Good and Bad Spiders in the Garden: What You Should Know

If you’re not a fan of creepy crawlies, catching sight of a spider in the garden may be enough to send you running. Regardless of your feelings about spiders, it’s important to recognize that many of these critters benefit your garden. These keen hunters prey on insect pests, protecting your plants in the process.

Most spiders are beneficial to the garden, but knowing the difference between good and bad garden spiders is key. Although all help keep your plants healthy, some present danger to humans.

I’ll introduce some common types of garden spiders and share the benefits they provide. You’ll also learn how to protect yourself from harmful ones and ways to keep good ones happy.

What Determines Good and Bad Garden Spiders?

The vast majority of spiders are carnivores that feed on insects and other small arachnids. While you may be worried that these critters are out to get you, they’re more likely to go after ants, cucumber beetles, flies, and other small prey. Many of their prey are insects that are harmful garden pests, but they may also feed on beneficial insects like ladybugs and hoverflies.

Spiders use diverse methods to catch their prey. Some species spin large webs that catch and trap prey that the spiders can then consume. Other types quietly wait for prey to appear before quickly ambushing the unsuspecting insects.

Fortunately, there aren’t many truly bad garden spiders, but you can encounter some that can ruin your day.

The black widow is a venomous species that often hides in dark places in the garden. I’ve spotted them hanging out beneath lettuce heads I’ve cut to harvest and hiding under landscape fabric.

Fortunately, these won’t attack you, but they can bite when provoked or startled. Their bites are rarely life-threatening, but they often cause severe pain and muscle spasms that warrant medical treatment.

Other types may be seen as bad due to their annoying tendency to spin webs where we want to walk. Although there’s no harm in walking through a web early in the morning, some people find this extremely unpleasant and therefore label these web-spinning spiders as bad.

Overall, it’s important to remember that spiders are a valued part of your overall garden ecosystem. They help keep pest numbers low and prevent insect populations from getting out of control.

Common Garden Spiders

Once you start becoming familiar with the different types of spiders in your garden, it’s easier to fall in love with them…or at least respect them from a distance. I’ve spotted all of the following species in my garden and appreciate how they brighten the landscape and add to the overall ecosystem.

Yellow Garden Spider

If there’s one spider that belongs in a storybook, it’s the yellow garden spider, also known as the writing spider or zipper spider. The bright yellow and black females stand out thanks to their impressive size and their ability to weave large webs with a telltale zigzag down the center. The males are smaller and dull brown.

You’ll often spot the large webs in slightly sheltered sunny areas that are protected from the wind. I’ve seen them pop up between tomatoes and zinnias, and watched the females spend months in the same location.

Yellow garden spiders are not aggressive and won’t bother you if you don’t bother them. When left alone, their large webs will entrap insects, including pests like cucumber beetles and stinkbugs.

Crab Spiders

This group gets its name from its crab-like shape; the spiders have large, round bodies and long legs. They don’t spin webs, but sit in flowers and ambush visiting insects. Therefore, they’re also called flower spiders.

Many species of crab spiders are masters of disguise with colors and patterns that allow them to blend into flowers. Some species can even change colors to better fit their surroundings! I’ve spotted them on cosmos and white ones waiting on Queen Anne’s lace.

Crab spiders aren’t harmful to humans. However, since they like to hang out on blooms, check any cut flowers before bringing them indoors.

Lynx Spiders

Lynx spiders are a group of species in the Oxyopidae family. They don’t make much use of webs, but rather hunt their prey. They often sit on flowers and wait for prey to approach.

These spiders are extremely fast, which helps them chase down prey. They also have bristles on their legs, which allow them to grab and hold onto the insects they catch.

Many lynx spiders have an elongated body, which helps differentiate them from crab spiders. The bright colors help them blend in with the plants they live on and also make them a joy to find in the garden. I love watching green lynx spiders hide on flower foliage as they wait for prey.

Wolf Spiders

If you’re not used to seeing wolf spiders in the garden, they can be a bit alarming, especially when you see the females carrying around their large egg sacks.

Once the eggs hatch, the mothers carry the spiderlings on their backs for multiple weeks before they become independent. It’s not uncommon to see the spiderlings quickly scatter from their mother when startled.

The wolf spiders don’t use webs to catch prey. Instead, they rely on their speed to hunt down and catch prey. They may also hide in their burrows and pop out to ambush insects as they wander by.

Cellar Spiders

This broad category of spiders is distinguished by their small bodies and long, slender legs. You may be used to calling them daddy long-legs or harvestmen.