Identify Spider by Web: 8 Web Types and Their Builders

You can narrow a spider to its family from the web alone, because each web shape is built by only a few families: a round wheel means an orb weaver, a messy three-dimensional tangle means a cobweb or cellar spider, a flat sheet that runs into a tube means a funnel weaver, and a hammock in the grass means a money spider. The Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and the National Botanic Garden of Wales sort British spiders into web types this way, and the University of Kentucky's spider chart does the same for common US species.

The web gets you to a family, not a species. To go further you need the spider: its eyes, markings and size. Two cautions before you start:

• No web does not mean no spider. Many common spiders hunt without any web (see the section on spiders that build no web).
• Some webs are hidden. The University of Kentucky notes that brown recluse and purseweb spiders keep their webs out of sight.

• Orb web: the flat wheel of spokes and spiral, like a bicycle wheel or dartboard (NHM). Built in the UK by four families: Araneidae, Tetragnathidae, Theridosomatidae and Uloboridae (NHM). A garden orb weaver's web can be as much as 40 cm across and takes about two hours to build; the spider rolls up the old threads and eats them (NHM). Some orb weavers add a thick band of silk called a stabilimentum; Terro gives the yellow garden spider's zigzag as an example. See orb weaver identification.
• Tangle web (cobweb): a messy mesh of threads, built by comb-footed spiders (Theridiidae), cellar spiders (Pholcidae), Nesticidae and meshweb spiders (Dictynidae) (NHM; National Botanic Garden of Wales). In the US, the University of Kentucky lists the black widow (cobweb in concealed places such as rock piles and garages), the American house spider (compact, messy cobweb) and the cellar spider (messy cobweb) as tangle builders.
• Funnel web: a sheet that narrows into a funnel-shaped retreat where the spider waits; only one British family, the Agelenidae, builds it (NHM; National Botanic Garden of Wales). In homes this is the house spider; outdoors in the US the grass spider builds large funnel webs on lawns (University of Kentucky). Terro notes funnel webs are not sticky and act as the spider's burrow.
• Sheet or hammock web: a thin, densely woven horizontal sheet over grass and low bushes, built by money spiders (Linyphiidae), the largest UK spider family with 280 species (NHM; National Botanic Garden of Wales).
• Lace web: loosely spaced threads of woolly cribellate silk that works like Velcro on insects' legs and bristles; built by three UK *Amaurobius* species (NHM).
• Radial (tube) web: single lines of silk radiating from a silk tube; the spider waits in the tube until prey touches a line. Built by the Segestriidae, three UK species (NHM; Terro); the National Botanic Garden of Wales notes tubeweb spider females can grow over 2 cm long.
• Purse web: a long silk tube with a usually sealed end, built in the UK only by *Atypus affinis* (NHM). The University of Kentucky lists purseweb spiders in Kentucky forests, with hidden webs.
• Nursery web and diving bell: the nursery web spider (*Pisaura mirabilis*) spins a tent to shelter its young, and the diving bell spider, the only truly aquatic spider in the UK, builds the diving bell that gives it its name (National Botanic Garden of Wales).

Location often confirms the web type. From the sources above:

• Ceiling corners indoors: untidy tangles of the daddy long legs spider, which also eats other spiders, including large house spiders (NHM).
• Garages, sheds and lofts: permanent funnel webs of house spiders (NHM); in the US, black widow cobwebs in concealed spots such as rock piles and garages (University of Kentucky).
• Porches, doorways, windowsills and gardens: orb webs (University of Kentucky).
• Lawns: funnel webs of grass spiders (University of Kentucky) and, in Britain, money spider sheets over grass and low plants (NHM).
• Cardboard, woodpiles and wall voids: hidden webs of the brown recluse (University of Kentucky). If you are in recluse range and find an irregular web in a stored box, check the spider itself against the brown recluse page before handling anything.

A spider with no web in sight is not unusual. The University of Kentucky's chart lists these common spiders as non-web-builders:

• Wolf spiders: grey or brown with contrasting spots or stripes, at ground level; see wolf spider identification.
• Jumping spiders: large eyes and a flat-faced look.
• Crab spiders: low and flat, with very long front two pairs of legs; often on flowers.
• Yellow sac spider: tan legs and head, yellow abdomen; indoors.
• Fishing spider: very large and brown, near streams and woods.
• Woodlouse hunter: very large fangs and a low, flat shape, under rocks and logs.

Yes, as a first pass, and a free one. Google Lens compares the objects in your picture with other images and ranks them by similarity; it often produces several possible results ranked by probable relevance rather than one certain answer (Google). Identification apps work the same way. Photograph it and InsectLens identifies it.

You will get a better answer if you photograph both the spider and its web: the spider from above and from the front so the eyes show, and the whole web from a distance. Then check the app's answer against the web type on this page; if the two disagree, trust neither until you have a clearer photo. For a spider that could be a black widow or brown recluse, confirm with an expert, such as your local extension office, before you rely on any app.

Research and drafting for this page used AI assistance. Every figure, date and quotation was then checked line by line against the sources listed at the bottom of the page, each of which was opened while writing. Nothing here is a diagnosis. If a bite, sting or contact with an insect is followed by trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, spreading redness, fever or any symptom that worries you, get medical care; in the United States Poison Help (1-800-222-1222) is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day.