If you’ve spotted a black and white spider, you’re most likely looking at a jumping spider. The two most common species with this color pattern are the bold jumping spider and the zebra spider, both found frequently in and around homes across North America. A few other species also wear black and white, including the spiny orbweaver and, in Australia, the white-tailed spider. Here’s how to tell them apart and what to know about each one.
Bold Jumping Spider
The bold jumping spider is the most recognizable black and white spider in North America. It’s a stocky, hairy black spider with a distinctive pattern of white, yellow, or orange spots on top of its abdomen. Younger spiders tend to show orange spots, while adults typically display white or yellow markings. Females measure 8 to 19 millimeters, roughly the size of a fingernail, while males are slightly smaller at 6 to 13 millimeters.
A few features make this spider easy to identify up close. Its mouthparts often have an iridescent green shimmer. Males sport small tufts of hair above their eyes, almost like eyebrows, and white bands sometimes extend backward from the rear pair of eyes. The front-facing eyes are noticeably large compared to the rest of the head, giving these spiders excellent vision they use to stalk and pounce on prey rather than building webs.
Bold jumping spiders are shy around people and will retreat if you approach them. Bites are uncommon and only happen if the spider is handled directly. When they do occur, symptoms are mild: minor pain, itching, swelling, and redness that typically resolve within one to two days.
Zebra Spider
The zebra spider is the other likely candidate, especially if the spider you found is small. Named for its alternating black and white stripes, this species is considerably smaller than the bold jumper. Females range from 4.3 to 6.4 millimeters and males from 4 to 5.5 millimeters, making them roughly the size of a grain of rice.
The striped pattern runs across the abdomen, with white or light-colored hairs arranged in opposing bands against a dark body. A white lateral band runs along each side of the head, and iridescent scales sometimes appear near the eyes. Males have oversized, dark mouthparts that project forward prominently. Females tend to be lighter in color overall.
You’ll find zebra spiders under stones, in tall grass, on fences, and on the exterior walls of buildings. They also come indoors and often spin small silk retreats in cracks and crevices between boards or along window frames. Like all jumping spiders, they are not medically significant. They’re considered beneficial because they eat flies, mosquitoes, and other small insects.
Spiny Orbweaver
If your black and white spider has a wide, flat body with pointed spines sticking out from its sides, it’s likely a spiny orbweaver. These unusual-looking spiders are common in the southeastern United States, particularly Florida, where females are typically white on top with black spots and red spines along the edges of the abdomen. The legs, underside, and head are black with some white spotting beneath.
Females are wider than they are long, measuring 5 to 9 millimeters in length but 10 to 13 millimeters across, including those six signature spines. Males are much smaller at just 2 to 3 millimeters, grayish with white spots, and lack the dramatic spines (they have only small bumps instead).
Spiny orbweavers build classic circular webs with 10 to 30 radiating lines and a catching area that can span 30 to 60 centimeters across. You’ll notice conspicuous tufts of silk along the web’s outer support lines, which may help birds see and avoid flying through them. These webs appear anywhere from just above ground level to more than 6 meters high. The bite of this species is not known to cause serious effects in humans.
White-Tailed Spider
If you’re in Australia, a black spider with a white spot at the tip of its abdomen is almost certainly a white-tailed spider. This species has a long-standing and largely undeserved reputation for causing flesh-eating skin wounds. A landmark study of 130 confirmed white-tailed spider bites published in the Medical Journal of Australia found zero cases of skin necrosis. The researchers concluded that white-tailed spider bites are “very unlikely” to cause necrotic ulcers and that previous reports were most likely cases of misidentification, where other conditions were blamed on the spider.
Lab analysis of the venom supports this. It showed little effect on human cell cultures and does not contain the specific enzymes responsible for tissue destruction in spiders that genuinely cause necrosis, like the brown recluse. In reality, most white-tailed spider bites cause minor symptoms, though about half of bite victims in the study experienced a persistent painful red lesion.
Keeping Spiders Out of Your Home
Most black and white spiders you encounter are harmless and eat pest insects, so leaving them alone outdoors is the simplest approach. If you’d rather not share your living space with them, prevention comes down to limiting entry points and making indoor areas less inviting.
Gaps under doors are one of the most common ways spiders get inside. Installing door sweeps and making sure window screens fit tightly will block most of them. Outside, trim back shrubs, vines, and tree limbs that touch the house, since these act as bridges to the structure. Move firewood, stacked materials, and debris away from the foundation.
Indoors, spiders gravitate toward quiet, undisturbed spaces like closets, garages, basements, and attics. Reducing clutter in these areas removes the dark hiding spots they prefer. A bright flashlight and a quick inspection of cracks, corners, and storage areas will reveal where spiders are setting up. Switching outdoor lights near entrances to yellow or sodium vapor bulbs also helps, since these attract fewer night-flying insects, which in turn draw fewer spiders looking for an easy meal.
If you find a spider inside and want to relocate it, the simplest method is placing a glass or jar over it, sliding a piece of stiff paper underneath, and carrying it outside. No special equipment needed.