white abdomen with spines and black markings and are found throughout the Eastern United States as well as Central and South America. Description The white micrathena has a brown and small cephalothorax (head) and legs and […]
The arrow-shaped orb weaver, Micrathena sagittata, is a strange-looking, arrow-shaped spider that is commonly found in gardens of the Eastern United States. The spider’s abdomen is large and yellow with two large red and black spines on its back. Its specific name “sagittata” is Latin for “arrowed” and it refers to the shape of the abdomen. Arrow-Shaped […]
The red-backed jumping spider, Phidippus johnsoni, is found throughout the Western United States and Canada. The spider has a black body and the back of its abdomen is bright red. Description of the Red-Backed Jumping Spider The redbacked jumping spider is generally quite easy to identify. It’s body is predominantly black with a brightly red […]
The gray house spider, Badmuna longinqua, is a medium sized black and gray spider originally native to Australia. It has been introduced to New Zealand, South America, Europe, South Africa and the United States. Despite the reputation of Australian spiders, the grey house spider is harmless for humans and larger pets. Due to its secretive […]
The spinybacked orbweaver is a small harmless spider with six characteristic spines along the back of its abdomen. It can come in a variety of colors. The native range of this species is throughout the Southern United States, Central America and the Caribbean. The spiny backed orb weaver has also been introduced to Hawaii and […]
Aphonopelma eutylenum, the California ebony tarantula is a large spider that can be found in California and its surrounding states including Northwestern Mexico. Mostly, they are found in the grassy areas around the Eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area down to San Diego. As many other spiders, the California ebony tarantula is a […]
The Steatoda grossa, commonly called the false black widow spider or cupboard spider can be found throughout the United States. It is from the family of Theridiidae, the same as the black widow spiders. They build similar webs and have a similar body shape and color as black widows. Hence, their common name false widow. […]
Latrodectus mactans, the Southern black widow is a close relative of the Northern black widow and the Western black widow. The female of all three species is mostly black with a distinctive red hourglass pattern on the underside of its abdomen. They can inject a potent venom with their bite with potential severe medical effects. […]
Latrodectus, the black widow spider is one of the most famed and feared spider genera in the world. Hollywood tends to use only one kind of Black Widow in its films. It is always shown as a shiny black spider with a red hourglass on the dorsal side of its abdomen. However, this is not […]
