Comparisons

Side-by-side species comparisons

Most reports of dangerous spiders are misidentifications. These pages walk through the diagnostic traits that actually separate commonly confused species.

All comparison pages

Pair	What it answers
Brown Recluse vs. Wolf Spider	Brown recluses are small, smooth-legged, six-eyed spiders that hide indoors. Wolf spiders are large, robust, eight-eyed ground hunters with visible leg spines and a stockier build.
Brown Recluse vs. Cellar Spider	Cellar spiders have extremely long, thin legs (3–4× body length), a small pale body, and build messy webs in ceiling corners. Brown recluses have legs only 2× body length and do not build prey webs.
Black Widow vs. Brown Widow	Black widows are glossy jet-black with a red hourglass. Brown widows are tan with an orange-to-yellow hourglass and a spiky, tufted egg sac unlike any other widow.
Joro Spider vs. Banana Spider	Both genera build large golden orb webs and have leg spans approaching 4 inches. Joros are yellow-and-blue with a red underside; golden silks are yellow with brown leg tufts.
Brown Recluse vs. Yellow Sac Spider	Yellow sac spiders are pale yellow-green with dark fang tips and eight eyes in two rows. Brown recluses are uniform tan-brown with six eyes and a violin mark.
Hobo Spider vs. Giant House Spider	Giant house spiders are larger, darker, and have solid dark bands on the sternum. Hobo spiders are smaller with a herringbone abdomen pattern and pale sternum stripes.
Hobo Spider vs. Wolf Spider	Wolf spiders have two huge headlight eyes; hobos have eight small, roughly equal eyes in two rows. Wolves do not build webs; hobos build funnel sheets.
Wolf Spider vs. Fishing Spider	Fishing spiders have eight roughly equal eyes in two slightly curved rows and are nearly always found near water. Wolf spiders have two large 'headlight' eyes and three eye rows.
Jumping Spider vs. Wolf Spider	Jumping spiders are tiny (4–18 mm), compact, with two enormous forward eyes. Wolf spiders are far larger, longer-legged, and have three rows of eyes.
Common House Spider vs. Black Widow	Common house spiders are mottled tan-and-brown; black widows are glossy jet-black with a red ventral hourglass. Their webs and posture are otherwise nearly identical.
Northern vs. Southern Black Widow	Southern females have a complete red hourglass and no dorsal markings. Northern females have a broken (two-triangle) hourglass and a row of red dorsal spots down the abdomen.
Western vs. Southern Black Widow	Western black widows occupy the U.S. West; southerns occupy the Southeast and Gulf. Markings are nearly identical. Bite management is the same.
Red Widow vs. Black Widow	Red widows have an orange-red cephalothorax and legs with a black abdomen; black widows are uniformly glossy black. Red widows are a Florida endemic.
Grass Spider vs. Hobo Spider	Grass spiders have long, prominent rear spinnerets and bold stripes on the cephalothorax. Hobo spiders have short spinnerets and a more subdued pattern.
Brown Recluse vs. Southern House Spider	Male southern house spiders have very long legs and a small body but eight eyes in a tight cluster and no violin mark. Females are large, dark, and live in radial silk retreats around windows.
Brown Recluse vs. Chilean Recluse	Chilean recluses are larger (body 8–12 mm vs. 6–12 mm), darker, and carry venom with substantially higher loxoscelism risk including systemic effects. Both have six eyes and a violin.
Yellow Garden Spider vs. Banded Garden Spider	Yellow garden spiders have bold yellow-and-black blotches; banded garden spiders have fine silver-and-yellow horizontal bands. Both build stabilimentum zigzags.
Cellar Spider vs. Harvestman	Cellar spiders (Pholcidae) are true spiders with two body sections, eight eyes, silk webs, and venom. Harvestmen (Opiliones) have a single fused body, two eyes, no silk, and no venom.