Login
Register
Comments & ID Thoughts
I am really hoping for help identifying this spider. My initial concern is that it is a Brown Recluse. I've read that they are often misidentified tho.It was at least the size of a silver dollar with its legs & came out from behind an electric fireplace mantle which is flush to the wall with a few small openings for wires, ect. I'm sure there is alot of dark space for spiders to make their selves at home inside it & would really like to know what I'm dealing with before I go looking. I also have several pets that I'm concerned for.Unfortunately this was the only picture I could get of it but I'd appreciate any help identifying. Thanks!!
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Mar 9, 2025
- Photographed: Mar 7, 2025
- Spider: Artema atlanta (Giant Daddy-long-legs Spider)
- Location: Phoenix , Arizona, United States
- Spotted Indoors: Other
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes:
Apr 16, 2018
Apr 16, 2018
Gilbert, 
If it helps, there are no brown recluse in Arizona. Down around Yuma, you can find desert recluse. I find no medical records of them biting.
Your spider looks to have a pattern on the abdomen and some visible hairs on the legs.
That rules out Loxoceles.
More likely a funnel weaver and those are all harmless.
My guess would be a giant cellar spider Artema atlanta
https://spiderid.com/picture/13495/
Maybe this is a giant daddy longlegs spider (Artema atlanta)?
This spider is really adorable!
@Kat260 It’s quite harmless. I only have regular Cellar Spiders and my cats and dogs have never been interested in them. Spiders bite in self-defense or to defend offspring. They have very pressure-sensitive bodies and need to avoid becoming trapped or crushed. That’s their motivation. They bite us mammals if we have skin pressed against them for any reason. I’ve been bitten outdoors by spiders that got trapped in work gloves and my boots. My household spiders have never bitten me. If they’re alive in our house, they have been finding things to eat. 🙂