Spiders in New York: Facts & Information About Spiders

As much as we all love Spiderman, the idea of getting bitten by a spider is something that everyone dreads. 

spider web

Spiders are the tiny eight-legged creatures that are found all around the world except Antartica. They are found in varied sizes. Contradicting to the common belief- large spiders are less dangerous than the little ones.

There is also an interesting fact regarding spiders that majority of the male spiders get consumed by the female spiders during mating which results in survival of only female spiders as large spiders.

New York City and Long Island are home to various species of spiders, but not many of them are possess a serious threat to your health. Spiders take shelter in your house for the search of food, a nice place to build their web and to attract and catch more insects for their meal.

Spiders are not aggressive in nature unless provoked, especially the larger ones. As there are various kinds of spiders, few of them can be very dangerous to be dealt with, their venom can cause serious health problems or even death. So it is important to identify the type of spider that you’re dealing with.

New York Spiders Characteristics Chart

More Info About Spiders in New York:

  1. Nursery Web Spider

nursery web spider crawling

The name “Nursery Web Spider” is based on the female spider’s ability to build a nursery web for hatching. These spiders are seen mainly outside in the months of May to July. They have eight eyes in two rows. They have a slender body, and though their coloration keeps varying, they are often seen in brown and tan color. 

Nursery Web spiders also have a sort of line on the top of their body. These spiders carry their eggs in their fangs till the time of hatching with the capacity of carrying 100 eggs. If you ever spot a nursery web spider with eggs, it is the best time to get rid of it.

  1. Sac Spider

sac spider on tree branch

Sac Spider

The sac spiders can be identified with their pale color, protruding sac-looking spinneret, and also their noticeable dark fangs. Just like nursery web spiders they also have 8 eyes arranged horizontally in 2 rows. The female spider can lay up to 48 eggs and then they cover them in silk. 

They do not build webs, they just wander in search of prey. Sac spiders prey on other spiders, insects, and their eggs. They carry a venom inside their sac which is released when they bite. These bites can go unnoticed at first but then it starts resulting in burning sensations, itching, and pain which involves a slow process of healing.

  1. Black and Yellow Garden Spider

Black and Yellow Garden Spiders can be easily identified because of their distinctive black and yellow coloration. They also have the pattern of black and yellow stripes on their legs. The female spiders are 4 times larger than the male spiders. Also, the colors on the male body are not so vibrant; they have a lighter and paler shade as compared to the female spiders. 

These spiders are not at all aggressive, even if provoked. The most they do after being provoked is they start jumping on their web to make their structure hardly visible to the predator, and at other times, they fall to the ground from their web and find a place to hide.

  1. Sheet Web Weavers

Sheet Web Weavers are the spiders in New York that mostly go unnoticed because of their tiny size (less than 8 mm). These spiders are shiny and dark in color. They build very thin webs that often remain unseen by insects and they get caught in it. 

These spiders are quite common to be found as they are large in number as compared to other spiders, but they remain unknown because of their size. As they stay out of human’s range, they are not known to bite humans. They prey on agricultural insects and are spotted near the soil or a little above the ground.

  1. Daddy Long Legs

daddy long legs spider on rock

A Daddy Long Legs

Daddy Long Legs are not really spiders, they are arachnids, but they are mostly related to scorpions, not spiders. They have only two eyes, and one body, unlike spiders who have eight eyes, and their bodies are adjoined. 

Daddy Long Legs are rumored to be the most poisonous but in reality, they can’t even produce venom, neither do they have fangs to inject the poison. They are known to be found in humid places like under the rock. There are around 10000 species of daddy long legs. Different kinds are found in different regions.

  1. Grass Spider

Grass spiders have the brownish color. They have 8 eyes but their arrangement is different than other spiders. They have two eyes on the top row, four eyes in the middle row, and two eyes in the last row. This makes them easily identifiable. 

These spiders vary in size- the male spider is about 9-18 mm in length and the female spider is 10-20 mm in length. They build sheet web which they use to catch their prey and also for shelter. They are very fast and they rarely bite humans. Their bite can cause itching, redness, and pain which gets healed in 1-10 days without any serious complications.

  1. American House Spider

Another name for American House Spider is Common House Spider. As the name suggests these are the most commonly spotted spiders in the house. They can be identified from their shiny exterior. They make webs in secluded places like behind the door, on the cracks or corners of the walls, and near the window. Their webs can be easily located. 

The female spider lays eggs and places it in a brownish ball on the web, it can be easily located on the web. Each egg sac has the capacity of 100 to 400 eggs. As they live in close proximity to humans, they do not consider humans as predators.

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  1. Nocturnal Orb Weaver Spider

Nocturnal Orb Weaver Spiders are one of the species of orb weaver spiders. These spiders are mostly brown and gray in color. The male spiders only become active during the night; they even build their web at night. 

They can be spotted near water, under the bridge. Unlike male spiders, female spiders can be seen during the day building webs or just wandering especially during the fall season. These spiders rarely bite humans, and any serious health effects by the bite have not been observed yet.

  1. Jumping Spider

Jumping spiders are easily identified because of their large eyes. Like all the other spiders they have eight eyes but their middle pair of eyes is comparatively bigger which makes their vision very clear. These spiders are often known to walk slowly but they can be agile and make big jumps if they need to cross a gap or they feel threatened and they try to escape the location. 

Their vision makes them capable of noticing all the movement, they can even look at you if you try to approach them. They are known for their hunting abilities. Their vision and agility make them great hunters.

  1. Crab Spider

crab spider on dark backdrop

A Crab Spider

Crab Spiders get their name from their crab-like walk and the way they position their front legs which makes them appear like a crab. These spiders do not build webs to catch their preys, they just wait for their prey to come into close proximity to attack. 

Some of the crab spiders can also camouflage and change their colors according to the color of the flowers and other surfaces. They are very good hunters and quite dangerous too because they possess a venom that paralyzes their preys.

  1. Wolf Spider

    wolf spider on grass

    A Wolf Spider

Wolf spiders are the kind of spiders who prefer to stay in solitude and enjoy hunting alone. These spiders are often confused with Nursery Web Spiders, but they can be easily distinguished through their two enlarged eyes. And unlike nursery web spiders, they carry their egg sac in their spinnerets. 

They are great hunters because of their agility and vision. Wolf spiders do not build webs but prey on insects by attacking them, chasing them for a short distance, and waiting for them to come near. They sometimes bite if provoked. The effects of the bite are swellings, itching, and pain.

  1. Brown Recluse

spider in the sink

A Brown Recluse Spider (Photo: Rest Easy Pest Control)

Brown Recluse Spiders are identified by their name. They are brown as well as reclusive. Unlike other spiders that have eight eyes, these spiders have six eyes. 

They stay hidden throughout the day and become active mostly at night. They are also hunters though, the female spiders build web and prey- the male spiders wander in search of prey.

  1. Black Widow Spider

black widow spider hanging on its web

A Black Widow Spider

The Black Widow Spider is not always black in color. Most of the time, however, they are spotted in black color with red-orange hourglass mark on the bottom side of their body. The male spiders die during mating or live another day, and female spiders can live up to two to three years. 

They commonly don’t bite humans but if you put your finger on their web then they might bite, but even the chances of that are quite low as they prefer to escape from such situations.

If you happen to have a problem with spiders in New York State, don’t hesitate to call an exterminator. In New York, Rest Easy Pest Control covers Long Island, NYC, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Westchester County, and Rockland County. Call us anytime.


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