Common Encountered Spiders in Louisiana

Spiders are a unique creature that can live in a variety of environments and have a tendency to resist death. The warm temperatures and humidity of southern states make them highly susceptible to several different types of spiders. Spiders are commonly found in dark, moist areas that are regularly undisturbed, such as brush piles or underneath a potted plant. Underneath garbage can handles, crawl spaces and wood piles are other common hangouts for spiders.

The brown widow spider is a distant relative of the black widow. These creatures were originally only found in tropical areas. The increasing humidity and temperature throughout the state of Louisiana is one of the reasons that these spiders are able to survive and reproduce. The brown widow spider can be tan, brown or gray and has a yellow or orange hour-glass shaped body. These spiders can grow to be an inch and a half in length. According to studies completed by Louisiana State Universities AgCenter, the brown widow spider is more venomous than the black widow spider. However, the brown widow spider injects less poison when biting a human than the black widow and these spiders are commonly afraid of humans. It is less likely that a brown widow spider will bite a human, unless it is provoked. Moist, dark areas are the perfect hiding place for any brown widow spider; this includes basement crawl spaces and the underside of swimming pools.

The brown recluse spider is another spider that only bites humans unintentionally when provoked, instead of as an immediate defense mechanism. These spiders can be found inside moist tree holes or under large rocks that do not get moved often. The brown recluse spider is attracted to bright lights and can regularly be drawn into the home in search of them. This spider is also know as a violin spider and has an oval shaped body while being brown in color. If a brown recluse spider enters your home it may hide in any dark spot such as corners, cracks in wood flooring or behind heavy curtains. They have also been known to live in stacks of clothing and down inside of living room furniture. These spiders also may live in bathtub drains and risk biting humans during shower and bath time since the smooth surfaces of a tub prevent them from being able to escape.

Black widow spiders are some of the largest spiders that exist. They are commonly found in states that have warmer temperatures. These spiders are poisonous but not fatal to humans because of the small amount of venom that is injected with their bite. Female black widows spiders can be up to 1 1/2 inches in size where as males only reach half the size of females. They are all black with a large bulbous body. Black widow spiders are commonly found underneath porches, plants or debris. They seek areas that are suitable for web building.