Missouri Spiders Identification Chart
Some individuals are the size of a pinhead and are easily overlooked.
Missouri spiders identification chart. Size is helpful when determining the two suborders of spiders though other characteristics are more diagnostic. Most of these are also common throughout the eastern u s. This guide is limited to about 50 species so that the number of images would be easier to scan to make an id.
While the common house spiders may look scary with a body shape similar to the infamous black widow its grey coloration white marbling and banded legs make it easy to distinguish. Triangulate orb weaver verrucosa arenata yellow garden argiope aurantia banded garden argiope trifasciata goldenrod crab misumena vatia and members of the wolf lycosidae family. Missouri is home to at least 480 species of spiders.
Species of the wolf lycosidae family. Others are surprisingly large with a legspan of 4 or more inches. Among the different spider families living in missouri the brown recluse and the northern black widow are the deadliest.
Spiders of missouri the spiders included in this guide are ones that i have frequently encountered in our area. It is important to remember that spiders seen in missouri are not bound by the territorial lines decided on by humans therefore their distribution is subject to change. The end result was a preliminary checklist of missouri spiders in the one hundred and seventy species range.
Spiders found in missouri include 30 unique species from confirmed sightings by contributing members of spider id.