Southern House Spider

The Southern House Spider is a member of the crevice weaver spider family Filistatidae. In addition to being widely dispersed throughout the southern United States, it is one of the most prevalent spiders in Georgia. It can be found as far south as Argentina outside of the US.

Due to their similar appearance, southern house spiders are frequently mistaken for the more dangerous brown recluse. However, southern house spiders lack the unique violin-shaped marking that distinguishes the brown recluse, so you can tell them apart. Males are approximately 8 to 12 millimeters long, and females are typically 12 to 18 millimeters long. Both sexes have a brown coloration, while females have a darker appearance than males and males have longer legs. Female southern house spiders construct non-sticky silk radial webs in order to capture food. They construct their webs to entangle prey long enough for the females to deliver a killing bite.