How many different types of spiders in Louisiana? According to the Louisiana State Arachnological Society, 24 different types of spiders call Louisiana home.
While spiders make up only 2 percent of all invertebrates found here, they play an integral role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
Here are the types of Spiders in Louisiana
1. Wolf Spider
Wolf spiders are named for their wolf-like appearance. They have long, skinny bodies and big heads with enormous eyes.
These types of spiders in Louisiana are most active at night and hide under rocks, logs, and other debris during the day to avoid getting eaten by birds and other predators.
The female wolf spider lays her eggs into a silk sac and will carry them around until they hatch. She may lay anywhere from 10-200 eggs at once.
When the babies emerge, she wraps them up in webs, carries them on her back, or attaches them to plants and shrubs near where she is staying.
2. Cellar Spider
Cellar spiders are harmless, small brown spiders with a characteristic white stripe on their head.
They can typically be found in the corners of ceilings and walls, under furniture, or behind bookshelves.
Cellar spiders are not considered pests because they rarely bite humans and prefer to feed on other insects, such as flies or mosquitoes.
They typically do not come into contact with humans unless they accidentally trap themselves inside a house.
Cellar spider webs are often mistaken for cobwebs because the silk is similar to common house spiders.
Still, cellar spider webs are usually much more irregular and off-center from each other than those of common house spiders.
3. Black Widow
Black Widows are the most common spiders found in the state of Louisiana.
Black Widow spiders have shiny black bodies and appear to have a red hourglass-shaped marking on their backs.
These Spiders in Louisiana are usually found around windows, doors, porches, garages, and other dark places where they can wait for prey to come close enough to attack.
They also like dark corners of attics and basements. Females tend to be more aggressive than males and stay with their web while they wander away after mating.
Black Widow bites usually aren’t painful but may feel like an ant bite at first, with some pain, numbness, tingling, or itching afterward.
4. Trapdoor Spider
The Trapdoor Spider is a medium-sized spider with a body length of up to 1.5 inches (38 mm).
The color ranges from brown to black, and the body has stripes longitudinally down the abdomen.
These types of Spiders in Louisiana nest in holes dug into the ground, lined with silk.
The female guards her eggs until they hatch and then cares for the offspring until adulthood.
These Spiders in Louisiana typically eat insects and other invertebrates, but some individuals have been observed capturing small vertebrates such as lizards and frogs.
5. Brown Recluse
The brown recluse spider is a member of the Loxosceles family and can be found throughout the United States.
They are especially common in the Midwest and South. Brown recluses prefer dark, dry places near possible prey.
These Spiders in Louisiana might be found outdoors under piles of wood or rocks or inside crevices.
They are often found indoors among clothing, furniture, or boxes.
Their bite can lead to an illness called necrotizing arachnidism, which is sometimes fatal if not treated immediately with antivenin.
6. Giant Lichen Orb Weaver Spider
The Giant Lichen Orb Weaver Spider is primarily nocturnal and is found in North America.
It is one of the largest spiders found in North America, with an average body length of 3 to 4 inches.
The Giant Lichen Orb Weaver Spider has a grey-brown abdomen, dark brown legs, and long bristles.
This spider’s web is often used for nesting and hanging from branches, fence posts, and bushes or wrapping around tree trunks.
7. Spinybacked Orb Weaver Spider
These Spiders in Louisiana are usually found under the loose bark of dead trees or rocks.
The spiny-backed orb weaver has a body that ranges from brown to black and has reddish-brown hairs on its back.
It spins an irregular web with vertical threads resting at the top.
The abdomen is red-brown with white stripes, and the spiny-backed orb weaver’s egg sac is red-brown or yellowish-white.
Spiderlings hatch out after six weeks, and females may produce more than one clutch per season.
The female lays her eggs into a sac made of silk, which she carries around with her until they hatch.
The female then carries the young spiders on her back until their first molt; after this, they disperse.
Males are not known to construct webs but are often captured in them; males mature later than females, usually overwintering as subadults and maturing the following spring or summer.
8. European Garden Spider
This European garden spider is most commonly found in Europe and North America. Its common habitat includes forests, fields, parks, and gardens.
The spider is also the garden cross spider or European house spider. They are brown to yellowish-brown with red markings on their abdomen.
These Spiders in Louisiana do not make webs but catch prey by jumping on them with their long front legs.
Unlike most spiders that hunt at night, this species hunts during the day. It can be found under stones and rocks or hidden inside flowers and plants.
9. Running Crab Spider
The running crab spider is one of the most common types of Spiders in Louisiana.
The name is derived from how they walk, resembling a crab.
They are small and brown, with two front legs longer than the back legs.
They feed on insects and other arthropods but will also eat other spiders if they can catch them. Males wander looking for females during mating season.
Females lay eggs wrapped up in silk under stones or logs or inside cocoons of leaves, bark, or cocoons made by other spiders.
10. Daring Jumping Spider
The Daring Jumping Spider is found in the southern United States, including Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
These Spiders in Louisiana prefer warmer climates, making them less likely to be found in Louisiana.
The Daring Jumping Spider is one of the largest jumping spiders found in North America.
The Daring Jumping Spider has an orange-brown body, dark brown legs, and stripes. It can grow up to 1 inch long.
When it’s scared or threatened, it will raise its forelegs to form a triangle shape and jump around 2 or 3 feet from its original location.
11. Texas Brown Tarantula
The Texas Brown Tarantula is one of Louisiana’s most common types of spiders. They are also native to Mexico, Central America, and the southern United States.
However, the Texas Brown Tarantula has been introduced to many other countries due to being a favorite pet among enthusiasts.
The female spider is usually larger than the male. They are typically dark brown with a lighter tan stripe on their back and can grow up to 8 inches long from leg tip to leg tip.
12. Furrow Spider
Furrow spiders are typically found living on the ground. They will burrow with their fangs and drag their prey back to their nest to feed on it.
These Spiders in Louisiana are usually one of the larger types found in Louisiana and can grow up to 8 inches long.
When seen from a distance, furrow spiders are so large that they can sometimes be mistaken for tarantulas.
However, they do not have hair or chitin, which makes them different from other spiders in Louisiana.
Furrow spiders come out at night to hunt for food and use their highly sensitive fangs to paralyze anything too big for them.
They will then drag the food back into their tunnel-like webs before eating it whole, as these spiders do not have any chewing ability.
13. Banana Spider
The banana spider is one of the spiders found in Louisiana and is commonly found on banana plants.
Banana spiders are so named because they resemble a bunch of bananas dangling from a plant.
The banana spider has long, skinny legs and looks almost like an insect.
These types of Spiders in Louisiana are not harmful to humans but do produce an irritating bite that can be painful for some people to endure.
The banana spider gets its name because it resembles the shape and color of a banana.
You can identify these types of Spiders in Louisiana by looking at their abdomen; if you see a dark line running across it, you’re probably dealing with a banana spider.
14. American Grass Spider
The American Grass Spider is a common spider found in Louisiana.
These Spiders in Louisiana have a white, flat abdomen with brown stripes running the length of it.
They have eight eyes and are usually less than an inch long when fully grown.
These spiders are most commonly found near grassy areas and are typically not aggressive unless they feel threatened.
The American Grass Spider is one of 25 different types of spiders in Louisiana that can be seen on this list.
15. Black and Yellow Garden Spider
The black and yellow garden spider is a member of the family of orb-weaving spiders.
These spiders are known for their large webs, usually found between shrubs or low-hanging tree branches.
They can be easily identified by the bright yellow and black stripes on their abdomens.
Male spiders have smaller bodies than females, but both sexes have similar markings.
This particular species can be found throughout the southern United States, including Louisiana.
16. Red Spotted Ant Mimic Spider
The Red Spotted Ant Mimic Spider is not one of the most common spiders in Louisiana, but it is one of the most interesting.
They have a red and black body that looks remarkably like an ant.
The red and black coloration helps camouflage the spider when hunting ants or other small insects.
When threatened, they will move quickly to escape predators or potential threats to their safety.
17. Woodlouse Spider
Woodlouse spiders are also known as cellar spiders because they make their webs near the ceiling, preying on woodlice.
Unlike most Spiders in Louisiana, this type is not harmful to humans and will not bite unless threatened.
Woodlouse spiders are very small and will likely scurry away when they see you.
Woodlouse spiders, such as cockroaches or ants, eat insects on the ground.
They do not spin webs and instead hunt for prey at night or during the day when it’s dark out.
They can be found throughout the United States but are more common in southern states like Florida and California.
18. Fishing Spider
Louisiana is home to many types of spiders, with the fishing spider being one of the most common.
The fishing spider’s name comes from its tendency to wait near bodies of water and pounce on its prey when it gets close enough.
These Spiders in Louisiana do not create webs for catching food but instead hunt for prey at night.
Fishing spiders are large, ranging from 2 to 5 inches, and can have a leg span as wide as 6 inches.
While these spiders are not dangerous to humans, they may bite if provoked or threatened.
19. American Nursery Web Spider
This spider spins an irregular web usually found under hedges and shrubs.
This web type is called a nursery because the spider will rest on its web at night. They are usually gray or brown with a white or yellow stripe down their back.
Nursery webs are typically small, with the average diameter being about six inches.
These Spiders in Louisiana spin an irregular web usually found under hedges and shrubs.
This web type is called a nursery because the spider will rest on its web at night.
They are usually gray or brown with a white or yellow stripe down their back. Nursery webs are typically small, with the average diameter being about six inches.
20. Spitting Spider
The spitting spider is a small spider with a round, brown, or reddish body with white markings. They do not build webs and will lie in wait on plants or other surfaces.
When they sense prey like an insect or small vertebrate, they quickly jump onto it and bite it (sometimes injecting venom).
Spitting spiders are not aggressive towards humans unless provoked; however, the venom can be dangerous if injected directly into human tissue.
The most common way people get bitten is to accidentally step on one of these spiders and have them leap onto the person’s skin in defense.
21. Broad-Faced Sac Spider
The Broad-Faced Sac Spider is one of the most common spiders in Louisiana.
Other names, such as the Garden Spider or Bag spider, are also known to them.
The Broad-Faced Sac Spider has no web but builds a silken tube to rest and capture prey.
These Spiders in Louisiana can be found worldwide and are usually considered harmless to humans.
22. Common House Spider
The common house spider is the most commonly found. This type of spider is found worldwide, and there are believed to be more than 3,000 types of these spiders.
These Spiders in Louisiana typically grow up to a half-inch long and have dark brown markings on their back.
They are often found hiding near windows, waiting for insects to fly by, and quickly grabbing them with their front legs.
Females also tend to lay eggs near windows, so watching for a small egg sac that will appear at the end of summer or fall is important.
23. Southern House Spider
The Southern house spider is one of the most common spiders found in Louisiana.
These Spiders in Louisiana are mainly found on the exterior walls and ceilings of homes but can also be found inside.
They are usually solitary, with females living one to two years and males living two to three months.
Females lay eggs once a year that hatch into tiny white spiders ready to mate and reproduce after only six weeks.
24. Bowl and Doily Spider
The Bowl and Doily spider has two body segments, which makes it resemble a bowl or doily.
It is often found on the exterior of buildings, under eaves, and on window frames.
The female is about 1⁄4 inch long, while the male is smaller. They are dark brown with a dark stripe down their back that can be lighter brown near the abdomen.
The spider will wrap its prey up before eating it. They prefer to eat insects but have been known to attack larger prey if necessary.
It’s important to remember that these spiders have venom and should be handled carefully, especially by those who are allergic.
