When it comes to uninvited guests in your home, spiders are one of the ones that unease people the most.

While they don’t typically come into your home, there are a few that enjoy the warmth and will make a life inside. These spiders are generally harmless and will actually eat the harmful pests in your home.

Despite this, many people don’t want spiders in their homes. We have outlined 5 spiders that you will commonly find in your home and what they look like. For more information on how to get rid of spiders please visit How To Murder Pests.

American House Spider

The American house spider is quite small ranging from 0.16 inches to 0.24 inches. They are light brown in color and have dirty white spots on their abdomen. The males are typically darker in color and smaller than the females.

They are fine living in close proximity to people which is why they are commonly found in homes. American house spiders enjoy dark and moist spaces and feed on flies and ants. They like to make webs so you will surely find one if they are living in your home.

American house spiders have poor vision and aren’t aggressive. They would rather run away from confrontation but will bite if they feel they have no other choice. Their bites are painful but they aren’t lethal.

Wolf Spider

Wolf spiders range from 0.14 inches to 1.38 inches and are black or brown and quite hairy. They are often confused for tarantulas and brown recluse spiders.

They are quite quick and are often found close to the ground under rocks. Wolf spiders don’t build webs and instead prefer to burrow into the ground. Wolf spiders are usually outside but will find their way inside during the colder months looking for warmth.

Wolf spiders aren’t an aggressive breed and are actually commonly kept as pets. You will know if a wolf spider is about to bite you because they will rear their front legs in order to threaten you. If you don’t back away after they have threatened you then you will get bitten. While their bites are quite itchy and painful, it doesn’t last long.

Southern House Spider

For Southern house spiders, the females and males of the species look very different. You will rarely see the females since they live in their webs. The females are dark brown or black and have quite bulbous bodies.

The males of the species are the ones you will find in your home. This is because they are more active. The males are khaki or amber brown and have long legs.

Southern house spiders enjoy living in dark areas and you will typically find their webs on house plants. They are almost blind so they typically crawl across anything including humans without a care as they don’t see the danger of large predators. 

This lack of caring about what they’re crawling over may make them seem aggressive but they aren’t. In fact, Southern house spiders have such small mouths that they can’t effectively penetrate human skin.

Domestic House Spider

Domestic house spiders are brown with striped legs. They range from 0.24 inches and 0.45 inches with the females being slightly larger. The males have long flexible legs but their bodies are much smaller.

Their webs are funnel-shaped which makes them effective predators at catching small insects. They live in dark and dry crevices of your house including cupboards and behind furniture.

As a species they are non-aggressive and their bites are painless.

Harvestman

Harvestman spiders are also known as daddy long legs. Cellar spiders and crane flies are also known as daddy long legs. 

As the nickname suggests, harvestman spiders have very long and thin legs. Their bodies are round and look almost comically large in comparison to their legs.

Harvestman spiders don’t build webs and will live in dark and damp places since they require a lot of water. You are most likely to find them in cellars where they feed on small insects.

Contrary to the popular myth that daddy long legs are highly poisonous, harvestman spiders don’t actually have any venom in them.

Conclusion

While spiders are a great natural pest control for your home, they are still unnerving to some people.

The most effective way to stop spiders from entering your home is by sealing up any cracks and cleaning up any clutter they can live in.