The question whether there are brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) spiders in Washington State is often brought to us by readers. Are there brown recluse spiders in Washington State? Its bite can also cause nausea and other symptoms but not as severe as a widow. The false widow can be somewhat brown or purple. This spider is closely related to the widow but does never have red markings on its belly or back. In the United States, black widows are often confused with the non-dangerous Steatoda grossa, fittingly called the false black widow.

Description of the Western Black Widow The larger female Western black widow looks very similar to the Northern black widow and the Southern black widow female. As its common name suggests, it can be found in the Western States of the US as well as in Canada. Latrodectus hesperus, the Western black widow spider is one of the few medically significant venomous spiders in the United States. Learn more about the western black widow here: The black spider has a red hourglass-shaped pattern on its belly-side and sometimes red or white markings on the back. And even there, you are extremely unlikely to ever encounter a widow, let alone be bitten.īlack widows are medium-sized black spiders with a shiny, round and large abdomen. The only known stable populations are known on the San Juan Islands. They are pretty-much non-existent throughout most of the state. While there are some small populations of western black widows in Washington, encountering one of these spiders in the Northwest is extremely unlikely. However, only one spider in Washington state is considered medically significant: The western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) Almost all spiders have venom glands and are therefore considered venomous. Poison is something you would ingest while venom is a toxin that is injected into your body. While spiders are often referred to as poisonous, they are actually considered venomous. Written in a simple, non-scientific language with illustrations, tips & tricks and identification sheets. Now available: The USAspiders Washington State spider identification book – available as an ebook here or as a printed paperback on Amazon. If you cannot identify the spider on this page, you will find a link to our spider identification tool where we will assist you with the identification (for free, of course). So we will first look at the poisonous spiders in Washington State and after ruling out that you are dealing with a dangerous spider, we will look at other most common Pacific Northwest Spiders. The most important aspect for most people when finding a spider is safety. But you are probably not here because you found one of these tiny spiders in Washington. Their body length is only around 0.1 inch (3 mm) and they are completely harmless. They are generally secretive and encounters with humans are rare. These are usually tiny spiders that roam around the forests (or occasionally our houses) and are commonly called sheet weavers or money spiders. The largest group of Washington spiders are part of the family Linyphiidae. On this site, you will find an overview of the one potentially dangerous spider in Washington and pictures and identification tips to find out what spider you are dealing with. If you are one of the many people who has trouble sleeping after seeing a spider in your home, you’ve come to the right place. Overall, there are around 950 known and documented different species of spiders in Washington State.

Pacific northwest translucent spider