There are over 30 different types of spiders in Montana. Montana boasts a diverse collection of these fascinating arachnids, so you’ll find many different types represented in the state.
Spiders, more than most arthropods, are a misunderstood group. Although people have various reasons for fearing them, this fear is often the result of misinformation. Yes, spiders can seem creepy if you aren’t used to them, but most are harmless.
Many bites people attribute to spiders aren’t from spiders. These arachnids don’t bite people unless provoked, but even such bites are unusual and not venomous enough to trigger any serious symptoms.
In Montana, only two spiders are venomous enough to cause medically significant symptoms. But like virtually all spiders in the state, even these species don’t bite people unprovoked. These spiders are easy to identify, so there’s no need to worry.
Whether you’re here out of sheer curiosity or you’re here because you’re worried the spider you saw in your home might be dangerous, this guide has you covered. You’ll learn all you need to know about the different spider species common in Montana.
You’ll also learn how to identify many of these spiders, plus interesting facts about each one.
Table of Contents
Spiders in Montana
1. Southern Black Widow
- Experience Level: Advanced
- Family: Theridiidae
- Scientific Name: Latrodectus mactans
- Other Names: Hourglass Spider, Widow Spider, Eastern Black Widow
- Adult Size: Up to 0.5 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 3 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The southern black widow is an arachnid with a shiny black body and a bulbous abdomen that’s larger than its cephalothorax. This abdomen has a reddish hourglass marking on its underside, a feature necessary for identifying black widows.
You’ll find the southern black widow in dimly lit or secluded corners around the home or in woodlands. Here, it spins a tangled but sticky cobweb to catch prey, such as beetles and wasps.
The spider waits for insects to wander into its sticky cobwebs and get stuck. It then quickly rushes toward its victims, injects them with a lethal dose of its venom, then consumes them.
The venom of this spider is potent, not only against small arthropod prey but against humans too. The venom contains a neurotoxin that may cause you to develop latrodectism if this spider bites you.
Latrodectism is a condition accompanied by symptoms like fever, nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, muscle stiffness, and pain. You may need medical attention to alleviate these symptoms and prevent complications that may cause death.
The good news is that despite being highly venomous, southern black widows rarely bite people. Bites are often due to accidental forced skin contact, such as when a person wears a cloth or shoe harboring this spider by mistake.
2. Western Black Widow
- Experience Level: Advanced
- Family: Theridiidae
- Scientific Name: Latrodectus hesperus
- Other Names: Black Widow, Widow Spider, Hourglass Spider
- Adult Size: Up to 0.5 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 3 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The western black widow is a close relative of the southern black widow. This arachnid has a black shiny body with a bulbous abdomen bearing a reddish hourglass-shaped marking underneath.
Like the southern black widow, this arachnid has a venom that’s potent against humans, which is why it’s regarded as one of the deadliest spiders in the world. Its bites can trigger latrodectism and, in extreme cases, cause death.
Thankfully, deaths from western black widow bites are rare. That’s partly because the spider doesn’t bite people unless threatened and unable to escape. It’s also because the spiders usually don’t inject people with a venom dose high enough to cause death.
Children, elderly people, and adults with weakened immune systems are at the highest risk of developing severe reactions to this spider’s venom. But you should still see a doctor to prevent complications even if you’re not in the vulnerable demographic.
Western black widows are called widows because female spiders in their genus tend to consume males after mating. While all spiders in this genus bear this name, it’s interesting to note that scientists have only observed this behavior among southern black widows in the wild.
Western black widows feed on various types of arthropods, especially insects. They trap these insects in their messy, sticky cobwebs, immobilize their victims with venom, then go over to consume their catch.
3. American House Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Theridiidae
- Scientific Name: Parasteatoda tepidariorum
- Other Names: Common House Spider, Common Cellar Spider
- Adult Size: 0.15 to 0.24 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The American house spider is a relative of black widows from another genus.
Although this species’ bites can also be painful, the venom it injects is much milder than black widows. You won’t develop any serious symptoms or need medical care.
This arachnid feeds on arthropods, including but not limited to insects. This spider often preys on other arachnids, such as scorpions, ticks, and some spider species, including true black widows.
Insects and other arthropods that fall prey to this spider often do so when they wander into the spider’s sticky cobwebs. As they try to break free, their struggle causes the webs to vibrate and alert the spider of their presence.
American house spiders follow the vibratory signals toward their victims. They then inject their victims with venom before consuming them. These critters often remove prey from their webs to create new room for other prey to get stuck.
You’ll often find American house spiders indoors, which is why they’re called house spiders. These arachnids hide in corners, cellars, window sills, and other places where they build tangled, sticky cobwebs to catch prey.
4. Rabbit Hutch Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner to Intermediate
- Family: Theridiidae
- Scientific Name: Steatoda bipunctata
- Other Names: False Black Widow
- Adult Size: 0.2 to 0.31 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 6 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The rabbit hutch spider is a small cobweb spider that’s related to black widows.
It has a glossy black or dark brown carapace with a bulbous brown abdomen. Although people often mistake it for a black widow, you can tell these spiders apart from a closeup.
In addition to not being black like widows, the rabbit hutch spider’s main differentiating feature is the absence of an hourglass marking on its abdomen. Instead, this spider has a whitish T-shaped band that runs along its abdomen’s midline and curves around it at the top.
Unlike its infamous cousins, the rabbit hutch spider is not deadly. Its venom is not medically significant to humans. Though bites might be painful, you’ll be fine without any treatments.
This arachnid is common in secluded spaces, such as sheds and abandoned rabbit hutches. It builds sticky tangled cobwebs to catch small arthropods then waits for prey to get stuck so that it can immobilize them with venom.
5. European Garden Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Araneus diadematus
- Other Names: Cross Spider, Cross Orb-weaver, Crowned Orb-weaver, European Garden Orb-weaver, Orangie, Cross Spider, Diadem Spider, House Spider, Pumpkin Spider
- Adult Size: 0.22 to 0.79 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The European garden spider comes in various colors, so you’ll find variants that range from yellowish-brown to gray.
This arachnid has a large belly with a broad dark pattern running down its back. This pattern has jagged edges and narrows toward the rear.
If you look closely, you’ll notice a series of white spots that form a cross-like shape in the center of this broad black pattern. This spider gets its second name, “cross orb-weaver,” from this cross-like pattern on its back.
You’ll find the European garden spider among vegetation in gardens, woodlands, and grasslands. This arachnid builds large wheel-like orb webs and sits upside-down in the middle, waiting for flying insects to get stuck.
When insects get stuck on this spider’s web, it detects it via vibratory signals traveling along its web strands then quickly goes to immobilize its victims with venom. It then consumes them or stashes them away to eat later.
If the source of the vibratory signals this spider detects is from predators it can’t subdue, it often vibrates its web to scare them. It drops from its web and runs if this strategy is unsuccessful at deterring the intruder.
European garden spiders, like many orb-weaving spiders in Montana, are not dangerous. They rarely bite people, and their venom is too mild to cause any serious symptoms.
6. Yellow Garden Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Argiope aurantia
- Other Names: Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Steeler Spider, Black and Yellow Argiope, Zipper Spider, Golden Garden Spider, McKinley Spider, Corn Spider, Zigzag Spider
- Adult Size: 0.75 to 1.1 inches
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The yellow garden spider is a stunning black and yellow orb-weaver with a black cephalothorax covered in whitish hair and legs that have alternating black and yellow bands.
This spider’s abdomen is a mix of black and yellow, but the dominant color depends on the variant. The abdomen has a broad black stripe running down the center, and this black stripe has two or more pairs of yellow spots. The rest of this spider’s belly is often yellow with black ring-like markings.
As this spider’s name suggests, it’s common in gardens. But you’ll also encounter it in other places with plenty of vegetation, such as forests, woodlands, and tallgrass prairies.
Yellow garden spiders build large orb webs and sit upside-down in the hub, waiting for prey. These arachnids feed primarily on flying insects that crash into the sticky strands of their webs mid-flight.
They can tell when the prey has hit their web via vibratory signals, after which they run toward the vibration source to investigate. They inject their victims with venom and then wrap them up in silk to consume later.
These spiders are harmless to humans, so there’s no need to panic if you encounter their webs in your garden or around your home. On the contrary, their presence is often beneficial since they eat a lot of arthropods that act as pests or disease vectors.
7. Banded Garden Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Argiope trifasciata
- Other Names: Orb-weaver Spider, Yellow Garden Spider
- Adult Size: 0.59 to 0.98 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The banded garden spider is the yellow garden spider’s close relative.
This arachnid has whitish hair on its carapace and an abdomen that is often variable in color. In some variants, this abdomen has black, yellow, and white bands running from side to side.
In others, you’ll notice brown and orange bands in the mix. People unfamiliar with spiders in this genus may mistake banded garden spiders that have black and yellow bands for regular yellow garden spiders.
The banded garden spider is an orb-weaver that spins large wheel-like webs among vegetation in gardens, woodlands, and shrublands. This spider sits upside-down in the middle of its orb web and waits for insects to fly into its sticky web strands.
When an insect hits the web, the spider detects it using the vibratory signals traveling along the strands. It then rushes to inject its catch with venom before wrapping it up in silk to feast on later.
Like the yellow garden spider, the banded garden spider is not a dangerous species. It plays a beneficial role in the environment because of its diet, so there’s no need to kill it if you discover it around your house or garden.
8. Shamrock Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Araneus trifolium
- Other Names: Shamrock Spider
- Adult Size: Up to 0.75 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The shamrock spider is an orb-weaver that comes in several colors, and it has variants with bellies that range from white to brown, orange, or yellow. Regardless of the color, this spider often has black and white bands on its legs and white markings on its belly.
You’ll often encounter this arachnid in areas with plenty of vegetation, such as forests and woodlands. But you may also find this species around buildings and artificial structures in residential areas.
This spider builds large wheel-like webs with radial and spiral threads that spread out from a hub in the center. When active, the shamrock spider sits in this hub and waits for small insects or other arthropods to fly into its web’s strands.
Like many other web-building spiders in Montana, the shamrock spider has poor eyesight. That’s why it relies on the vibrations of its web strands to detect and locate prey caught in its web.
This arachnid picks up these vibrations using the sensors in its legs and then rushes toward its catch. It immobilizes its victim with venom and then eats it or stashes it away to eat at a later time.
Shamrock spiders are not aggressive toward people, so bites are uncommon. But even if one were to bite you, there’s no need to worry. Their venom is too weak to harm humans.
9. Six-spotted Fishing Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Pisauridae
- Scientific Name: Dolomedes triton
- Other Names: Dock Spider, Raft Spider
- Adult Size: 0.5 to 0.75 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The six-spotted fishing spider is a semi-aquatic arachnid that’s common around streams, ponds, rivers, and other water sources. It’s also common among riverside vegetation and structures.
This species is called a fishing spider because it’s comfortable on both land and water, and it sometimes dives into the water to hunt prey. It doesn’t spin webs to catch its victims, relying instead on its wit, speed, and strength.
When hunting in water, this spider stands on the surface film and listens for ripples or surface vibrations that indicate prey movement underneath. Once it can tell the source of these vibrations, it dives in to seize and inject its victims with venom.
The six-spotted fishing spider, like many fishing spiders, can stay submerged in water for long periods. That’s because its lungs are adapted for underwater breathing. After subduing its catch, this spider drags it out of the water to go feast on it.
This species feeds on various types of prey in the water, from aquatic insects and arthropods to non-arthropod prey like tadpoles, slugs, and small fish. Its diet includes almost any small animal it can subdue.
The six-spotted fishing spider is not aggressive to people, so it won’t bite you unless you threaten it. If one bites you, you might experience pain and mild swelling or redness in the bite area. But rest assured you won’t develop any medically significant symptoms.
You can identify the six-spotted fishing spider by the presence of six whitish spots on its sternum (the underside of its cephalothorax). This brown spider also has pairs of whitish spots on its abdomen, but these spots exceed six and aren’t the spots it’s named after.
The six-spotted fishing spider also has a whitish band running around the sides of its body, from the cephalothorax to the abdomen.
10. Marbled Orbweaver
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Araneus marmoreus
- Other Names: Pumpkin Spider
- Adult Size: 0.2 to 0.7 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 2 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The marbled orb-weaver is a beautiful orange-brown spider with a large round abdomen that’s variable in color.
This abdomen may be yellow, orange, brown, or even greenish. In addition, the abdomen bears several streaks that give it a marble-like appearance.
This arachnid gets its name from the marble-like pattern on its abdomen. This pattern is usually symmetrical, and the markings that create this pattern vary in color from black to brown or green.
You’ll find the marbled orb-weaver among vegetation in forests, woodlands, and shrublands. This spider spins a large orb web to catch prey, but it doesn’t spend much time in the center the way most orb-weavers in Montana do.
The marbled orb-weaver often sits on its web’s edges, where it builds a retreat out of silk and dried leaves to hide in. Juveniles build their webs only out of silk alone. When in the retreat, this spider remains connected to the hub of its web using a signal thread.
This signal thread is a single line of silk that vibrates when prey or intruders come in contact with the web. The spider senses this vibration and goes out to immobilize its prey or run if the vibration source is a predator or some other intruder it can’t subdue.
Marbled orb-weavers are not aggressive spiders, so there’s no need to fear them. Their venom is weak against humans, and they don’t bite unless you threaten them. Even then, you might not feel it.
11. Daring Jumping Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Salticidae
- Scientific Name: Phidippus audax
- Other Names: Bold Jumping Spider, Bold Jumper, Three-spotted Jumping Spider, White-spotted Jumper, White-spotted Jumping Spider
- Adult Size: 0.25 to 0.75 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The daring jumping spider is a fascinating hairy black arachnid with whitish hairs on its joints. Its abdomen has three reddish-orange spots on the second half, which is why the species is also called a three-spotted jumping spider.
As this spider’s name implies, it can make impressive jumps. The daring in its name comes from its tendency to make incredible high jumps relative to its body size, especially when you consider that this species’ legs are short.
This arachnid lacks extensor muscles, so it jumps by regulating the pressure in its strong back legs before forcefully extending them. It spins a silk dragline every time it jumps to steady itself and reduce the risk of injury if the jump fails.
The daring jumping spider is common outdoors, and you’ll find it anywhere from vertical surfaces around your home to tree barks in gardens or woodlands. It doesn’t spin webs to catch prey, preferring to hunt down its victims instead.
This arachnid has good eyesight, which it uses to scout prey before ambushing them. When close to its targets, the daring jumping spider leaps on them and subdues them with venom before eating them.
The daring jumping spider’s venom is only effective against small prey, such as insects or other arthropods. It’s harmless to humans, and the spider rarely bites people unless provoked.
12. Hobo Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Agelenidae
- Scientific Name: Eratigena agrestis
- Other Names: Aggressive House Spider, Funnel Weaver, Sheet Web Spider, Funnel Web Spider, Ground Spider
- Adult Size: 0.25 to 0.6 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The hobo spider is a brown spider with a wide carapace and a hairy belly with dark markings and light chevrons in the middle. It’s difficult to tell this species apart from other spiders in its family without expert help or examining it under magnification.
You might have heard that the hobo spider is a highly venomous species. The CDC once put it on its list of medically significant spiders.
But this is untrue. The hobo spider’s venom is not medically significant, and many studies prove this.
Even the CDC has dropped this species from its list of highly venomous spiders because there’s no evidence supporting claims about its medical significance. Sadly, it’s still common to read claims about this spider being highly venomous.
This species is also often called an “aggressive house spider,” a name that adds to the concerns people have about it being a dangerous spider. But this name is a misinterpretation of the “agrestis” in its scientific name.
“Agrestis” as in this spider’s name means “rural” or “in the fields” in Latin, not aggressive. This spider isn’t aggressive to people, and it won’t bite you unless you threaten it and it’s unable to escape.
Hobo spiders belong to a family of spiders that spin large funnel-shaped webs to catch prey. These webs aren’t sticky, but the legs of prey often get tangled in them long enough for the spiders to swoop in for the kill.
While you’ll find this species in different parts of Montana, it’s not native to the state.
13. Deadly Ground Crab Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Thomisidae
- Scientific Name: Xysticus funestus
- Other Names: Ground Crab Spider, Bark Crab Spider
- Adult Size: 0.18 to 0.4 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The deadly ground crab spider isn’t deadly in any sense, at least not to humans.
The spider doesn’t bite people unless threatened. While its bite might hurt, its venom is too weak to trigger medically significant symptoms.
This arachnid is brown with dark brown mottles on its body that provide it with excellent camouflage when on forest floors, among leaf litter, or on tree bark. The carapace is wide, and the abdomen is wider at the rear than at the waist.
This species is called a crab spider because its features share some similarities with those of true crabs. For example, its body is flattened like a crab. Its first two leg pairs are also larger than the others and resemble the pincers of crabs.
Deadly ground crab spiders don’t spin webs to catch prey. Instead, these arachnids ambush their victims and pounce on them when within easy reach.
They then consume their victims after immobilizing them with venom.
14. Red-spotted Ant-mimic Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Corinnidae
- Scientific Name: Castianeira descripta
- Other Names: Ant Mimic Spider
- Adult Size: 0.2 to 0.4 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The red-spotted ant mimic spider is a black arachnid with reddish markings on the second half of its abdomen. The number of reddish markings on its belly varies, so it’s only a faint hue in some variants.
This species belongs to a family of spiders that mimic ants by adapting their behavior. Since the red-spotted ant mimic spider primarily feeds on ants, one theory is that this mimicry is to enable the spider to get close enough to ants to attack them.
Despite being eight-legged, this arachnid often approaches ants while walking on only six of its legs. It raises the first pair up and twitches them while walking to mimic the antennae of six-legged ants.
Fortunately for it, ants often get fooled by its imitation of them. Once within reach of its targets, the red-spotted ant mimic spider seizes and immobilizes them with venom. It doesn’t use webs when hunting.
The spider’s venom isn’t medically significant to humans, but bites might hurt. Thankfully, it is not aggressive to humans. It won’t bite you if you don’t provoke it.
You’ll often find this spider outdoors in woodlands and forests. It usually lives a short distance from ant colonies or anthills, giving it easy access to prey.
15. Utah Funnel-web Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Agelenidae
- Scientific Name: Agelenopsis utahana
- Other Names: American Grass Spider, Funnel Weaver, Funnel-web Spider, Sheet-web Spider, Ground Spider
- Adult Size: 0.35 to 0.67 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The Utah funnel-web spider is a brown arachnid that builds funnel-shaped webs and is related to hobo spiders. Its body is brown, and its carapace has two broad dark stripes running beside the midline and two thin dark stripes on the outer edges.
In addition, the abdomen of this spider has two dark stripes and is stippled with dark spots. Like the hobo spider, the center of the abdomen bears a series of light chevron markings. You’ll also notice two pikes at the rear created by the spider’s spinnerets.
You’ll find the Utah funnel-web spider outdoors among ground vegetation in grasslands, and woodlands. When this arachnid builds its funnel-shaped web on grass fields, the wide part of the funnel spreads over the grass while the spider hides in the tube.
The funnel-like web this spider builds is not sticky, but the legs of prey that wander into it often set off vibratory signals in the web strands. The spider detects these vibratory signals and swoops in to immobilize its victims before they can escape.
Utah funnel-web spiders, like most spiders in Montana, are not aggressive to humans. These critters don’t bite people unprovoked, and their venom is not medically significant.
16. Goldenrod Crab Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Thomisidae
- Scientific Name: Misumena vatia
- Other Names: Smooth Flower Crab Spider, Red-spotted Crab Spider, Flower Spider, Flower Crab Spider
- Adult Size: 0.12 to 0.75 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The goldenrod crab spider is a yellow or white spider that may or may not bear a reddish or pink stripe on either side of the top of its abdomen. Sometimes, this spider’s color is a mix of white and yellow. That’s because it’s capable of color change.
This arachnid is one of a small number of spiders that can change their body to match the color of their surroundings. Its color change can take anywhere from a few days to three weeks to complete, but this ability provides the spider with excellent camouflage.
Goldenrod crab spiders use this camouflage to their advantage when ambushing insects and other arthropods. These spiders don’t spin webs to catch prey and spend most of their time sitting in flowerheads.
When insects come to pollinate these flowerheads, the spiders stay concealed because their color blends into the background. They then pounce on their unsuspecting targets, inject them with venom, then eat them.
Goldenrod crab spiders get their name from their tendency to live and hunt on goldenrod plants. Females are usually sedentary. Males, on the other hand, tend to roam about in search of mates and prey because they lack the ability to change colors.
Like many spiders in Montana, male goldenrod crab spiders are smaller than females. Their carapaces are reddish with a white marking in the middle, while the abdomen is white. In addition, the first two leg pairs are reddish-brown, while the last two are yellow.
Goldenrod crab spiders aren’t dangerous. They won’t bite you unless you threaten them, and their venom is not medically significant.
17. Barn Funnel Weaver
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Tegenaria domestica
- Other Names: Drain Spider, Barn Spider, Funnel Web Weaver
- Adult Size: 0.24 to 0.45 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 7 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The barn funnel weaver is a relative of grass and hobo spiders.
Its body is brown or grayish with two broad dark stripes on its carapace and mottled dark markings on its abdomen. Like its relatives, its spinnerets extend posteriorly at the abdomen’s rear.
You’ll find the barn funnel weaver in a variety of places, especially in areas with ground vegetation. The spider is also common in barns and sheds, which is why it’s called a barn funnel weaver.
This arachnid builds large funnel-shaped webs over flat surfaces, especially low vegetation. The center has a tube-like retreat that the spider extends into its shelter and rests in while waiting for prey.
When insects or other arthropods wander into this web, the spider detects their presence via the vibrations triggered by their movements. It then rushes out of its retreat to bite and subdue them. It drags subdued victims into its retreat to eat them.
Barn funnel weavers are not aggressive to humans, so bites are unusual. They run when threatened and only bite when they have no choice. Fortunately, the venom from their bites is not medically significant.
18. Candy-striped Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Theridiidae
- Scientific Name: Enoplognatha ovata
- Other Names: Common Candy-striped Spider, Polymorphic Long-jawed Cobweaver
- Adult Size: Up to 0.25 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 3 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The candy-striped spider gets its name from the resemblance of its belly to candy. This greenish or cream spider has a bulbous greenish, whitish, or cream belly with reddish stripes running down it.
There are three variants of this spider, and you can tell them apart by examining the pattern on their bellies. The redimita morph has two reddish stripes running down the abdomen with tiny black spots in the middle.
The ovata morph has reddish stripes but no black spots in the middle. Instead, the two reddish stripes merge into one. The lineata morph differs from the others by having no reddish stripes. The abdomen only bears black spots in the middle.
Candy-striped spiders are originally native to Europe, from where they were introduced to North America. These spiders belong to the same family of black widows, but they are much less venomous.
They spin sticky cobwebs among vegetation outdoors and wait for prey to get tangled in them. When their webs catch prey, the spiders swoop in to inject their victims with venom before eating them.
19. Elegant Crab Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Thomisidae
- Scientific Name: Xysticus elegans
- Other Names: Ground Crab Spider, Bark Crab Spider
- Adult Size: 0.16 to 0.47 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The elegant crab spider is a dark brown arachnid with a light brown marking on its carapace that may be outlined in white.
Its abdomen also has brown markings that sometimes bear whitish outlines. These brownish markings are also present on its legs.
Like other crab spiders, this species’ body is flattened and wide. Its first two leg pairs are larger than its remaining legs, and it can move forward, backward, and sideways without turning.
This arachnid is a hunter that doesn’t build webs to trap its victims, preferring to chase them down or ambush them. When its targets are within reach, the spider seizes them with its strong forearms and injects them with venom to subdue them.
This venom, while powerful against small arthropod prey, is harmless to humans. You might experience pain if this spider bites you, but the symptoms quickly fade without treatment.
You’ll find elegant crab spiders in forests and woodlands, where their coloration often helps them blend into their surroundings undetected.
20. Cat-faced Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Araneidae
- Scientific Name: Araneus gemmoides
- Other Names: Jewel Spider, Cat-faced Orb-weaver
- Adult Size: 0.2 to 1 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The cat-faced spider is an orb-weaver that comes in various colors, from brown to whitish, beige, gray, or orange. Its name comes from the resemblance of its abdomen to a cat’s face when you view it from certain angles.
This abdomen, like that of many orb-weavers, is spiny. It also has two humps at the top, between which a brown pattern runs down the center. This pattern has puncture-like markings that resemble eyes, while the humps and spines look like cat ears and whiskers respectively.
Cat-faced spiders are common among vegetation in forests, woodlands, and tallgrass prairies. These arachnids build large orb webs to catch flying insects and other small arthropods.
When insects fly into their webs and get stuck, the spiders rush toward their victims to immobilize them with venom. These spiders have poor eyesight, so they rely on the vibration of their web strands to locate insects trapped in their webs.
Like other orb-weaving spiders in Montana, cat-faced spiders are harmless to humans. They don’t bite unless threatened, but even such incidents are unusual.
21. Bowl and Doily Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Linyphiidae
- Scientific Name: Frontinella pyramitela
- Other Names: Sheet-weaver
- Adult Size: 0.12 to 0.16 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The bowl and doily spider is a small arachnid that weaves sheet-like webs to catch prey, and the spider gets its name from the structure of its webs. These webs have a two-part structure that resembles a bowl on a doily.
You’ll often find this web in areas with good vegetation, especially forests, and woodlands. The first part of the web is shaped like a bowl and often anchored to branches at the top by tangled silk threads.
The second part is a horizontal sheet-like web that resembles a doily on which the bowl-shaped web sits. This doily is often anchored to the trunks of nearby trees or other structures.
This spider’s web is not sticky, but it’s excellent at trapping prey. Flying insects that accidentally crash into the tangled silk strands above the bowl are knocked down into the bowl by the impact. There, the bowl and doily spider injects them with venom.
Bowl and doily spiders are brown critters with shiny carapaces and relatively large abdomens. Their bellies have white vertical stripes running down their sides. These stripes resemble commas, and they turn yellow toward the spider’s underside.
These arachnids, like most spiders in Montana, rarely bite people. Their venom is also too weak to cause medically significant symptoms in humans.
22. Western Lynx Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Oxyopidae
- Scientific Name: Oxyopes scalaris
- Other Names: Lynx Spider
- Adult Size: 0.16 to 0.3 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The western lynx spider is a brown arachnid with sparse but long spines on its legs.
These legs are long, and they bear alternating light and dark brown or black bands. The species is closely related to green lynx spiders and striped lynx spiders.
Like its relatives, this arachnid gets the lynx in its name from its tendency to leap on prey like lynx cats when hunting. It doesn’t use webs to trap prey, preferring to ambush or chase down its victims.
This spider spins silk draglines to aid in its jumps and reduce the risk of injury when jumps fail. But while this spider can jump, its jumps aren’t considered as impressive as those of true jumping spiders.
Not much is known about the life history of western lynx spiders, but these arachnids are common in areas with plenty of vegetation. They spend most of their time on plants and trees, from which they ambush their targets.
Western lynx spiders are unaggressive, so they won’t bite you unprovoked. But even if they did, their venom is not medically significant.
23. Zebra Jumping Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Salticidae
- Scientific Name: Salticus scenicus
- Other Names: Zebra Spider, Zebra Jumper
- Adult Size: Up to 0.25 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 3 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The zebra jumping spider is a hairy black spider with hairy white patches on its body. This mix of black and white creates a pattern similar to zebras, the animals after which this species is named.
You’ll find zebra jumping spiders in various places, especially outdoors. These critters are common on vertical surfaces like walls around buildings, and on trees or vegetation in fields, parks, woodlands, and forests.
Zebra jumping spiders, like their relatives, can leap several times their body height. They spin silk draglines to aid in their jumps and reduce the risk of injury in case a jump goes awry.
These arachnids don’t spin typical webs, preferring to live in small silk nests and hunt down prey. Fortunately, these hunters have keen eyesight and the agility required to scout, stalk, and attack their victims when hunting.
Zebra jumping spiders inject their victims with venom during an attack, effectively immobilizing them. Thankfully, this venom is ineffective in humans, and the spiders don’t bite people unless provoked.
24. American Nursery Web Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Pisaurina
- Scientific Name: Pisaurina mira
- Other Names: Common Nursery Web Spider
- Adult Size: 0.35 to 0.7 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 2 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The American nursery web spider belongs to the same family as fishing spiders, and you’ll often encounter this arachnid among coastal vegetation.
It is common in tallgrass fields, bushes, and woodlands. In addition, this spider sometimes wanders indoors.
This arachnid is usually yellowish-brown with a broad brown stripe running down the center of the cephalothorax and abdomen. On the abdomen, this deep brown stripe is hemmed in on both sides by thin, wavy white or yellowish stripes.
American nursery web spiders are skilled hunters that don’t trap their targets in webs. These spiders ambush small insects and other arthropods like mosquitoes and gnats, which they pounce on and inject with venom when within reach.
The venom American nursery web spiders inject into their targets often kills them immediately, but it isn’t lethal to humans. You might experience pain if this spider bites you but its bites aren’t medically significant. Thankfully, spiders rarely bite people.
Although these spiders don’t spin silk to catch prey, they use it for other purposes. For example, female American nursery web spiders spin silk sacs to hold their eggs after laying them. These spiders then carry these egg sacs everywhere in their mouths.
When the eggs are close to hatching, these spiders spin nursery-like shelters for their young using silk to hold nearby leaves in place. The spiders get their name from this nursery-building habit.
25. Carolina Giant Wolf Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Lycosidae
- Scientific Name: Hogna carolinensis
- Other Names: Giant Carolina Wolf Spider, Carolina Wolf Spider
- Adult Size: 0.70 to 1.5 inches
- Lifespan: Up to 2 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The Carolina giant wolf spider is one of the largest wolf spiders in North America. In addition, this species has served as the official state spider in South Carolina since the year 2000.
This arachnid is brown with a broad dark brown or black stripe on either side of its carapace’s midline. The abdomen also has dark stripes, but the underside of this arachnid’s body is black. Unlike females, males have orange markings on their sides.
You’ll find the Carolina giant wolf spider in various types of habitats, from forests to deserts. But this arachnid shows a strong preference for desert-like areas, where it often lives in burrows in the ground.
This arachnid doesn’t spin typical webs for shelter or prey capture. Instead, it lies in wait and ambushes prey that wanders too close to its location. The spider immobilizes its victim with venom and either eats its catch on the spot or drags it into its burrow to consume.
Carolina giant wolf spiders are nocturnal hunters with excellent eyesight, and they feed on various types of prey. While arthropods, such as insects make up the bulk of their victims, these arachnids also sometimes prey on small vertebrates like geckos.
Thankfully, the venom these spiders use to subdue their targets is not strong enough to harm humans. Bites might be painful, but you won’t develop medically significant symptoms.
Know that unless you threaten them, these spiders will not bite.
26. Eastern Parson Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Gnaphosidae
- Scientific Name: Herpyllus ecclesiasticus
- Other Names: Stealthy Ground Spider, Ground Spider
- Adult Size: 0.3 to 0.8 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 2 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The eastern parson spider is a ground spider with a hairy black or gray body and a white pattern running down the center of its back. This pattern resembles the neckband or cravat Catholic clergymen wore in the past.
The spider gets its name from the resemblance of this white pattern to cravats. That’s because parson is another name for a clergy member.
You’ll also find this reference in “ecclesiasticus,” the species’ scientific name. This name comes from “eclesiastes,” meaning preacher.
Eastern parson spiders are nocturnal arachnids that often hide inside door crevices, wall cracks, and other dark, undisturbed parts of the house. They feed on various types of arthropods, especially insects.
Like other ground spiders, these arachnids are skilled hunters that don’t build typical webs to catch prey. These critters are swift on their feet, and they prefer stalking their targets and gauging their targets’ reactions before attacking.
Eastern parson spiders aren’t aggressive to people unprovoked, but they don’t hesitate to bite in self-defense when threatened. Their bites can hurt quite a bit, but the venom the spiders inject is not medically significant.
27. California Flattened Jumping Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Salticidae
- Scientific Name: Platycryptus californicus
- Other Names: California Flattened Jumper
- Adult Size: 0.24 to 0.42 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
California flattened jumping spiders belong to the same genus as the tan jumping spider, and it shares many similarities with its more well-known sibling. This arachnid is brown with a whitish pattern running down the center of its carapace and abdomen.
Like its relative, the pattern on this spider’s back resembles a series of fitted chevrons on the abdomen. But the overall pattern looks like a long, narrow leaf with serrated edges.
You’ll find California flattened jumping spiders outdoors, on walls and posts around residential buildings, or on tree bark in fields, forests, or woodlands. These arachnids live in small silk nests, but they don’t build conventional webs.
Like other jumping spiders in Montana, these critters have good eyesight and can jump several times their height. They use these features to their advantage when hunting prey since they don’t spin webs.
These arachnids scout prey and lie in ambush, leaping on their victims once within reach. They inject their victims with venom and eat them immediately or drag their bodies elsewhere to eat later.
California flattened jumping spiders are unaggressive critters that don’t bite people unprovoked. Their venom is not medically significant, so you’ll be fine even if one bites you.
28. Red-backed Jumping Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Salticidae
- Scientific Name: Phidippus johnsonni
- Other Names: Johnson Jumping Spider, Red and Black Jumping Spider, Red-back Jumping Spider
- Adult Size: 0.19 to 0.25 inch
- Lifespan: 1 to 3 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The red-backed jumping spider is a close relative of the daring jumping spider. Males of this species are black with a reddish patch covering their entire abdomen, while females have a wide black stripe running down the center of this reddish patch.
Like other jumping spiders, this species can leap several times its body length. It makes these jumps by modifying the fluid pressure in its legs before extending them. It also attaches a silk dragline to the surface from which it’s jumping to regulate its jumps.
You’ll encounter red-backed jumping spiders in various places, from walls and poles around residential areas to trees and plants in fields, forests, and woodlands. These arachnids are lively and tend to jump from place to place when active.
Red-backed jumping spiders feed on various arthropods, especially insects like flies and moths. These arachnids don’t spin webs to catch prey, preferring instead to hunt down or ambush their targets.
You shouldn’t mistake red-backed jumping spiders for the redback spider, an unrelated and highly venomous widow spider non-native to the United States. Red-backed jumping spiders aren’t highly venomous.
Although red-backed jumping spiders might bite you when threatened, the venom these critters produce is too weak to trigger medically significant symptoms.
29. Turf Running Crab Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Philodromidae
- Scientific Name: Philodromus cespitum
- Other Names: Running Crab Spider
- Adult Size: 0.14 to 0.21 inch
- Lifespan: 1 year
- Average Price Range: N/A
The turf-running crab spider is a brown or yellow arachnid with a flattened, mottled body. Although this spider isn’t a true crab spider, it’s easy to mistake it for a true crab spider because its first two leg pairs appear larger than the others.
If you examine this spider closely, you’ll notice that, unlike true crab spiders, only its second leg pair is longer than the others. The first pair is the same size as the last two pairs.
Turf-running crab spiders are common among vegetation, especially in orchards. As their name suggests, these arachnids are swift runners. The spiders don’t spin webs to catch prey, relying instead on their speed and agility.
These arachnids are sit-and-wait or ambush predators. When their targets wander too close to them, the spiders attack and immobilize their victims with venom. They then eat their catch on the spot or drag them somewhere more comfortable.
Turf-running crab spiders do not produce medically significant venom, so you’ll be fine even if one bites you. Fortunately, these spiders won’t bite you unless you threaten them.
30. Long-bodied Cellar Spider
- Experience Level: Beginner
- Family: Pholcidae
- Scientific Name: Pholcus phalangioides
- Other Names: Daddy Longlegs, Elongated Cellar Spider, Cellar Spider, Daddy Longlegger, Carpenter Spider, House Spider, Granddaddy Longlegs, Vibrating Spider, Skull Spider
- Adult Size: Up to 0.4 inch
- Lifespan: 2 years
- Average Price Range: N/A
The long-bodied cellar spider is a tiny arachnid with a long abdomen and even longer legs. These legs can be up to six times the body length and often make the spider appear much larger than it is.
Long-bodied cellar spiders are common indoors, where they often hide in cellars, hence their name. But these spiders are also common in ceiling corners, furniture bends, attics, and other undisturbed parts of the house.
These arachnids are web-builders with poor eyesight, and they rely on their haphazard webs to catch prey. The spiders cling to the underside of their webs while waiting for prey to wander into the tangled mass and get stuck.
Once the web has caught prey, these critters vibrate the web to further entangle their catch. They then inject their victims with venom before consuming or stashing them away for later.
There’s no shortage of stories claiming this spider’s venom is one of the deadliest in the world, only that its fangs can’t pierce human skin. The jury is still out about whether this spider’s fangs can pierce human skin, but the venom is harmless to humans.
Frequently Asked Questions
You probably still have questions about spiders in Montana. Read on to get answers to your most pressing questions.
What do spiders in Montana eat?
Spiders in Montana, like elsewhere, eat arthropods as a staple in their diet. Depending on the species, this arthropod-based diet might be augmented with other things like pollen or non-arthropod prey like tadpoles, fish, slugs, and tiny mice.
Insects make up the bulk of the arthropods that spiders in Montana consume, mostly because of their relative abundance compared to other arthropods.
Do spiders in Montana have good eyesight?
Some spiders in Montana have excellent eyesight as far as spiders go.
But even many more don’t. This diversity in eyesight quality often shows a parallel with other characteristics, such as whether or not a spider relies on webs to catch prey.
Web-building spiders tend to have poor eyesight, which is why they rely on webs to make sense of their surroundings. On the other hand, hunters like wolf spiders or jumping spiders often have excellent vision, but there are some exceptions.
Where can I find spiders in Montana?
Your home is the first place to look for spiders. Montana is home to a few house spiders, and these arachnids live everywhere from basements to ceiling corners to attics and door crevices.
You’ll also encounter plenty of spiders outdoors under your floorboards, flower pots, and eaves. Spiders are common in areas with ample vegetation, such as gardens and woodlands. But you’ll also find several species partial to drier areas in Montana.
If you’re interested in finding a specific species in Montana, look up its natural range within the state beforehand.
Are there any poisonous spiders in Montana?
Yes, there are venomous spiders in Montana.
Spiders are venomous, not poisonous. Venomous means they inject toxins when they bite, while poisonous means they are toxic when you eat them.
Virtually all the spiders in Montana are venomous, but this shouldn’t cause you to worry. The venom most of these spiders produce is too weak to cause any serious symptoms in humans.
Only black widows produce venom that’s potent enough to harm humans.
Can a spider bite kill you?
Yes, a spider bite can kill you. But this is unlikely to happen to you.
One, because spider bites are rare. Two, because most spiders don’t produce venom strong enough to kill you.
In Montana, only the western and southern black widows produce venom potent enough to kill people. But even bites from these spiders rarely result in death.
That’s because the spiders don’t inject people with a volume high enough to cause death.
What is the deadliest spider in Montana?
Black widows are the deadliest spiders in Montana.
That’s because their venom is highly potent and can result in adverse symptoms that require medical attention. In most cases, victims of their bites only experience symptoms of latrodectism.
In extreme cases, their bites might lead to death. This outcome is uncommon, but small children, elderly people, and adults with compromised immune systems are the most vulnerable groups.
Are there brown recluses in Montana?
No, there are no brown recluses in Montana.
Most reports of this spider in the state are false since the spiders don’t live here. In most cases, these sightings are the result of misidentifying other similar-looking species as recluses.
The only brown recluses you might find in Montana are those that have hitchhiked into the state via cargo or other items brought in from other states. These spiders typically live and die indoors without establishing local populations.
Are there jumping spiders in Montana?
Yes, there are jumping spiders in Montana. The state is home to several species of these lively arachnids, and some people keep them as pets.
Are there black widows in Montana?
Yes, there are black widows in Montana.
The state has two common species, namely: the southern black widow and the western black widow. These arachnids are among the most venomous spiders in the state.
Is it legal to own a pet spider in Montana?
Yes, you can legally own pet spiders in Montana.
There’s no law forbidding you from keeping a spider pet, but some species of spider-like arachnids called harvestmen are banned or prohibited. You should seek clarification on the legality of bringing non-native spiders into Montana.
How many species of spiders are there in Montana?
Montana is home to more than 30 spider species. Unfortunately, information about most of the species in the state beyond their scientific names is sparse or nonexistent.
What are the most common spiders in Montana?
Orb-weavers are among the most common outdoor spiders in Montana. These arachnids build large orb-shaped webs everywhere from forests and gardens to eaves and front porches.
Wrapping up
As we’ve seen, Montana is home to a diverse collection of spiders. The state has everything from cobweb spiders to jumping spiders, wolf spiders, orbweavers, sheet weavers, and ground spiders.
Not all spiders in Montana build creepy webs around the house or produce medically significant venom or are comfortable around humans. Many species don’t build webs, run when threatened, and don’t produce medically significant venom.
With the exception of black widows, all spiders in Montana are harmless. These arachnids play beneficial roles in the environment because of their diet, and they can even make good companions.