Which Spiders in The U.S Are Venomous?
Although not all spiders are poisonous, most spiders that roam the earth are venomous. Some spiders can give a harmful, pain filling bite but are not considered to be deadly. Of the 3,000 spider species that are in the United States, the top three venomous spiders include the black widow, brown recluse, and lastly the hobo. These long-legged animals are actually very much harmless to us as fatal bites are rare and not strong enough to cause life-threatening complications.
The black widow belongs to the Latrodectus genus which is also commonly referred to as the group of widow spiders. There are about 30 species in this genus and can all be considered a black widow even though they aren’t all black in color.
In the U.S. there are 3 species of these black widow spiders that exist to this day. There is the Northern black widow, the Southern black widow, and the Western black widow. But, they are more common in the south because of the climate and geography of the land. Although fatalities are very rare, they have happened before and it typically occurs among elderlies, younger kids, and those who are extremely ill.
Black widows typically hide in homes but they most prefer the outdoors. Indoors they can be found in and around cardboard boxes, basements, sheds, dark corners, and cluttered areas. For outdoors, a few places they can be seen are burrows, hollow logs, and drainage pipes.
On the other hand, we have brown recluse which is one of the most dangerous spiders in the United States. The brown recluse spiders also known as the Fiddleback spider, brown fiddler, or violin spider are native to Nebraska through Southern Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana to southwestern Ohio
You can identify a brown recluse by the violin shape on its cephalothorax. They have a sandy brown colored body with a darker marking in the center and can also be slightly yellow. One way to tell if it’s a brown recluse is by looking at the legs of the spider because a brown recluse does not have pigments or stripes on its legs.
Brown recluse bites are pretty rare but in a small percentage of bite cases, the effects of a bite can be devastating. In terms of their environment, they frequently build their webs in woodpiles, sheds, closets, and other places that are and generally undisturbed.
Lastly, the hobo, also known as the Tegenaria Agretis, is a common spider found in the Pacific Northwestern United States. This includes the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. Along with this, they are associated with the genus of spiders known as funnel-web spiders.
There has been an ongoing myth that these spiders are aggressive and will chase after you, but another thing to take into consideration is that the hobo spider will bite in defense if they feel as though they are being threatened. This also goes for the black widow and brown recluse spider. Hobo spiders typically live in dry and warm habitats where they weave their webs on any object near the ground or on the bases of trees. They will most likely be outdoors as it is rare that they will appear inside houses.
