Many brown spiders may accidentally -- or purposefully -- invade your home.
Depending on the region of the United States you live in, you may encounter several types of brown spiders in the rooms of your home or in your basement. Some may cause problems, although most are harmless invaders preying upon insects and other home pests. These various brown spiders range in size, hunting methods and behavior, which may help you identify the type you have. Does this Spark an idea?
Wolf Spiders
Many wolf spider species are large, robust and hairy, although some are rather small. Wolf spiders vary in color, although most are dark brownish-gray with various markings. Active hunters, they run quickly across the floor at night or you may see them if you move an item under which they are hiding. Wolf spiders are identified by their unusual eye arrangement -- three rows of unequal-sized eyes that reflect light in the dark, like many mammals. They prefer dark places and many are nocturnal throughout the year. They may enter your home in search of prey, mates or by accident.
Female wolf spiders are among the most maternal of all spiders; they carry their egg sac behind them or on their abdomen and allow their spiderlings to hitch a ride on their back until they are old enough to fend for themselves.
Cellar Spiders
Much less intimidating than almost all other spiders found in a home, the cellar spider family (Pholcidae) contains species of slender-bodied, long-legged spiders that inhabit damp areas -- cellars, basements, crawl spaces and even bathrooms. The long-bodied and short-bodied species both resemble each other a great deal; their differences are in body length as their common names imply.
Cellar spiders build large webs in their chosen location; unlike many other species that eat old webs before creating new ones, cellar spiders keep adding to their original web to make large, unmanageable and unshapely webs throughout thehome. You will often see these light brown spiders hanging upside down in their webs waiting for insect prey.
Tenegaria
The Tegenaria family of spiders includes the common, giant and hobo spiders of the Northwest. These spiders are funnel weavers, creating webs that resemble sheets leading into a hole or crevice. The common house spider, Tegenaria domestica, has a body length of less than 1/2 inch and is the smallest of the three. The giant house spider, Tegenaria gigantea, has a body length sometimes reaching more than 3/4 inch. The hobo, Tegenaria agrestis, is between the sizes of the other two and can also cause a more damaging bite. The giant and common house spiders are found throughout the year inside homes; hobos are typically found from fall to winter when in the search of mates.
Like all spiders, the hobo spider has venom which it uses to subdue prey. Unfortunately, their bite can turn into a necrotic wound, much like that of brown recluses, although damage varies as much as people do.
Brown Recluse & Violin
Throughout its range, only the black widow is more feared than the brown recluse. Its natural range covers much of the Midwest and South and its bite can leave a serious necrotic wound that can become quite large. Inside homes, brown recluses stay true to their name and hide in unsuspecting places such as along baseboards, in moving boxes or behind furniture.
The family of Loxoscelse, the family that includes all the violin spiders, has more than one species with a dangerous bite. The brown recluse is the most dangerous in the family, although the desert loxosceles produces the same type of bite, except not as severe.
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