A lot of these in our basement!

Elizabethton, TN

We have a lot of these spiders in our basement and we get worried because our house has a tendency to attract black widows. Around these spiders are brown egg sacs and white fluffy egg sacs.

Thumbnail by omega_rd Thumbnail by omega_rd
Minot, ND

Your spider belongs to the same family (Theridiidae) as the black and brown widow spiders. It definitely is not a black widow; if it would be a brown widow, the egg sac would appear spikey - see https://www.desertusa.com/insects/brown-widow-spider.html. If the egg sacs appear smooth, you night have either a Steatoda sp. (see https://st.depositphotos.com/1001265/2355/i/950/depositphotos_23551139-stock-photo-triangulate-cobweb-and-egg-sacs.jpg) or a common house spider (see https://spiderid.com/picture/1851/)

Elizabethton, TN

Thank you so much but are they dangerous to humans?

Minot, ND

The brown widow can have a medically significant bite, but is not considered as really dangerous - see http://spiders.ucr.edu/brownwidow.html for detailed information on this spider. Some Steatoda sp. can deliver a very painful (personal experience) but not dangerous bite, and the common house spider is harmless to humans.

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