

Spiders in this family have long and skinny legs with small bodies.
#Grass spider predators skin#
Their venom contains a cytotoxin that can cause necrotic skin lesions.Ĭellar spiders ( Pholcidae spp.) live in dark corners of cellars, crawl spaces, and garages. It is possible for them to seek shelter in clothing, shoes or other items that may bring them into association with humans. Recluse spiders like to hide in out of the way places that are not often disturbed, but they emerge at night to hunt for prey. It is best to look at the eye pattern recluse spiders have six equal sized eyes arranged in three pairs along the front of the head. The body size differs by gender the female body length is typically 12-16mm (not including legs), while the male’s length is 6-8mm, but with longer legs compared to that of the female.īrown Recluse spiders ( Loxosceles reclusa), are often identified by the violin-shaped marking on their cephalothorax, but other spiders may have similar markings.

The white abdominal stripes can distinguish this species from the black widow, but the white stripes are often difficult to see on darker colored brown widow spiders. The ventral side of the abdomen contains an orange or yellow colored hourglass shaped marking, brown shaded bands on leg segments, white spots on the abdomen, and white stripes marginally. The brown widow spider ( Latrodectus geometricus) can vary in color from white, dark brown, to almost black, however most are light or medium brown. Brown widows are a mottled tan and brown with black accents. The top of their abdomen has a row of red spots and the underside lacks a complete hourglass. Red widows have reddish-orange head, thorax and legs with a black abdomen. Males are much smaller than the females but have similar coloring. Identificationīlack widow spiders ( Lactrodectus mactans) adult females are a solid black spider with a bulbous abdomen (hind section) and a red hourglass on its underside (not on top). There are also brown widows found from Texas to Georgia to South Carolina as well as parts of California. There are various types of Black widow spiders- northern black widow, southern black widow and western black widow. Bites from widow spiders are painful, generally not fatal, but dangerous because they contain a nerve toxin. Widow spiders, Lactrodectus spp., are common throughout the United States. There are only a few spiders whose bite requires medical attention, such as the western or black widow spider, brown recluse spider, yellow sac spider and hobo spider. Spiders help to kill pests both inside and outside of buildings and are beneficial. They have two body regions, no antennae and eight legs. Spiders are arachnids and closely related to other arachnids like ticks, mites and scorpions.
