Missouri Spiders Identification Chart
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.
Missouri spiders identification chart. Common house spiders parasteatoda tepidariorum cellar spiders pholcus spp crab spiders xysticus spp and yellow garden spiders argiope aurantia are frequently seen in gardens or residential areas. Spiders of missouri the spiders included in this guide are ones that i have frequently encountered in our area. The end result was a preliminary checklist of missouri spiders in the one hundred and seventy species range.
Some individuals are the size of a pinhead and are easily overlooked. This guide is limited to about 50 species so that the number of images would be easier to scan to make an id. Naturally the spider enthusiasts on bugguide would easily gather the local house spiders and yard and garden spiders.
Missouri is home to at least 480 species of spiders. The preliminary results show that the top five types of spiders in missouri documented belonged to those very familiar. Most of these are also common throughout the eastern u s.
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. Triangulate orb weaver verrucosa arenata yellow garden argiope aurantia banded garden argiope trifasciata goldenrod crab misumena vatia and members of the wolf lycosidae family. Size is helpful when determining the two suborders of spiders though other characteristics are more diagnostic.
Others are surprisingly large with a legspan of 4 or more inches.