New Zealand has plenty of spiders and remarkably few that can hurt you. Te Papa counts around 1,100 species described so far, 95% of them found nowhere else, and estimates the real total at 2,500 to 3,500. Only two are medically significant, and neither is likely to be living in your house.
This guide covers the two that matter, the look-alikes that get mistaken for them, the common spiders around Auckland homes, the big ones that alarm people, and what to do if you are bitten. For spiders on and around your own house, see our page on spider control around your home.
Are there dangerous spiders in New Zealand?
Two: the native katipō (Latrodectus katipo) and the Australian redback (Latrodectus hasseltii). Both are widow spiders, relatives of the American black widow, and only adult females can bite a person. Health New Zealand describes bites from both as extremely rare. Hospitals can treat a serious bite, and for advice the National Poisons Centre is on 0800 764 766.
Widow spider venom acts on the nerves, and the illness it causes is called latrodectism: pain that spreads from the bite, sweating, stomach cramps and sometimes nausea or a racing heart. An antivenom exists and hospitals hold it, though Health New Zealand notes that it is no longer routinely recommended; most bites are managed by treating the symptoms.
Can a katipō kill you? It is very unlikely. Early records from the 1800s include a few deaths, but Te Papa describes those records as dubious, and a 2012 review in the New Zealand Medical Journal found no recorded deaths from katipō bites in the last century.
Can you tell if a spider is poisonous by looking at it?
Not reliably in general, but in New Zealand you only need to recognise two. A small, round, glossy black spider with a red stripe on the back and a red hourglass underneath, found in beach dunes or, in parts of Central Otago, around buildings, deserves caution. Size, hairiness and speed tell you nothing: some of the largest and fastest spiders here are harmless.
Katipō vs redback vs false katipō
They are three different species that look alike. The katipō is a native widow spider (family Theridiidae, the comb-footed or cobweb spiders) of coastal sand dunes. The redback is an Australian widow spider found in only a small area of New Zealand. The false katipō is a harmless South African cobweb spider that is now common across the country, including in and around houses. The red markings and where you found it are the best way to tell them apart.
| Spider | Look | Where in NZ | Bite risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katipō Latrodectus katipo | Female: small, round, glossy black, body about 8 mm. Red stripe bordered with white on the back and a red hourglass underneath. A black form without the stripe lives in the northern North Island | Sandy beaches and dunes, under driftwood and at the base of dune grasses; south to the Otago coast and, on the West Coast, north of Greymouth | Medically significant but very rare; a shy spider that tends to play dead |
| Redback Latrodectus hasseltii | Female: round and black with an orange-red stripe on the back and a red hourglass underneath | Small populations in Central Otago, around Wānaka; also intercepted in goods imported from Australia | Medically significant; bites occur when the spider is trapped against skin or in clothing |
| False katipō Steatoda capensis | Shiny black or dark brown, body about 7 mm; any red is faint and small, and there is no red hourglass underneath | Throughout New Zealand, in gardens, sheds, houses and beach dunes | Not dangerous; bites may be painful and cause a day or so of feeling unwell |
The katipō
The katipō's name is usually translated as "night-stinger". It builds a small sticky web at the base of dune plants or under driftwood and catches beetles and other crawling insects. Numbers have fallen as dunes have been planted with marram grass and pine or developed, and the false katipō has moved into some of its old habitat, around Wellington for example. It is absolutely protected under the Wildlife Act, so deliberately killing one is illegal. On the beach, wear footwear in the dunes and do not drape towels over driftwood.
The redback
Redbacks are a familiar hazard in Australia, and in New Zealand they are the more likely of the two widow spiders to settle around buildings, under ledges, overhangs and vegetation. Health New Zealand describes their presence here as limited to Central Otago. They regularly arrive in cargo, vehicles and machinery from Australia. If you find one in imported goods, contain it and report it to MPI on 0800 80 99 66.
What to do if bitten by a katipō or redback
Get medical attention urgently, even if the bite feels like no more than a pinprick. HealthEd's advice is to clean the wound with antiseptic or warm soapy water, put ice wrapped in cloth on it before travelling, not to put pressure on the bite and not to drink alcohol. Serious reactions are uncommon and unlikely to develop in under three hours, so there is time to get help. Call the National Poisons Centre on 0800 764 766 for advice, and 111 for difficulty breathing or severe symptoms.
Common house spiders in Auckland
The spiders you actually find around Auckland homes are harmless to people, and several are useful. The grey and black house spiders make the webs on windows and eaves, the daddy long-legs lives in ceiling corners, and white-tails, vagrant spiders, jumping spiders, wolf spiders and nursery web spiders hunt without catching webs. Here is how to recognise each one.
Grey house spider
Badumna longinqua is an Australian spider now found throughout New Zealand, and it is the most familiar web-builder around Auckland houses. The body is about 15 mm long, grey with darker markings. It builds untidy, lacy webs in window corners, under eaves, on fences and on car wing mirrors, and waits in a retreat at the back of the web for blowflies, house flies and moths. It is also the white-tail's favourite prey.
Black house spider
Badumna insignis is the grey house spider's darker, heavier Australian relative, with females up to about 18 mm long. It spins a similar messy web around a funnel-shaped silk retreat in crevices, window frames and walls, and rarely leaves it. Bites are uncommon because it is timid, and although they can be painful, the spider is not considered dangerous. Like the grey house spider, it is prey for white-tails.
Daddy long-legs spider
Pholcus phalangioides has a small, slender body and very long, thin legs, and hangs upside down in a loose, tangled web in ceiling corners and behind furniture. It probably arrived with European settlers and is common in buildings except in the cooler south of the South Island. It catches prey by throwing silk from a distance, which lets it take on other spiders, white-tails included. It is harmless to people.
White-tail spider
The white-tail (Lampona species) is slender and dark grey with a pale tip to its cigar-shaped abdomen. It builds no catching web, hunts other spiders at night and hides in clothing, towels and bedding during the day, which is how most bites happen. The bite hurts but is not dangerous, and the claim that it causes flesh-eating ulcers is not supported by the evidence. We cover this in detail in white-tail spiders and their bites.
Vagrant spiders
Vagrant spiders (Uliodon) are dark brown to almost black ground hunters with a leg span of about 5 cm. There are around twenty species, mostly native forest spiders, but some are common in suburban gardens, especially near bush. They shelter under logs and stones by day and hunt at night, and males wander indoors in search of females, typically in autumn. Only one bite has been documented, and they prefer to run.
Jumping spiders
New Zealand probably has more than 150 species of jumping spider (Salticidae), most with bodies under a centimetre long and two very large eyes at the front. The one people ask about most is the native black-headed jumping spider, Trite planiceps, with a jet-black front half, a greyish abdomen and a body about 1 cm long, which can leap about half a metre onto its prey. It is common on flax and around houses and is harmless.
Wolf spiders
New Zealand's several native wolf spiders (Lycosidae) are small ground hunters, with bodies about 7 mm long, that chase their prey by day using good eyesight rather than a web. You are most likely to notice a female, because she carries her white egg sac attached to her spinnerets for several weeks. They hunt in lawns, gardens and open ground and, like most small spiders, pose no real risk to people.
Nursery web spider
The nursery web spider, Dolomedes minor, is a large, fast, pale brown or grey spider; adult females reach a leg span of 6 cm or more. In summer the female carries a big white egg sac in her fangs, then builds a silk tent over the tips of gorse and other shrubs where the spiderlings hatch. Those tents are what most people notice. No serious bites have been reported.
Big spiders: the Avondale spider, tunnelwebs and New Zealand's biggest spider
New Zealand's biggest spiders look alarming but are not dangerous. The Avondale spider is an Australian huntsman confined mostly to one Auckland suburb, tunnelwebs are large, dark native spiders common in bush and gardens, and the largest native spider, the Nelson cave spider, lives only in caves. None of them has a bite that is known to cause more than local pain.
The Avondale spider
Delena cancerides is an Australian huntsman: large, flattened and pale fawn to grey, with a leg span that Landcare Research puts at up to about 200 mm. It arrived in the early 1920s, probably in timber imported for railway sleepers, and the first specimen was found in 1924. It has barely spread beyond Avondale, which gave it its name. It hides under loose bark by day and around houses in attics, sheds and behind pictures, and males wander inside from January to March looking for females. It is docile, and Te Papa notes it shows little interest in biting anything bigger than its prey. It found fame in the 1990 film Arachnophobia, for which Landcare Research staff in Auckland supplied the spiders.
Tunnelweb spiders
The black tunnelweb, Porrhothele antipodiana, is a heavy native spider with a body about 24 mm long, a dark abdomen, a leathery red-brown front half and two finger-like spinnerets at the rear. It lives in a silk-lined tunnel under logs and stones in bush and gardens, and banded tunnelwebs (Hexathele) are similar. Males wander into houses in spring and summer looking for females and often die in bathrooms and laundries, where they have gone looking for moisture.
People often call them funnel-webs, but they are not the Australian funnel-web and do not share its reputation. Their large fangs can deliver a painful bite, but Te Papa describes the symptoms as mild, similar to a normal reaction to a bee sting. Clean the bite and watch it for infection.
What is the biggest spider in New Zealand?
Te Papa names the Nelson cave spider, Spelungula cavernicola, as New Zealand's largest spider by leg span, at up to about 15 cm. It is mottled light brown with very long legs, lives only in certain caves in the Nelson and Buller regions, and feeds on cave wētā. It was the first spider protected under the Wildlife Act. It will not turn up around a house, although large sheetweb spiders are sometimes mistaken for it.
Is there a brown recluse in New Zealand?
No established population is known. The brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) is a North American spider, and Health New Zealand and the National Poisons Centre name only the katipō and the redback as venomous spiders here. A brown spider in the garage is far more likely to be a vagrant spider or a house spider. If you find an unfamiliar spider in imported goods, contain it and call MPI on 0800 80 99 66.
The same applies to other feared imports. Spiders do arrive in fruit, cars and containers, which is exactly why MPI wants to hear about them. If the goods came recently from overseas and the spider is unfamiliar, report it rather than guessing.
How to identify a spider you've found
Start with five things: its size including legs, its body shape, any colour markings, what kind of web it was in, if any, and where you found it. That narrows most Auckland spiders down to one or two possibilities. A clear photo from above, with a coin for scale, is enough for an expert or an online identification community to name it.
- Size: measure the body and, separately, the leg span. A big leg span with a small body suggests a daddy long-legs or a huntsman.
- Shape: round and glossy (widow and cobweb spiders), long and cigar-shaped (white-tails), flattened (huntsmen), heavy and dark (tunnelwebs).
- Markings: a red stripe or red hourglass, a pale tip, a black head, banded legs.
- Web: an untidy lacy web on a window frame, a loose tangle in a ceiling corner, a circular orb web, a silk-lined tunnel, a tent on a shrub, or no web at all.
- Where: a beach dune, the garage, the bathroom floor, under a log, on imported goods.
For help, Te Papa's "What spider is that?" guide covers the species people ask about most, Landcare Research's "What is this bug?" tool has photos and sizes, and iNaturalist NZ lets you post a photo for identification by local naturalists.
If you get bitten by a spider
For almost every spider bite in New Zealand, first aid is all you need: wash the bite with antiseptic or warm soapy water, apply ice wrapped in a cloth, and watch it for a few days. See a doctor if it becomes very red, very painful, blistered, infected or ulcerated. A suspected katipō or redback bite needs urgent medical attention. For advice at any time, call the National Poisons Centre on 0800 764 766.
If you can, catch the spider in a jar without risking another bite, and take it with you. Knowing what bit you changes the advice. Call 111 for any difficulty breathing or signs of a severe allergic reaction. For white-tail bites specifically, including what is often mistaken for them, see our white-tail guide linked above.
Spiders around the house: leave them, or deal with them?
Outdoors, leave them. Spiders are among the most useful predators in a garden, and most around Auckland homes eat the flies, moths and mosquitoes you would rather not have. Where they become a problem is the house itself: webs rebuilt on every window, egg sacs in the eaves, white-tails indoors because there are so many house spiders to hunt.
For that, the answer is fewer insects around the house and a treatment of the surfaces spiders use. Our guide on how to get rid of spiders in NZ covers what works yourself, and when a professional treatment makes more sense. Call 09 925 0448 if you would rather we looked at it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common spider in New Zealand homes?
Around most Auckland houses it is the grey house spider, Badumna longinqua, the maker of the untidy webs in window corners, under eaves and on car mirrors. Indoors, the daddy long-legs spider is the one most people see, hanging upside down in a loose web in a ceiling corner. Both are introduced, both are common throughout the country, and neither is a danger to people.
Are daddy long-legs dangerous?
No. The story that the daddy long-legs is the world's most venomous spider but cannot bite through skin is a myth, and Te Papa says there is no evidence for it. Its venom is not known to be dangerous to people. The myth probably grew from seeing it kill redbacks, which it manages by throwing silk over them from a safe distance rather than by having a stronger venom.
Do katipō live in Auckland?
Yes, in some coastal sand dunes, not in suburbs. Katipō live on sandy beaches among dune grasses and driftwood, and in the northern half of the North Island many are the all-black form without a red stripe. You will not find one in a house or an ordinary garden. On the beach, wear footwear in the dunes and leave any katipō undisturbed.
What is the big black spider in my garage?
Usually one of three. A black house spider sits in a lacy web with a funnel-shaped retreat in a corner or window frame. A black tunnelweb is heavy and dark with a glossy, leathery front half and two finger-like spinnerets at the rear; wandering males turn up in garages and laundries in spring and summer. A vagrant spider is brown-black, fast and web-free.
Are there huntsman spiders in New Zealand?
Yes, but only a few, and none is dangerous. The best known is the Avondale spider, an Australian huntsman established around Avondale in Auckland since the 1920s, with a leg span of up to about 200 mm. It has not spread far. Te Papa also lists the Christchurch huntsman. Both are shy and far more likely to run than bite.
Should I kill spiders in the house?
It is up to you, but most do more good than harm. House spiders eat flies, moths and mosquitoes, and daddy long-legs even catch white-tails. Catching a spider under a glass and putting it outside works as well as squashing it. Where webs build up around the outside of the house, clearing them and treating the surfaces is more effective than dealing with spiders one at a time.
- Te Papa — What spider is that?
- Te Papa — Spider FAQs
- Te Papa — Katipō spider
- Te Papa — Black cobweb or false katipō spider
- Te Papa — Avondale spider
- Te Papa — Nelson cave spider
- Health New Zealand — Treating spider bites
- National Poisons Centre — Spiders in New Zealand
- HealthEd — Spiders in New Zealand
- NZ Medical Journal — Latrodectism: case report of a katipō bite (2012)
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research — Avondale spider
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research — What is this bug?
- NZ Bug of the Year — Katipō
- iNaturalist NZ
