Giant House Spider (Eratigena atrica)

The giant house spider has a brown furry body with lighter markings and long legs

The giant house spider is a dark brown spider with light spots in an arrow shape on a furry abdomen pointing toward its head. This common spider species has long fuzzy legs that help to identify it apart from the domestic house spider.

This huge brown spider can grow up to 0.73” (18.5 mm) and has a leg span of 3” (75 mm). Up close, you’ll notice that the spider has characteristic eight eyes set in two rows.

Another identifying feature of the giant house spider is its large, messy funnel web. You’ll notice the webs in corners, behind cupboards, in basements, or attics.

Brown Spider Identification: The giant house spider is identified by its distinctive long furry legs and dark-brown hairy body with light markings.

Types of Brown Spiders (with Pictures) – Identification Guide

If you spot a brown-looking spider indoors, you will probably ask yourself, “what is this brown spider in my house?” First, it’s vital to identify the type of brown spider. Although most brown and black spiders are harmless, a few species are dangerous. This means that you must take care if trying to get rid of any type of spider.

For example, a furry brown spider with black stripes on its legs can jump. There is also a brown spider with white spots on its back and a big round body with a venomous bite. Or you may find a yellow and brown spider in your garden spinning an orb web. Other types of little brown spiders look like black widows and have a painful bite and live behind messy webs.

This article is a guide to identifying common types of brown spiders you may find in your home. Descriptions and pictures of brown-colored spiders will also help you identify a dangerous spider from a harmless one.

Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata)

The banded garden spider has yellow, white and brown-black bands on its legs and body

The banded garden spider is a species of brown orb weaver spider with distinctive brown, tan, black, and yellow patterns on its legs and abdomen. The large spider has banded legs, an elongated brown oval abdomen, and black, white, and yellow stripes on its abdomen’s underside.

Female banded garden spiders are smaller than the more common yellow garden spiders (Argiope aurantia). They measure 0.59” to 1” (15 – 25 mm) long. The male spiders are significantly smaller, only growing up to 0.19” (5 mm) long.

You know you have these spiders in your garden by their intricate webs. The female spider spins beautiful and intricate orb webs with a zigzag pattern in the center.

Bite

The venom of Mangora gibberosa spiders isn’t harmful to humans, it is just used to subdue potential small prey animals. All orb weaver spiders are non-aggressive and generally hesitant to bite humans. Some smaller individuals wouldn’t even be able to bite through humans skin. Bite can cause some local swelling and pain, comparable to a bee sting.

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Chelicerata
• Class: Arachnida
• Order: Araneae
• Infraorder: Araneomorphae
• Family: Araneidae
• Genus: Mangora
• Species: Mangora gibberosa