How Many Species of Spiders Are Found in Ohio?

Families

• Of the spider families represented in Ohio, no clear dominant family type exists. Orb weaver spiders, or Araneidae, make up about 9.5 percent of spiders in Ohio, while ground spiders, or Gnaphosidae, make up about 7 percent. Similarly, sheet web weavers, or Linyphiinae, account for 16 percent of Ohio spiders, while wolf spiders, or Lycosidae, account for about 9 percent.

More Families

• In addition to these four spider families, jumping spiders, or Salticidae, make up 13 percent of Ohio spiders, while cobweb weavers, also known as Theridiidae, make up around 9 percent. Finally, crab spiders, or Thomisidae, account for 8 percent of Ohio spider species. All together, these seven spider families represent about 72 percent of all spiders in Ohio.

Specific Species

• Of the orb weaver spiders, 57 species are documented as being in Ohio, including the starbellied, marbled, lattice and furrow orb weavers. Similarly, 43 species of ground spiders exist in Ohio, including the parson spider. The sheet web weaver spiders are comprised of 46 species, which include the bowl and doily spider, filmy dome spider and hammock spider.

More Species

• The burrowing wolf spider, thin legged wolf spider and pirate wolf spider are all included in the 56 species of wolf spiders found in Ohio, while the 76 species of jumping spiders include the bronze, dimorphic, pike slender, antmimic, peppered and bold jumpers. Cobweb spiders, on the other hand, include dewdrop and two-spotted spiders, while crab spider species found in Ohio include the bark, goldenrod, redbanded and elegant crab spiders.

Other Species

• Other families of spiders are also found in Ohio, though they are made up of less species. For example, funnel and hackled mesh weaver spiders are found in Ohio, with six and 10 different species, respectively. Ghost spiders, sac spiders and ground sac spiders are also common, with seven, 13 and 20 species found in Ohio. The wandering, foldingdoor, purseweb, trapdoor, dysderid, dwarf cobweb, cave cobweb, flatmesh weaver, lynx, daddy long leg, spitting and segestriid spider families are all also found here, but are represented with less than 5 species per family.