Black House Spiders In Texas

Bites may be painful and cause skin irritation or other symptoms.
Black house spiders in texas. John died suddenly a few years ago and he left for us his entire slide collection of excellent insect and spider photos. Texas has a lot of spiders but in this blog we will discuss ten of the most common texas spiders. Spiders in austin texas by jesse alaniz march 13 2019 north america is home to over 3 400 species of spiders ranking 7 th in diversity of all organisms. However in some cases a bite from this spider leads to destruction of skin tissue and disfigurement.
Most of these images come from the original photographs used in our colleague john jackman s book a field guide to the spiders and scorpions of texas 1997. Both of these species of spiders can be found indoors and outdoors through out the state. Hesperus the northern black widow l. Variolus and the brown widow l.
Although they only bite as a last resort black house spiders can become aggressive if people touch them. Like the black widow spider brown recluse are poisonous spiders in texas known for their harmful venom. Occasionally spiders can be found well outside of their known range due to being intentionally or accidentally. Grass spiders these are funnel weavers and they like to make their homes in corners.
Venomous spiders in texas texas has two venomous species of spiders the black widow latrodectus mactans and the brown recluse loxosceles reclusa. However they still prove to be a nuisance and leave messy webs with funnel shaped entrances. There are 14 species of these heavy looking furry spiders in texas many of which occur in south texas. Spiders found in texas include 88 unique species from confirmed sightings by contributing members of spider id.
Therefore to be safe a bite from a brown recluse warrants a visit to a doctor or medical professional. The widow spider is black with a red hourglass marking on its stomach it lives in dark places such as under houses in garages and cellars. Most of the time a brown recluse bite results in flu like symptoms such as fever nausea and fatigue. Unlike black widows black house spiders do not have a potentially fatal or medically serious bite.
It is important to remember that spiders seen in texas are not bound by the territorial lines decided on by humans therefore their distribution is subject to change. Many of the finer images on this website were taken by john and we are indebted to him. They range in length from 1 5 to 3 inches and are typically dark brown to brownish black in color with thick legs and an abdomen covered with fur.