Brown recluse or southern house spider?
These two get mixed up often. The brown recluse is rated Get advice and the southern house spider is rated Harmless, so it is worth a closer look.
Why people mix them up
Male southern house spiders are tan, long-legged and wander across floors at night, which is exactly the picture many people have of a brown recluse. Both live in many of the same southern states.
Look at the front body. A brown recluse has a dark violin shape with the neck pointing back, and six eyes in three pairs. A male southern house spider has a narrow brown stripe behind a tight cluster of eight eyes, and long palps that look like an extra pair of short legs.
Brown recluse
Photo: wildreturn, CC0, via iNaturalist
Size: Body about 9 mm (about 3/8 inch); about the size of a US quarter with legs spread
- Six eyes in three pairs arranged in a U-shape (most spiders have eight); a magnifier helps
- Dark violin-shaped mark on the front body section, with the violin's neck pointing back toward the abdomen
- Plain light tan to chocolate brown, with no stripes, bands or spots on the legs or abdomen
- Long, thin, evenly colored legs without obvious spines
- Does not build a catching web in open corners; hides in small, loose, irregular silk retreats
Most brown recluse bites heal on their own, but some cause a slow-healing skin wound and a few cause serious illness, so get medical advice if you think you were bitten.
Southern house spider
Photo: brunogiozza, CC0, via iNaturalist
Size: Females about 13–19 mm (1/2 to 3/4 inch); males about 8–12 mm (1/3 to 1/2 inch), with long legs making them look bigger
- Female: velvety charcoal-gray to dark brown, heavy-bodied, found at a flat, messy web around a crack
- Male: tan to amber with very long, thin legs and long palps that look like an extra pair of legs
- Eight eyes clustered together on a small bump at the front of the head
- Woolly, flat, radiating web around a crevice in window frames, shutters or eaves
- Male has a narrow brown stripe on the front body behind the eyes
Harmless: the long-legged tan males are often mistaken for brown recluses, but this spider is reluctant to bite and its venom is not medically significant.
How to tell them apart
- A recluse has six eyes in three pairs and a wider violin mark that reaches the back edge of the front body, while a male southern house spider has eight eyes bunched on a bump, a thin stripe instead of a violin, and much longer legs and palps.
- Both sexes of the southern house spider are usually bigger than a recluse, and females are much heavier and dark charcoal rather than tan.
Still not sure? Use the picker, and if a bite worries you, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.