Spiders in Texas: Common Species and How to Identify Them

How many spiders live in Texas?

A 2016 catalogue of Texas spiders listed 1,072 species in 53 families, nearly twice the 582 species listed in 1970. Texas is so rich because it spans pine forests and swamps in the east, prairies, the limestone Hill Country with its caves, the Gulf Coast and the Chihuahuan Desert in the west.

Orb weavers: garden spiders and golden silk spiders

Orb weavers build the classic round webs that appear in gardens in late summer and fall, when the females reach full size.

The black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia), also called the writing spider or zipper spider, is the one most Texans notice. The female has a black and bright yellow abdomen and long legs with dark tips, and she hangs head down in the middle of a web up to 60 cm (2 ft) across, decorated with a thick zigzag band of silk called a stabilimentum. The related banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) has fine silver and yellow bands instead.

The golden silk orb-weaver (Trichonephila clavipes), or banana spider, lives in the woods of East Texas and along the Gulf Coast. Females have a body 2.4–4 cm (0.9–1.6 in) long, long legs with tufts of dark hair and golden-yellow silk webs that can stretch over a meter. The males are tiny, about 6 mm (0.25 in).

The spinybacked orb weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) looks like a small crab or star: its hard, white or yellow abdomen is wider than it is long and carries six red or black spines.

Jumping spiders

Jumping spiders hunt by day with excellent eyesight and do not use webs to catch prey. The bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax) is one of the most common: a black, fuzzy spider 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long with a white triangle and spots on its abdomen and iridescent green or blue mouthparts. It turns to watch people, stalks insects on fences and walls and leaps onto them. Texas has dozens of other jumping spider species, many of them small and colorful.

Wolf spiders and lynx spiders

Wolf spiders are big, hairy, fast ground hunters. The Carolina wolf spider (Hogna carolinensis), North America’s largest wolf spider, has a body up to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) long in females and lives in burrows in grassland, yards and deserts. Females carry their egg sac on their spinnerets and then their spiderlings on their backs. At night a flashlight makes wolf spider eyes shine like tiny green jewels in the grass.

The green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) is a bright green, spiny-legged hunter that waits on shrubs and flowers to pounce on insects by day. Females reach about 2.2 cm (0.9 in). A female guarding her egg sac can even squirt drops of venom from her fangs as far as about 30 cm (1 ft) in defense.

Texas brown tarantula

The Texas brown tarantula (Aphonopelma hentzi) is the state’s most widespread tarantula, found from the Texas plains and Hill Country north to Kansas and Missouri. Its leg span can exceed 10 cm (4 in), and its body is dark brown and covered in fine hair. It lives in silk-lined burrows and comes out at night to catch insects.

Most sightings are of males in late summer and fall, after rains, when they leave their burrows to search for females; males have been documented traveling up to 1.7 km (1 mile). Males usually die within a year of maturing, while females can live 20 years or more. Tarantulas are docile and rarely bite, and the bite of North American species is usually mild, but they can flick irritating hairs from the abdomen. Read are tarantulas dangerous? for details.

House spiders and common look-alikes

Several harmless spiders share Texas homes. Cellar spiders hang in loose webs in corners and garages. The southern house spider (Kukulcania hibernalis) is a common source of brown recluse scares: females are dark and live in crevices surrounded by radiating webs, while the long-legged, pale brown males wander indoors and are often mistaken for recluses. They lack the recluse’s six eyes in pairs and are harmless.

Black widows in Texas

Two black widows live in Texas: the southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans), most common in the eastern and central parts of the state, and the western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus), which occurs across much of Texas and the West. Adult females are glossy black with a round abdomen and a red hourglass underneath; only they can deliver a significant bite.

Black widows build tangled cobwebs in dark, sheltered spots such as woodpiles, rock walls, sheds, water meter boxes and under outdoor furniture. A bite causes pain and muscle cramps and needs medical attention, but deaths are extremely rare.

Brown recluse and other recluses

The brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) is native to central, northern and eastern Texas. It is a plain brown spider with a darker violin-shaped mark behind the eyes, six eyes in three pairs and legs without spines or bands. It hides in undisturbed closets, attics, garages, sheds and piles of boxes or debris.

Most recluse bites are minor, but a few cause slow-healing sores. West and South Texas have other native recluses, such as the Texas recluse (Loxosceles devia), which usually live under rocks and in rodent burrows. For the full picture, see venomous spiders in the US.

Rare and record-making Texas spiders

• Tooth Cave spider (Tayshaneta myopica): a tiny, nearly blind spider only 1.6 mm (1/16 in) long, found in a few limestone caves near Austin and listed as federally endangered.
• Lake Tawakoni’s giant web: in 2007 a communal web draped trees and shrubs along a trail at Lake Tawakoni State Park in northeast Texas. It was made mostly by long-jawed orb weavers (Tetragnatha guatemalensis), joined by other species, feeding on swarms of small flying insects.
• Trapdoor spiders: tarantula relatives that live in silk-lined burrows closed by a hinged lid, mostly hidden from view.

When and where to see spiders in Texas

Spiders are active year-round in South Texas and on warm days elsewhere, but late summer and fall are the peak. Orb weavers reach full size, male tarantulas wander and spiderlings “balloon” through the air on silk threads. Good places to look include state parks in the Hill Country for tarantulas and wolf spiders, the Big Thicket for golden silk orb-weavers, and any garden with tall flowers for garden and lynx spiders.

Staying safe

• Leave spiders alone and enjoy them from a distance; never handle widows, recluses or tarantulas.
• Wear gloves when moving firewood, rocks or stored boxes, and shake out shoes and clothing kept in garages or sheds.
• If someone is bitten and has severe pain, cramps or a spreading wound, or if a child is bitten, seek emergency medical help immediately or call 911.

Texas also has a remarkable variety of reptiles; see our guide to snakes in Texas.