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Common Spiders You Might Find Lurking In Your Home (& What To Do)
By KIMBERLY SMITH and DEIRDRE MUNDORF
Brown Recluse
These light to dark brown spiders are the most threatening arachnids you may find in your home and can be identified by their violin-like marking on the thorax.
Bites from a brown recluse are dangerous, with some resulting in necrosis. If you develop symptoms like fever, chills, or nausea after a bite, seek medical attention immediately.
Black Widow
These spiders have shiny, black bodies with distinctive hourglass markings and potent venom that causes swelling, abdominal pain, and sweating but rarely ends in death.
Sac Spider
Common across most of the U.S., sac spiders are cream to light tan. Though more aggressive than most arachnids, their bites — while painful — are not considered serious.
Hobo Spider
Popular in the Pacific Northwest U.S., these funnel-web spiders are difficult to identify with the naked eye. They are bad at crawling, so stay close to the ground.
As such, you’re most likely to find these spiders in your basement. Although their bites were once thought to be dangerous, there is little evidence that they cause serious damage.
American House
These black-and-white speckled spiders create messy-looking cobwebs in room corners that help manage a home’s bug population without presenting a danger to humans.