Posted by Dani Moog on March 14, 2007

Q: I found a jet balck spider but the back half of his body was bright red and about the size of a dime or nickel today in my kitchen. I have never seen a spider like this before. What is it and is it poisonous?

State: California

A: There are so many different kinds of spiders with all kinds of sizes, shapes, and colors, I really can't help with a specific identification without more information on your animal. However, there are only two spiders in North America that are considered dangerous to humans - Brown Recluse and Black Widow. Your description doesn't fit either of those spiders so you have nothing to worry about. There is a paperback book, Golden Guide to Spiders that is inexpensive and full of great pictures of all kinds of spiders. This book will really help you figure out what you may have. Of course, since there are hundreds of different species across the continent, your spider may not be in the book but probably one is very similar to what you have and that will help get you started for an ID. Hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( March 15, 2007)