Georgia is home to four venomous spiders, the brown recluse, brown widow, northern black widow and southern black widow. The north and south black widows, or Latrodectus variolus and Latrodectus mactans, may be identified by their completely black skin with a red hourglass-shaped markings on their abdomens. Brown widows, or Latrodectus geometricus, are brown in color and have yellow or orangish hourglass-shaped markings. Only female black and brown widows have venom; the male of these species are harmless. Brown recluses, or Loxosceles reclusa, feature violin-shaped markings on the cephalothorax area. Also, a brown recluse has six eyes grouped in two pairs of three eyes, whereas most spiders have eight eyes.
The wolf spider belongs to the Lycosidae family of spiders and its range spreads from the Southwest United States to the eastern states, including Georgia. One reason for a wolf spider's large range is the diversity of their habitats; wolf spiders live in forests, coastal regions and marshes. These spiders receive their name from the hairs on their legs and abdomen. Wolf spiders also have fangs which resemble a wolf's canine teeth. This spider's head and cephalothorax fuse together to make one body part, while most spiders have separate head and cephalothorax areas. Wolf spiders also chase down prey, rather than trapping prey into a web.
As their names suggest, trapdoor spiders build their nests in ground cavities and covers the cavity with a "trapdoor," which is usually made from dried mud and silk. When prey passes by the trapdoor, these spiders emerge from their hole and pounce. Trapdoor spiders also use their nest and trapdoor as a method to avoid predation from small mammals or wasps. These spiders have a similar appearance to tarantulas, but are considerably smaller. Females are the larger of the sexes and grows up to 1.2 inches. Trapdoor spiders are in the spider family Cyclocosmia.
Some of the most noticeable physical characteristics of ogre-faced spiders are their large pair of black eyes and long abdomens. These spiders are nocturnal and their eyes are so sensitive that they require a new light membrane each night to protect their eyes from the sunrise. Ogre-faced spiders are also referred to as web-casting spiders because they throw webs on incoming prey. To improve their aim, ogre-faced spiders use their feces as targets; when prey passes over the feces, the spider throws its web. The only ogre-faced spider species found in Georgia is Dinopsis spinosus.