Hobo spider

How to recognise it

These are the features that identify a hobo spider. Each one is described in words so the identification works without the diagram.

1. Brown with a faint herringbone or chevron pattern along the abdomen, and uniformly coloured legs without distinct bands.
2. Reliable separation from other funnel weavers requires microscopic examination of the genitalia — it cannot be done from a photograph.
3. Builds a flat, horizontal sheet web with a funnel-shaped retreat at one edge, typically low down and in dark corners.

What it leaves behind

• Flat funnel webs in window wells, along foundation lines, in garages, and in basement corners.
• Fast-running spiders at floor level in late summer and autumn.

Why an infestation persists

Formerly listed as a spider of medical concern, the hobo spider's claimed role in necrotic lesions is not supported by current evidence and it has been removed from that classification by health authorities. Verify a suspected identification against your regional extension service.

Where it occurs

The Pacific Northwest and parts of the northern Rocky Mountain states. Reports outside this region are almost always another species.

Where to look for it

• Window wells, which are the classic location in the Pacific Northwest.
• Along the base of foundation walls, inside and out.
• Basement and garage corners at floor level, where the flat sheet web with a funnel retreat is built.
• Behind stored items and under stairs, in dark low positions rather than at ceiling height.

When you see it, and why

Males wander conspicuously in late summer and autumn while searching for females, which is when nearly all encounters occur. Outside that window the spiders stay in their funnel retreats and are rarely seen at all.

What getting the identification wrong costs you

Two things are worth stating plainly. First, hobo spiders cannot be reliably separated from related funnel weavers without microscopic examination, so a photograph-based identification is not a determination. Second, the species' reputation is largely obsolete: the claimed role in necrotic lesions is not supported by current evidence and it has been removed from the relevant health classification. Reports from outside the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies are almost always another species entirely.

What a professional actually does

The service worth buying, if any, is identification — and your county extension service will usually do it at no cost. Given that the species cannot be confirmed without microscopy and that its reputation for causing necrotic wounds is not supported by current evidence, a quote for a hobo spider treatment deserves scepticism. Sealing window wells and the foundation line is the durable action either way.