Steatoda
(False Widows)

Steatoda, commonly known as False Widows, is a genus of spiders in the family Theridiidae. Steatoda spiders have been sighted 818 times by contributing members. Based on collected data, the geographic range for Steatoda includes 31 countries and 47 states in the United States. Steatoda is most often sighted indoors, and during the month of April.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Steatoda

Other Common Names

False Black Widows, Cupboard Spiders, Cobweb Weavers, Cobweb Spiders, Cob Web Spiders, Comb-footed Spiders, Tangle-web Spiders, Gumfoot-web Spiders

Author

Carl Jakob Sundevall, 1833

Sightings Overview

There have been 818 confirmed sightings of Steatoda (False Widows), with the most recent sighting submitted on March 19, 2025 by Spider ID member garden_spider. The detailed statistics below may not utilize the complete dataset of 818 sightings because of certain Steatoda sightings reporting incomplete data.

Web: 31% of the time, Steatoda spiders are sighted in a spider web (Sample size: 818)
Sex: 46 female and 127 male.
Environment: Steatoda has been sighted 243 times outdoors, and 602 times indoors.
Outdoors: Man-made structure (167). Low foliage (13). High foliage (4). Ground layer (19). Under rock or debris (32). Freshwater river, lake, stream (1). Open field, pasture, grassland (5). Forest (1). Desert area (1).

Location and Range

Steatoda (False Widows) has been sighted in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

Steatoda has also been sighted in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.