Identify a Spitting Spider
Spitting spiders (Scytodidae) have spitting glands that produce a sticky substance. They spit this venomous poison on their prey, weaving their heads from side to side in order to completely cover the prey as they spit. These spiders are also unique because they have only 6 eyes.
Contents
Steps
- Know what a spitting spider is. Here are some key characteristics.
- Physical features: About 1/4" (6 mm) long
- Poisonous: No
- Lives in: world-wide with heavy concentrations in the southwestern United States
- Eats: This spider hunts and eats insects, flies and moths.
Identifying a Spitting Spider
The spitting spider is very small, so identification with the naked eye is quite difficult, even though this is a very slow moving spider. They hunt for their prey at night and they do not have webs. They are reclusive, so look for them in dark places where they are not likely to be disturbed.
- Check the eyes first. Unlike most spiders that have 8 eyes, the spitting spider has only 6 eyes, which are arranged in 3 groups.
- Notice the coloration. Most spitting spiders range in color from pale yellow to dark chestnut brown and are covered with small black dots or black markings, producing a somewhat mottled effect.
- Observe the Cephalothorax (head-breast area). It is quite a bit larger than the abdomen and has a circular shape. It resembles a humpback.
- Look at the front legs. They are long to the point of being gangly and have black bands on them. The spitting spider uses the length of its legs to measure the distance to its prey before spitting out its poisonous silk venom.
Recognizing Spitting Spider Habitats
Most of these spiders live under stones or trash piles, but they can be found in caves and sheds. They are hunting spiders and do not create webs in which to capture their prey.
- Find spitting spiders in dark corners, windowsills and closets.
Treating a Bite
- There is no danger of being bitten by a spitting spider because its fangs and chelicerae cannot open very wide, nor can its fangs penetrate human skin.
Tips
- Female spitting spiders carry their egg sacs with them, in their jaws.
- The spitting spider is often confused with the brown recluse because both species have only 6 eyes.
- Spitting spiders typically live for 1 to 3 years, and are preyed on by wasps and other spiders (including other spitting spiders).
Warnings
- It isn’t advisable to kill a spitting spider in your home because they consume prey, such as flies and mosquitoes, that are bothersome. The spitting spider is not poisonous and cannot bite you.
Related Articles
- Identify a Brazilian Wandering Spider
- Identify the Most Common North American Spider Species
- Identify a Brown Recluse
- Identify a Tarantula Spider
Sources and Citations
- Herbert and Lorna Levi, Spiders and Their Kin, (New York, NY; St. Martin’s Press 2002)
- Lorus and Margery Milne, Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders, (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1980)
- Ken Preston-Mafham, Spiders, The new compact study guide and identifier, (Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books, 1998)
- Cecil Warburton, Spiders, (Cambridge, UK; Cambridge University Press, 2011)
