Comments & ID Thoughts
I’m curious to find out what kind of spider this is. The lighting isn’t great in this photo but it has golden brown legs, and a bulbous pearly white abdomen. I’ve seen them outside a lot in this area but now one of these little guys decided to move into my home and take over a plant for its home base. Needless to say, it’s a dead spider now, but I’d like to know what kind it is, and if it is poisonous.
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Jan 21, 2018
- Photographed: Jan 20, 2018
- Spider: Theridiidae (Cobweb Weavers)
- Location: Kissimmee, Florida, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: Yes
- Attributes:
Hi, welcome to Spider ID. 🙂 This is one of the Cobweb Spiders, I don’t recognize it as anything medically significant. It might be a Red House Spider (Nesticodes rufipes), but I can’t see it well enough to be sure.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1439291/bgimage
Okay, thank you! It’s funny, I panicked over these guys and yet I have several pet tarantulas. But personally, I like to assume spiders are poisonous until I’ve identified it, especially since I have young children.
Unless you have reason to think a spider might be an import (like if you found it hiding in some bananas) the only species of medical concern you need to familiarize yourself with for North America north of Mexico are Widows (Latrodectus spp.) and Recluse (Loxosceles spp.). If it’s not one of those, odds are good it’s not of medical concern.