Types of Spiders: An Identification Guide

There are no true flying spiders: what people call flying spiders are spiders "ballooning" — releasing silk threads that catch the wind and carry them through the air, sometimes for miles. It's mostly done by spiderlings and small species, and it is how spiders colonize new areas, including the Joro spider now spreading through the Southeast.

North America has roughly 3,000–4,000 spider species — Texas alone has about 900 — but most homeowners only ever meet a few dozen. This guide sorts the common US types by how people actually describe them — by size, color and state — and flags the only two groups that are dangerous: widows and recluses.

Flying spiders: ballooning

A ballooning spider climbs to a high point, raises its abdomen and lets out fine strands of silk. Air currents lift it off; University of Bristol researchers reported in 2018 that spiders also sense the Earth's electric field and can lift off on electrostatic forces even without wind. Most balloonists are tiny; adults over about ⅓ inch are too heavy. In fall you may see fields or fences coated in glinting gossamer threads after a mass ballooning event. Wolf spider babies ride on their mother's back for days before ballooning off on their own.

The Joro spider (Trichonephila clavata), first spotted in Hoschton, Georgia, in 2013, spreads partly this way, which is why headlines call it a "flying spider." University of Georgia researchers describe it as about 3 inches across with legs, yellow and blue-black striped, and not a threat to people.

How to identify a spider: four clues

1. Web: orb (wheel), tangled cobweb, sheet with funnel, or no web at all (hunters).
2. Eyes: eight in most spiders; six in recluses and spitting spiders. Big forward eyes mean a jumping spider; two large eyes with eyeshine mean a wolf spider.
3. Body and legs: round vs elongated abdomen; banded, spiny or plain legs; legs held forward or sideways.
4. Where and when: region, indoors or out, season.

A tip from ID communities: people regularly call big hairy floor spiders "huntsman" — in most of the US these are wolf spiders, and the eye arrangement settles it in seconds.

Common types of spiders

Orb weavers — about 200 species in North America (UC IPM). Includes the yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia, black-and-yellow with a zigzag in the web), the cross orb weaver, the marbled orb weaver and barn spiders. Harmless.

Cobweb spiders — tangled webs: common house spider, false widows, and the true widows.

Funnel weavers — sheet webs with a funnel in lawns, shrubs and basements; around 300 North American species.

Cellar spiders — "daddy longlegs" in basements. See house spiders.

Jumping spiders — around 300 North American species; small, fuzzy, big-eyed daytime hunters. See jumping spider.

Wolf spiders — large, hairy ground hunters; females carry egg sacs and babies. See wolf spider.

Crab spiders — hold their front legs out sideways and walk crab-like. The goldenrod crab spider waits on flowers for bees; ground crab spiders (Xysticus) are brown and live in leaf litter. Harmless.

Sac spiders — pale yellow, hide in silk sacs; minor bites.

Recluses — brown recluse and relatives. See brown recluse look-alikes.

Spiders by color

• Black spiders: black widow (glossy, red hourglass), false widow (dull, no hourglass), bold jumping spider (white spots), parson spider (white mark), southern house spider female. See black widow look-alikes.
• Brown spiders: wolf spiders, funnel weavers, fishing spiders, ground spiders, brown recluse, brown widow.
• Red spiders: red widow (Florida), woodlouse hunter (Dysdera crocata, red legs and front body, cream abdomen; eats pill bugs), some jumping spiders with red abdomens such as Phidippus johnsoni in the West.
• Yellow and green: yellow garden spider, goldenrod crab spider, yellow sac spider, green lynx spider (bright green, Southern US; UF/IFAS notes it can shift from yellow to green to pink), magnolia green jumper.

Tiny red "spiders"

Almost every "tiny red spider" post on r/whatsthisbug gets the same answer: a mite, not a spider.

Colorado State University Extension says clover mites breed in turf from fall to spring, wander indoors on warm days, and go away on their own once summer heat arrives. Keeping a 3-foot grass-free strip next to sunny foundation walls and sealing window gaps cuts down on them.

Big spiders

• Tarantulas (Aphonopelma): Southwest, Texas, Oklahoma, up to 4–5 inches across; males wander in fall.
• Huntsman spiders: Gulf Coast, Florida, California; flat, legs spread sideways, up to 5 inches.
• Fishing spiders (Dolomedes): near water and on docks, sometimes in basements; up to 3–4 inches across.
• Wolf spiders: the Carolina wolf spider reaches 3+ inches with legs.
• Golden silk and Joro spiders: big orb weavers with huge golden webs; golden silk females run 1–1½ inches in body length (UF/IFAS).

None of these big spiders are medically dangerous; a bite can hurt.

Spiders by state

Florida spiders: UF/IFAS lists golden silk orb weaver ("banana spider"), spiny-backed orb weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis, white or yellow shell-like body with red spines), four Argiope species, green lynx, regal jumping spider, magnolia green jumper, at least eleven Habronattus jumpers, bolas spiders, ogre-faced spiders, southern house spider, and four widows: southern black, northern black, brown and red. Add huntsman and wall crab spiders. No recluse population is established in Florida.

Texas spiders: brown recluse and western/southern black widows, Texas brown tarantula, southern house spider, green lynx, black-and-yellow Argiope, crab spiders and many wolf spiders. Texas A&M's field guide notes the state has about 900 species ranging from ⅛ inch to over 4 inches, and that widows and recluses are the ones to avoid.

Michigan spiders: wolf spiders, dark fishing spider, cross orb weaver, yellow garden spider, funnel weavers, cellar spiders, jumping spiders, and the northern black widow in woodpiles and rural outbuildings. Brown recluses are not established.

"Paper spiders": not a recognized species. Searchers usually mean flat spiders that hide in paper-thin cracks — like wall crab spiders (Selenops) in Florida and Texas — or Halloween decorations.

When a spider ID matters

For most spiders, identification is curiosity. It matters when:

• the spider is glossy black with a red or orange hourglass (widow);
• it's tan, with six eyes and a violin, in the south-central US (recluse);
• someone has been bitten and feels unwell — keep the spider and see a doctor. See spider bites.

Image-search apps misidentify spiders often; a sharp photo posted to an ID community, or your county extension office, is more reliable. If too many spiders are the problem, see how to get rid of spiders.