Spider’s average lifespan is about a year, but this could vary per species, gender and environment. Female spiders tend to live longer than males.
Certain species also live longer than others. A black widow spiders can live for up to three years, while tarantulas can live up to thirty years.
A spider’s lifespan can also be shortened by environmental factors. Humans and animals often end spiders’ lives abruptly.
How Long Can Spiders Live Without Food?
On average, spiders can live one to two months without food, but this could vary on species. This is true in adults as well as young spiders.
That said, larger spiders can usually last longer than smaller species. For instance, a wolf spider can almost last without food twice as long (58 days) compared to a Tegenaria domestica (28 days). Some tarantulas can live without food for two years!
Of course, water plays an important role in a spider’s survival in the absence of food. You can expect a spider who has access to water to last longer than the ones who don’t.
How Long Can Spiders Live Without Food and Water?
On average, spiders can live one to two months without food and water, but this could vary on species. Spiders have the ability to hold food and water in their bodies, allowing them to survive a long time without sustenance.
What Is the Lifecycle of a Spider
Egg
On average, spider eggs take about 2-3 weeks to hatch. This timeframe will vary depending on species and the season. For instance, a spider born in winter may not hatch until spring.
Female spiders protect their eggs by placing them in an egg sack and covering it in silk.
How many spiders an egg sac contains will vary per species. A single egg sac may contain a few eggs to several hundred eggs.
Some spider species carry their sac on their back, while others leave the sac in a secure location. Once the baby spiders are ready to emerge from the sack, they’ll rip it open.
Spiderling/ Immature Stage
Spiderling is immature spiders. They look like an adult spider but much smaller.
A spider is considered a spiderling the minute emerges from the sac.
When spiderlings emerge from the sac, they travel by either walking or ballooning.
Ballooning is an immature spider’s way to travel by flying. While spiders don’t often think of flying insects, they are perfect aviators.
Let me explain. When ballooning, spiders climb up to an elevated area, such as a twig. The spiderling will then raise its abdomen and release its silk in the air. The spider then gets lifted off to the air and carried away by the wind. These trips are typically short, but sometimes they can last for thousands of miles.
Most spiders will molt between five to ten times before reaching full development. As they molt, they will grow new exoskeletons. That said, some species of spiders will emerge from their sac fully developed.
Adult Stage
Once spiders reach the adult stage, they are ready to mate. Adult spiders typically live between one to two years, although females tend to outlive their male counterparts.
Certain species also live longer than others. Black widow spiders can live for up to three years, while tarantulas can live up to thirty years.
1. Black Widows
How Long Do Black Widows Live?
Black Widow spiders are some of the most well-known spiders around the world. Their signature red hourglass figure under their abdomen will scare nearly anyone. These spiders live on average to be around one to three years old. So if you’re thinking of just waiting for the black widow hiding in your backyard to die off you might be waiting a while.
What Do Black Widows Look Like?
Black Widows’ signature look is the jet black color and red-hour glass figure found on the bottom side of their abdomen. They also commonly have markings on their abdomen. These markings are typically some shade of white, orange, or red.
On the front side of their abdomen, they typically have one line down the center and other streaks on the side.
As immature spiders, they grow into a dark black color. Before becoming adults their color can range from light brown to dark brown.
Where Can You Find Black Widows?
Black Widows prefer to hide in sheltered and dimly lit locations. When indoors, this typically means they are inside garages, basements, and crawl spaces. They prefer cluttered areas because it gives them the harborage and shelter they need to hunt their prey.
Outdoors you will find them hiding under old furniture or other items around your yards. They may also be found in grass or other plants around your home.
Can Black Widows harm you?
Yes, Black Widows are venemous and dangerous to people. These are one of the few spiders that can cause serious health problems for humans with thier bite.
Their bite results in intense pain. The pain typically includes muscle stiffness, nausea, and vomiting. There symptoms will begin within the first hour after etting bit.
Although, black widnow bites are rarely fatal. If you’re bitten it’s important that you visit a ER as soon as possible to get treated for the bite.
Going without treatment can lead to other medical complications.
2. Wolf Spiders
How Long Do Wolf Spiders Live?
The female and male have much different lifespans. Males are much shorter-lived, they only live to about 1 year old. Female wolf spiders, on the other hand, can live several years.
What Do Wolf Spiders Look Like?
There are many species of wolf spiders, which means they can range in size and color. Large wolf spider species can reach up to 1 ½ inch long. More commonly, females measure between ⅜” and 1”. Males, on the other hand, typically measure between ¼” and ¾.”
Wolf spiders are typically dark brown with white or yellow markings on the legs and abdomen. Another common characteristic of wolf spiders is their bodies. They tend to have robust bodies with extra-long, spiny legs.
Where Can You Find Wolf Spiders?
Wolf spiders typically prefer to stay outside. They are common in gardens or other grassy areas. In some cases, you may even find them in small caves. They are known to come indoors for shelter, food, or water.
When indoors, they are commonly hiding on and around window and door sills. If you have houseplants, this is another common area you might find wolf spiders.
If you suspect wolf spiders indoors, checking dark, moist areas such as under sinks, basements, cellars, and garages are common areas where wolf spiders hide.
Can Wolf Spiders harm you?
Wolf spiders are not venomous or dangerous to humans. Wolf spiders prefer to run and hide rather than bite. Wolf spiders can still bite so they are not completely harmless.
If you are bitten by a Wolf spider there typically is not much concern and does not require medical attention.
3. House Spiders
How Long Do House Spiders Live?
American house spiders are one of the more short-lived spiders. They tend to live only around one year. In most cases, they live less than a year once reaching full maturity.
What Do House Spiders Look Like?
The American house spider is commonly light to dark brown in color. The abdomen typically has patterns with light colors ranging from white to yellow.
These spiders are relatively small compared to other common spiders we are used to. It typically only reaches between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch large.
Where Can You Find House Spiders?
House spiders are commonly found around structures. This is how they get their name. They are not only found indoors but also outdoors.
Outdoors American house spiders tend to hide on eaves, light fixtures, window and door sills, piles of wood, and sheds.
Indoors these spiders will target areas of clutter. Clutter makes it easy for them to hide and remain undisturbed. They are also common under sinks where they can survive off the moisture.
Other common areas include the garage, attic, basement, and cellars. These are places that offer solitude and shelter to house spiders.
Can House Spiders harm you?
House spiders are generally not dangerous. They will typically run before they try to bite you. But if you threaten them and they have no other option, they will bite.
Their bites are harmless to humans since they are not venomous. In rare cases, some people may have an allergic reaction to the bite resulting in medical attention.
4. Brown Recluse
How Long Do Brown Recluse Live?
Brown recluse spiders typically take around one year to mature. They can then live for between two and four years. Scientists report that brown recluse spiders can live as long as ten years under the right conditions.
What Do Brown Recluse Look Like?
The brown recluse spider is typically brown or tan. The signature marking that helps identify a brown recluse spider is the violin-shaped area on its body’s font. On the symbol, the violin points towards the spider’s belly.
The brown recluse can grow as large as ¾” and as small as ¼.” Another key characteristic of the brown recluse is their long, skinny legs. These legs often make it appear larger than what they are.
They have six eyes with two in front, two on each side of their head.
Where Can You Find Brown Recluse?
Brown Recluse are found frequently both outdoors and indoors.
Outdoors they tend to hide around rocks, woodpiles, and other organic matter.
Indoors they tend to hide in any undisturbed areas such as basements and attics.
This means they can hide in an open box, unused shelves, crevices, baseboards, window, and door moldings.
Can Brown Recluse harm you?
The brown recluse is one of the most dangerous spiders to humans. They are highly venomous to humans.
The scary part about brown recluse bites is that brown recluse bites go unnoticed for the first few hours. After several hours pass, the symptoms begin to set in, and most people feel excruciating pain.
You must visit a doctor immediately if you believe a brown recluse spider has bitten you. Their bites cause necrotizing wounds that will continue to expand and kill the cells and tissues around them.
5. Daddy Long Legs or Long Bodied Celler Spiders
How Long Do Daddy Long Legs Live?
These are a very common species of spider that most people are familiar with. These spiders typically live for two years. In some cases, they can live as long as four years.
What Do Daddy Long Legs Look Like?
Daddy longlegs is one of the most recognized spiders in the world. It is also commonly called a long-bodied cellar spider. These spiders tend to have small circular bodies with long, thin legs coming out.
Where Can You Find Daddy Long Legs?
Brown Recluse are found frequently both outdoors and indoors.
Outdoors they tend to hide around rocks, woodpiles, and other organic matter.
Indoors they tend to hide in any undisturbed areas such as basements and attics.
This means they can hide in an open box, unused shelves, crevices, baseboards, window, and door moldings.
Can Daddy Long Legs harm you?
No, these spiders very rarely bite. They don’t have any venom glands. And their fangs are not strong enough to puncture the human skin to is hard to be bitten.
6. Jumping Spiders
How Long Do Jumping Spiders Live?
The average lifespan for a jumping spider is typically one year. But they can live longer than one year in colder regions. In colder regions, they become less active, and this typically extends their life past one year.
What Do Jumping Spiders Look Like?
There are about 4000 different known types of jumping spiders in the world. This makes it hard to offer a single color wave that will identify jumping spiders.
But there are a few key characteristics that help distinguish jumping spiders from other spiders
First, jumping spiders are much smaller than the other spiders on this list. They are only ⅛ – ¾” large.
Another key features is the thick hairs covering their bodies. In many cases, a portion of these hairs will be brightly colored or iridescent.
Finally, their signature characteristic is their jittery fast movements and ability to jump. Jumping spiders can jump around six times their body length.
Where Can You Find Jumping Spiders?
Jumping spiders are hunters. They don’t build webs. This means that they typically hide and live in areas where there are abundant food sources.
As a result, jumping siders are much more common outdoors than indoors. You’ll find jumping spiders near grass, shrubs, or gardens where other insects might be living.
They commonly hide under rocks, stones, or other debris on the dirt or grass.
When jumping spiders enter indoors it’s typically on accident or because they hunting insects that are inside your home.
Since jumping spiders are so small, they can go unnoticed in your house if there is clutter.
Can Jumping Spiders harm you?
No. Jumping spiders rarely bite and are not venomous. These spides will typically only bite if you are holding them and they feel threatened.
7. Yellow Sac Spiders
How Long Do Yellow Sac Spiders Live?
Yellow Sac Spiders like many spiders typically only live about one year after maturing.
What Do Yellow Sac Spiders Look Like?
Yellow sac spiders are small spiders that are around 1/2 inch in length and have a yellow abdomen. Their color can range from bright gold to dull yellow.
These spiders are small and robust and don’t have the long, skinny legs that many other spiders on this list have.
They are easily identified by their large yellow abdomen, small size, and large fangs.
Where Can You Find Yellow Sac Spiders?
Yellow sac spiders are similar to jumping spiders, except they use venom to kill their prey. These spiders hunt their prey and rarely build webs. They tend to hide in small sacs they create using their silk.
These spiders are common outdoors near grassy areas or gardens where other small insects are common. They can make their way inside, but it’s not an ideal location for them to survive unless there are many small insects inside the home.
The good thing is that these spiders are nocturnal, meaning that they hide and sleep during the day and hunt at night.
Can Yellow Sac Spiders harm you?
Yes. Yellow sac spiders are dangerous and aggressive. If you see yellow sac spiders, it’s best to keep your distance. These spiders are not only aggressive, but their bite can cause some serious damage.
Although they are not deadly, their bites begin rotting the flesh and skin from the inside out. Without treatment, these bites can leave you in serious pain and eventually lead to infection if not treated.
8. Grass spiders
How Long Do Grass Spiders Live?
Grass spiders typically live between one and two years. Males tend to live shorter lives, typically maxing out at around one year. Females live longer for as long as two years and sometimes longer.
What Do Grass Spiders Look Like?
Grass spiders are considered a larger species of house spiders. They can grow as large as 3/4″ to 1″ in some cases. As immature spiders, they are typically around 1/3″. Males are typically smaller than the females only reaching around 1/2″ to 3/4″ at maximum.
They are typically a mixture of yellow and brown. Their head or thorax typically has two stripes, These stripes are typically darker than the rest of the thorax. They are often confused with wolf spiders due to their similar color and long legs.
Where Can You Find Grass Spiders?
As their name suggests, grass spiders typically hide in grass areas, bushes, gardens, and shrubs.
They are also commonly found living or on the floor near debris and other objects that provide ideal locations for them to build webs and hunt.
They are known for making non-sticky spider webs with funnels or tunnel inside. This is where they hide while waiting for their prey to walk near or over their spider web. These webs are often intimidating and a signature characteristic of a grass spider.
Can Grass Spiders harm you?
Grass spiders are not dangerous. Although they do have venom their small fangs can’t penetrate the human skin. This makes them relatively harmless to humans. So although they look frightening there is not much to be scared of.
Keep in mind, that they do have venom and it’s lethal to their prey.
Frequently asked Questions (FAQ)
Why are spiders attracted to your house?
Just like other insects, spiders enter homes for three reasons:
- Shleter
- Food
- Water
If you are providing one of these to a spider then they are likely to enter your home. This is especially true during winter or summer. During winter spiders may seek shelter from the cold. During summer, spiders may seek water and food to survive the hot weather.
In some cases, spiders may accidentally enter homes in search of females. If you already have spiders inside your home. This means if there are females spiders in your house you may be attracting more male spiders into your home.
Do spiders come to unclean houses?
Spiders thrive off of clutter. The dirtier and more cluttered a home is the more hiding spots there are for a spider. Clutter also draws other insects. This means that you create an ideal place for spiders to live and find food. This is one of the main reasons that you will find many spiders in messy or cluttered rooms.
What Are Signs There Are Spiders Inside Your house?
The signs of spiders inside your home are very visual. Key signs that you have spiders include:
- Live spiders
- Egg sacs laying around
- Spider webs
- Unexplained insect bites on your body
How Do You Get Rid of Spiders?
There are a few simple ways you can get rid of spiders. The first is to seal up your home and make your home as unappealing as possible. This includes removing food sources and areas they can hide.
Next, you want to use insecticide dust or insecticide spray inside and outside your home. This will kill any spiders inside your home and any spiders outside your home trying to get inside.